Decolonizing climate policy #KAIROSClimateAction
Canada’s climate policies are the main frameworks through which the federal government works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a low-carbon economy for the country. In recent years, these plans include the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change (PCF) (2016) and A Healthy Environment, A Healthy Economy (HEHE) (2020).
Indigenous Climate Action (ICA), in collaboration with researchers, Dr. Jen Gobby, Rebecca Sinclair, and Rachel Ivey, released the first phase an in-depth critical analysis of these two plans earlier this year. This research is part of ICA’s Decolonizing Climate Policy in Canada project.
The aim of this project and research is to determine if federal climate plans address the root causes of climate change, while upholding the rights, knowledge, and approaches of Indigenous people in climate action.
Among other findings, the research concluded that the federal climate plans “egregiously fail to address the fossil fuel industry as a driver of climate change, a violator of Indigenous rights, and a major contributor to the vulnerabilization of Indigenous communities and Nations by way of impacts on waters, lands, livelihoods and food systems.”
KAIROS recognizes that the federal climate plans are one of the main ways that we can drive transformation towards a low-carbon future but this research calls on all of us to do better. The report outlines ways in which climate organizers, researchers, and policymakers can do just that.
Indigenous Climate Action is hosting a webinar tomorrow (September 15) with four members of its Decolonizing Climate Policy Advisory Council. They will discuss the impacts of climate change in their community, as well as the Indigenous-led solutions being implemented on the ground.
