Humans are deeply responsible for the current climate crisis, and a significant root cause is the nationstate fiction that land and morethanhuman relations can be reduced to “property” to be owned, controlled, and exhausted for profit. This ownership paradigm is inseparable from the Doctrine of Discovery and Terra Nullius, by Church and Crown, which gave moral and legal cover to seize Indigenous lands and suppress Indigenous laws of responsibility and reciprocity with the web of life.
The modern idea that a Crown or state holds “underlying title” to Indigenous lands in Canada flows directly from these doctrines, which treated alreadyinhabited territories as “empty” and available to Christian European empires. In practice, this has allowed Canada to assert ultimate authority over unceded territories, reduce Indigenous Nations to “claimants” on their own lands, and legitimize largescale extraction and dispossession.
This way of thinking has fractured the integrity of land and the broader web of life. When land is seen as property rather than as a living relation, decisions are framed around shortterm economic gain instead of the continuity of waters, soils, plants, animals, and communities. From clearcut logging and fossil fuel expansion to exclusionary conservation, the same logic of unilateral control has fragmented habitats, undermined biodiversity, and disrupted longstanding Indigenous stewardship practices.
For Indigenous Nations, climate change intensifies these harms. Shifting seasons, altered animal migrations, and degraded waters are eroding the conditions for hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering, and with them, language, ceremony, and landbased teachings. This is not just environmental damage; it is an attack on living Indigenous legal orders that were designed to keep human behaviour accountable to the land.
Politically, the ownership myth entrenches a hierarchy in which the state imagines itself as the final decisionmaker over territories it claims. Indigenous Nations are pushed into endless “consultation,” while absolute authority and benefitsharing rarely shift. Economically, this worldview feeds a growthdriven model in which “wealth” is measured by what can be extracted, privatized, and traded, rather than by the health of ecosystems and communities. Socially and spiritually, it normalizes disconnection from place, where many people experience land as a commodity rather than as a living network to which they belong and are accountable.
Human arrogance thrives in this disconnection. The belief that humans stand above other beings, entitled to engineer, commodify, or sacrifice them for convenience and profit, has opened a climate change Pandora’s box: land turned into property, relations turned into resources, and the garden of life left to rot around us while humanity chooses profits over peace. Our current geopolitical and geoeconomic crises are symptoms of the same disorder, power and control elevated above responsibility and reciprocity.
There is no doubt that human activities, shaped by colonialism, fossil capitalism, and the property mindset, are driving the climate crisis. Yet Indigenous knowledge holders and communities across Turtle Island insist that genuine solutions must be rooted in decolonization, land back, and the restoration of landbased responsibilities and Indigenous selfdetermination. Indigenousled renewable energy projects, landback agreements, and the revitalization of traditional land use practices show it is possible to align livelihoods with the wellbeing of ecosystems instead of their destruction.
This moment demands more than new policies; it calls for a profound shift in worldview. Humans are not owners, but relatives, not masters, but participants in a living treaty with the rest of creation. Moving from ownership to relationship feeling as well as thinking our way back into reciprocity offers one path out of the current crisis.
Householdlevel conversations are an essential place to begin reconciling with Mother Earth. These conversations can ask different questions: Who rather than What is this land to us? What are our responsibilities here? How do our everyday choices, food, energy, transport, investments, and political action support or undermine Indigenousled visions of climate justice? When families and communities begin to live as if land is a relative rather than a possession, the foundations of a different future begin to take root.
Blog by Rye Karonhiowanen Barberstock
Image Credit: Davey Gravy, Unsplash
The post From Ownership to Relationship: Reclaiming Our Responsibilities to Land appeared first on Indigenous Climate Hub.
From Ownership to Relationship: Reclaiming Our Responsibilities to Land
Climate Change
Commencement of NSW Forestry assessment a ‘chance to fix a broken system’ and deliver urgent forest protection
SYDNEY, Friday 18 September 2026 — In response to the Federal and NSW government’s announcement to commence an assessment of NSW forestry under the new national nature laws, Adele Chasson, Nature Policy Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said:
“This is the Federal Government’s chance to fix a broken system that has enabled the destruction of NSW’s precious forests for far too long.
“Native forest logging continues to smash threatened species habitat. In NSW, it is pushing unique wildlife like koalas, greater gliders and glossy black cockatoos towards extinction. The state-owned logging agency has a disastrous record of environmental damage and breaches.
“The Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) system has failed, allowing the industrial logging of special forests for decades across Australia with no oversight. Thankfully, the Federal Government has started the process to finally remove the logging industry’s exemption from national nature laws.
“It’s time for the Federal Government to deliver the protection that forests urgently need, and that Australians overwhelmingly want. The Government must ensure a thorough assessment of the devastating impacts of native forest logging in NSW, and establish strong environmental rules that states must follow.
“These forests have been cared for by First Nations people for tens of thousands of years. They are some of the most biodiverse on the planet, store carbon, clean our air and water. It’s critical we protect them.”
ENDS
Media contact:
Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
What happens when a love of marine life meets a playful imagination?
Sydney artist, illustrator and children’s author Sha’an d’Anthes, better known as Furry Little Peach, has teamed up with Greenpeace to create Happy Ocean Happy Planet: a joyful celebration of the extraordinary creatures that call our oceans home.
Sha’an felt inspired to create an illustration celebrating the beauty and resilience of marine life. Its hopeful message, A Happy Ocean is a Happy Planet, sparked a special collaboration with Greenpeace and a limited-edition t-shirt designed to help protect the oceans that inspired it.
The exclusive Furry Little Peach tee is available as a gift to new regular Greenpeace donors who give $30 or more and make at least three donations. By becoming a regular giver, you’ll help Greenpeace campaign for ocean protection.
ARTIST INTERVIEW: Sha’an d’Anthes (Furry Little Peach)
Sha’an shares the story behind the artwork, the local marine creatures featured in the design and why hope can be such a powerful force for action.
Hi Sha’an! Can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do?
My name is Sha’an d’Anthes, I also go by the pseudonym Furry Little Peach and I’m an illustrator, artist and children’s author based in Sydney, Australia. I love creating joyful, vibrant and nostalgic art that looks at the world through the lens of childlike wonder.
What do you love about drawing animals and nature?
I love all of the different shapes, colour and narrative you get to explore when drawing animals and nature. I’m also a city-slicker these days, and so I think that my work is a sort of escapism (for myself and hopefully for my audience).
How did the Greenpeace collaboration come about?
I went to the premiere of David Attenborough’s documentary Ocean, and felt compelled to create something to share the message of the film. This t-shirt is actually based off of that illustration including the tagline in I included when I shared it “A Happy Ocean is a Happy Planet”. I’m so grateful Greenpeace approached me for the project – it was a blast.
Where did you start when creating the Happy Ocean Happy Planet design?
The Happy Ocean tee starts the same as all of my work – with a brainstorm/braindump and really loose concept sketches.
How did you choose the animals for the illustration?
I actually asked Greenpeace to help me with the research of local marine life and they were so accommodating. They very quickly delivered me a huge list of local species of fish, mammals and coral and I just went through and looked up each creature and curated a little group of sea life that I thought would look sweet together – a mix of sizes, types, colours, textures and shapes.
What did you use to create the artwork?
So much of my work is traditional, but when it comes to things like t-shirts I always use digital drawing programs because I like to draw each colour in a separate layer which requires me to jump in and out of layers because it allows me to control colour and printing. When working digitally I always sketch in Procreate (an Australian digital art app), and then with this project I created final art in Adobe Fresco because it called for a vector graphic (an image that can be blown up to any size).
Do you have a favourite creature in the design?
I love painting Humpback Whales and always have, but I also have a soft spot for the sweet little Jelly Blubber jellyfish.
What did you want people to feel when they saw the artwork?
I specifically wanted to focus on the outcome that all of us want to see – a happy, thriving ocean where creatures are given the time and space to balance themselves. I feel that even when tackling tough subjects, leaning into hope is my natural inclination. As long as we have hope that things can be better, we will continue to take action.
What was the most fun part of creating it?
I actually documented the entire process of this project in a studio vlog on YouTube – and you can see how much fun I’m having doing final art jumping between layers and building the image. I had just come off completing final art for two books which are multi-year long projects, so being able to do a project that from start to finish in just a few days was really freeing at the time.
What does a “happy ocean” mean to you?
An ocean that given the time and space to repair and balance itself. Something I really took away from David Attenborough’s Ocean is that ocean ecosystems are actually really good at repairing themselves if we just let them do their thing.
How can people get their hands on the t-shirt?
The shirt is a reward for regular givers to Greenpeace – those who commit to at least 3 months of donations will receive the tee as a gift. Read about how at http://act.gp/flp-tee
How is Greenpeace helping to make our oceans happier places?
They have a deep focus on the health and happiness of our oceans through advocating for the set up of marine sanctuaries, holding big ocean polluters to account and calling for a ban on deep sea mining.
What are you working on next?
I will be jumping headfirst into Peachtober – an annual daily art challenge I run each year in October, if there are any artists reading this it’s a great time so please come join! In terms of publications my next picture book The Late Bird will be out in February 2027 (published by Harper Collins US) and then I have an creative activity book for adults coming out next August with Chronicle US and Penguin Australia. Otherwise you can always check out what I’m tinkering away with in my studio on Instagram and YouTube.
Climate Change
AI giant Anthropic’s first Australian data centre deal an “egregious” example of Big Tech double talk
SYDNEY, Thursday 17 September 2026 — Greenpeace Australia Pacific has slammed AI giant Anthropic’s deal for its first Australian site in Queensland’s Western Downs, the heart of coal seam gas country, saying the project will entrench gas and turbocharge climate pollution.
The expected electricity demand from the data centre site, situated in the middle of the Western Downs coal seam gas fields, is comparable to 1.5 million Australian households. Greenpeace’s report Energy Vampires: The AI data centres draining Australia called for a moratorium on frenzied data centre development until appropriate guardrails are in place.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “This is an egregious example of Big Tech giants being given carte blanche to drain energy and water, and use polluting gas to fuel their hyperscale data centres.
“AI and Big Tech corporations claim to bring new renewable energy to the grid, while blatantly planning to power their operations with polluting fossil fuels.
“Planning documents show the first stage of this behemoth project could be powered by ‘behind the metre’ gas — the same playbook AI companies have used in the US, leading to a 20% increase in climate pollution from electricity. Now these companies want to bring their cowboy plans to Australia and the Federal Government is allowing it.
“If they plugged into the local grid, the power required would increase Queensland’s electricity grid emissions by around 6.6 million tonnes — an 18% rise. If they build their own gas-fired power plants, this will drive up Queensland’s emissions even more.
“Billions of dollars are now pouring into a massive pipeline of proposed new data centres, of unprecedented size, being built at incredible speed across the country. Australians should be worried about the extreme lack of scrutiny being applied to these projects, and the corporations leading the data centre charge.
“The data centre build-out is happening without the endorsement of the Australian people, yet we are the ones who will pay the price. We can not allow unchecked data centre expansion to derail our renewable energy transition, entrench gas and turbocharge climate pollution — that’s why Greenpeace has called for an urgent moratorium until appropriate guardrails are in place.”
ENDS
Media contact: Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
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