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As climate change reshapes landscapes across Canada, Indigenous communities in treaty territories face unique challenges and opportunities. The intricate relationship between Indigenous Peoples, their ancestral lands, and the Canadian government, as defined by historical and modern treaties, adds a complex dimension to climate change adaptation efforts. This exploration delves into how First Nations are navigating climate challenges while asserting their treaty rights and preserving their cultural heritage.
Understanding Treaty Rights in the Context of Climate Change
Treaties between Indigenous nations and the Crown form the legal and moral bedrock of Canada. These agreements, some dating back to the 18th century and others as recent as the 1990s define rights to land use, resource management, and cultural practices. However, the framers of these treaties could not have anticipated the profound environmental changes brought by global warming.
Chief Archie Waquan of the Mikisew Cree First Nation reflects on this challenge: “Our ancestors signed Treaty 8 to protect our way of life for future generations. Now, climate change is altering the very land and waters that the treaty was meant to preserve. We need to interpret our rights in light of these new realities.”
This sentiment echoes across treaty territories, from the numbered treaties of the Prairies to the modern agreements in the Yukon. Indigenous leaders and legal experts are increasingly arguing that the right to a healthy environment and the ability to adapt to climate change are inherent in treaty agreements.
Climate Impacts on Treaty Territories
The impacts of climate change in treaty territories are as diverse as the landscapes they encompass. In the Prairies, covered by Treaties 1 through 7, First Nations are grappling with increased drought conditions that threaten traditional agriculture and wildlife habitats.
In Alberta, Dene Tha’ First Nation member James Ahnassay describes the changes: “Our Elders remember when the muskeg was thick and wet. Now, it’s drying up. The moose and caribou are changing their patterns. It’s affecting our hunting, our medicine gathering, everything.”
In the boreal forest regions, encompassed by Treaties 8, 9, and 11, increased fire risks pose significant challenges. The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, which forced the evacuation of several First Nations communities, serves as a stark reminder of these growing threats.
Coastal areas, including those covered by the Douglas Treaties in British Columbia and modern treaties in the Atlantic provinces, face rising sea levels and increased erosion. These changes threaten not only infrastructure but also culturally significant sites and traditional harvesting areas.
Indigenous-Led Adaptation Strategies
In response to these challenges, Indigenous communities are developing innovative adaptation strategies that honour treaty relationships while addressing climate realities.
(Image Credit: Jordan Gonzalez, Unsplash)
Land-Use Planning and Management
Many First Nations are asserting their treaty rights through comprehensive land-use planning that incorporates climate change considerations. The Mikisew Cree First Nation in Alberta, signatories to Treaty 8, have developed a cutting-edge climate-ready land-use plan.
Melody Lepine, director of government and industry relations for Mikisew Cree First Nation explains: “Our plan looks at how climate change will affect our territory over the next 50 to 100 years. We’re identifying areas that need protection, areas where we can develop sustainably, and how we can adapt our traditional practices to changing conditions.“
Wildlife and Habitat Conservation
(Image Credit: Joe Eitzen, Unsplash)
Treaty rights to hunt and fish are central to many Indigenous cultures. As climate change alters wildlife habitats and migration patterns, First Nations are leading conservation efforts to protect these rights for future generations.
Blog by Rye Karonhiowanen
(Header Image Credit: Getty Images, Licensed, Unsplash)
The post Preserving the Land, Preserving the Culture: Climate Change Adaptation in Treaty Territories appeared first on Indigenous Climate Hub.
Preserving the Land, Preserving the Culture: Climate Change Adaptation in Treaty Territories
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Prepared by a coalition of nine Western Australian union, industry, conservation, and community organisations—including UnionsWA, the Conservation Council WA, and the Smart Energy Council—the WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan provides a practical roadmap to transform Western Australia into a clean energy powerhouse while creating thousands of secure local jobs.
Western Australia stands at a pivotal crossroads: lead the global clean energy economy or watch investment, future industries, and secure jobs go elsewhere. The WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan outlines a transformative blueprint to harness the state’s world-class solar and wind resources. Discover how legislated renewable targets, green iron manufacturing, and a dedicated regional training strategy can generate tens of thousands of local jobs, lower household bills, and build a resilient, net-zero future for all Western Australians.
WA needs a clear and forward-thinking plan if it is going to become a competitive renewable energy powerhouse and maintain its economic strength through the energy transition.
“Western Australians know a faster renewable energy transition will lower their household expenses and prevent harmful climate pollution. But the community also needs clear direction to ensure this transition will create jobs, lower costs and not cause undue environmental harm.
“Here, sectors representing a broad range of interests have laid the groundwork for those outcomes, clearly outlining what is needed to create a future for WA that is good for the environment, for the climate, for workers and for the economy.
Summary
The WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan sets out a strategic roadmap to position Western Australia as a global clean energy superpower while creating thousands of secure local jobs.
The report establishes three overarching goals:
- Creating local employment.
- Maintaining industrial competitiveness.
- Lowering household energy costs
To realize this vision, the framework details actionable measures to follow on from the recent WA Government announcement of a 75% Renewable Energy Target by 2031 for the South West Interconnected System. This includes developing a statewide Renewable Energy Target, coordinating statewide workforce and training pipelines, strategically planning regional infrastructure to safeguard high-value biodiversity and cultural heritage, and ensuring equitable benefit-sharing through household electrification incentives and First Nations equity partnerships. Ultimately, the plan highlights that establishing clear policy and regulatory certainty will unlock lower energy bills, boost power reliability, and secure the state’s global competitiveness in emerging green commodity export markets.
Key Findings
- Statewide Renewable Energy Target and Emissions Reduction Targets: The report calls for a statewide RET and 1.5°C aligned emission reduction targets to remove policy risk, lower capital costs, and attract clean energy investment.
- Transformative Job Creation: Accelerating the transition offers massive employment prospects, including up to 8,800 solar and battery jobs by 2050, as well as 24,000 ongoing and 11,000 construction jobs in a commercial green iron industry.
- Industrial Electrification & Competitiveness: Requiring large gas users to adopt binding electrification timetables and providing concessional financing will protect existing energy-intensive manufacturers from rising energy costs and impending domestic gas shortfalls.
- Green Commodity Export Leadership: Western Australia can build new export markets in green iron, green ammonia, and offshore oil/gas decommissioning by constructing shared common-user infrastructure and setting dedicated Green Commodity Export Targets.
- Coordinated Workforce & Training Pipeline: To address critical skill shortages the plan recommends establishing a WA Clean Energy Jobs Plan 2050, three regional training hubs, and dedicated pathways for female and under-represented apprentices.
- Environmental Safeguards & Community Benefits: Fast-tracked development must be paired with State Planning Policies that avoid high-biodiversity and cultural heritage lands, mandate new data centres to run on additional renewable power, and deliver household electrification rebates and First Nations equity partnerships.
What you can do
WA has an opportunity to lead on sustainable, clean energy and associated industries. You can help by:
- Sending an email to Environment Minister Murray Watt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, calling on them to reject Browse.
- Sharing this story to help more Australians understand what’s at stake.
- Encouraging your friends and family to take action.
Countries have completed the first “global review” of their progress towards reversing nature loss by 2030 at the COP17 biodiversity talks in Yerevan, Armenia.
The review “notes with deep concern” that, unless action is “rapidly accelerated”, the goal to reverse nature loss and meet a set of 23 targets by 2030 “will not be achieved”.
It “urges” countries to accelerate action, including by “increased ambition in addressing the gaps”.
Much of the discussions in Yerevan focused on how to raise the necessary funds to help developing countries protect nature.
Some major economies pushed to expand the range of nations that are expected to provide finance, with countries agreeing at the end of the two weeks of talks that non-donors that want to contribute can “signal interest” before COP18.
This came after developed countries failed to meet a target to significantly ramp up nature finance over the last few years.
It also came as a landmark fund agreed at COP16 in Colombia to pay communities for the genetic resources derived from nature stands nearly empty two years on.
The Yerevan talks marked the halfway point of the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), the “Paris Agreement for nature” first made in 2022 and due to be achieved by 2030.
During the nearly 12-hour-long final plenary, countries voted for Quito, Ecuador, to host the COP18 nature talks, which will be held in 2028.
Countries managed to sign off on all the major negotiation texts, marking a stark contrast to COP16, which ran so far over time that the Colombian presidency lost “quorum”, forcing talks to resume in Rome months later.
Below, Carbon Brief has detailed analysis of all of the key outcomes from COP17.
Formal negotiations
Finance
Finance, predictably, was at the heart of the discord and deadlock at the Yerevan talks.
At COP17, discussions on finance had to achieve several outcomes.
The first part – to take stock of biodiversity finance mobilised so far to meet the nature deal’s goals – fell under the global review.
As the global report noted, developed countries failed to meet their commitments to raise “at least $20bn a year by 2025” for nature. Delegates pointed to falling aid levels and a sharp 27% decline in environmental funding for the 2026-30 period.
The second part was to agree on how to mobilise resources for the next four years, to meet the GBF’s goals and targets.
Calls to “broaden the contributor base” of who pays to protect nature – and whether that should include emerging economies – became the most fraught element of the talks.
Eventually, countries agreed on what Switzerland described as a “super, mega-delicate” text. It hinged on major “political compromises”, with “no major winner or loser”, according to Kenya.
Per the decision, countries that want to be included on a list of developed country donors can “signal interest” through bilateral, confidential consultations before COP18 and every alternate COP after.
Finally, countries also agreed on criteria to shape and resource a new, permanent financial mechanism to protect nature after 2030.
However, this did not immediately take the form of a new fund under the COP that biodiverse countries have demanded since 2022, deferring the mechanism’s institutional structure to COP18.
Resource mobilisation discussions at the GBF’s halfway mark were supposed to agree on how to close the “biodiversity finance gap” and to “increase resources from all sources” to “at least” $200bn per year by 2030, as set out in target 19 of the GBF.
The talks were largely dominated by a push, led by the JUSCANZ bloc of developed countries, to “broaden the contributor base”. This could see emerging economies, such as Qatar, China, Saudi Arabia and India, being added to the list of countries that pay to protect nature.
Article 20 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) states that developed countries “shall provide new and additional financial resources” to developing countries to meet the costs of implementing measures to protect nature.