A coordinated movement between Indigenous peoples, settler environmentalists, organized labour, and many others is the precise opposite of an apocalyptic scenario. We think it’s the one thing that could bring us back from our current slide into climate collapse, colonial genocide, and extreme inequality, and towards a better world where we live in balance with land and life.

First Nations seem unusually well placed to challenge an exclusionary politics that withholds scientific power from the majority of those affected by it. The successes of these First Nations could lead to greater changes. Perhaps this is why the faux-partisan pundit classes seem so bent on distracting us with their interminable squabbling over how to divide the cake amongst themselves.

Millions of dollars in funding for biodiversity preservation, conservation projects, and “nature-based solutions” have been announced at COP15 by states and philanthropic foundations alike. Yet as business delegates emphasized changing consumer behaviour as a critical condition of meeting lofty targets, a sliver of the market driving energy demand reflects a convoluted picture.

The UN itself has condemned Canada’s treatment of Indigenous land defenders and called on the government to stop criminalizing their activities in defence of Indigenous cultures and ecological integrity. These actions are especially important to consider in the midst of COP15, as Indigenous territories account for roughly 22 percent of the world’s land but hold 80 percent of its biodiversity.

While the Trudeau government promised that its compensation plan would be a “historic” step forward in the relationship between Ottawa and Indigenous peoples, the rejection by the CHRT shows that Ottawa is not even willing to meet the responsibilities it imposes on itself. The dissonance between Ottawa’s rhetoric and its actions needs to be reconciled.

Canadian society is generally uncomfortable acknowledging the state’s historic responsibility for acts of genocide perpetrated against Indigenous peoples. Yet, with a resurgent nationalist right and forms of residential school denialism undermining truth and reconciliation efforts, the need for a rigorous process of self-reflection is perhaps more important than ever.

The 2022 national protests in Ecuador were a powerful statement in opposition to the socioeconomic status quo that is favoured by Ecuador’s conservative elite and the Canadian state. While the protestors achieved some important gains, Lasso’s continued embrace of foreign mining investment at the expense of Indigenous peoples may be doomed to incite another uprising.

Despite being a key member of a supposedly pro-democracy alliance that claims to be challenging regional authoritarianism, evidence has shown that upwards of 60 percent of Panamanians support the Panama Worth More Without Mining Movement’s aims. And yet, the government is continuing with the development of Cobre Panamá, a clear infringement on the popular will and the rights of the Indigenous people.

Between 2015 and 2019, over 100 Indigenous women from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, and Québec publicly asserted that they were survivors of forced or coerced sterilization procedures. The actual number is undoubtedly much higher, and more and more Indigenous women come forward every year to share their traumatic experiences.

The mining of silica sand on a community-designated trapline adjacent to the Hollow Water First Nation’s reserve boundary in Manitoba is poised to be a disaster for the environment. But this can all be avoided if CPS gets the silica it needs to feed its proposed float glass plant from Wisconsin, instead of despoiling a sensitive ecosystem for profit and convenience.