In this brief, Eriel Deranger identifies the critical nature of the climate emergency amidst the dangerous exclusion of Indigenous peoples from environmental decision-making being made by colonial governments. Deranger asks, what does a climate plan look like without consideration of Indigenous rights and what should they look like from [an Indigenous] perspective?
As we move through another colonial election year at the federal level, there is one arena that challenges most politicians: climate change and what we do about it. While the core tenets of the Green New Deal outline the dramatic change required to tackle this crisis, we must proceed with caution. In its ongoing creation, the GND coalition needs to ensure the inclusion and consent of Indigenous and racialized communities.
Based in the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University.