SPECIAL REPORT

Bad Forecast: The Illusion of Indigenous Inclusion and Representation in Climate Adaptation Plans in Canada

In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the importance of Indigenous knowledge in responding and adapting to climate change.

In 2022, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s ECCC) released Canada’s first ever National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) and National Action Plan (NAP), which present a landmark opportunity for Indigenous people to contribute to and lead climate action and adaptation in Canada. And, yet, there are significant shortcomings with the approach: failing to include Indigenous rights holders directly, excluding a genuine gender framework, and distilling and making processes (or lack thereof), and the impacts of this historic and ongoing exclusion.

KEY QUESTIONS

How are Indigenous peoples’ excluded from federal climate adaptation decision-making processes? What are the impacts of historic and ongoing exclusion from environmental decision making?

...when decisions related to climate policy are made by the same people using the same knowledge systems and predisposition towards extraction that has fuelled the climate crisis in the first place, how can we expect different outcomes?

- Janna Wale