Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations

From the frontlines of extractive projects, the

Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations

From the frontlines of extractive projects, the boardrooms of financial institutions, to the halls of governments, Indigenous women are leading efforts to uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty, including the right of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

During the event, Indigenous women leaders and global advocates discussed how financial institutions and corporations perpetuate human and Indigenous rights violations in relation to extractive and other industries and the necessary steps these institutions must take to stop these egregious activities— and instead, implement FPIC, Indigenous rights and due diligence, while also investing in solutions within a climate justice framework centering Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

Additionally, given the severity of the climate crisis and existential threat to all of humanity, it is important to highlight that 80% of biodiversity remaining on Earth is in Indigenous lands and territories. Respecting Indigenous knowledge, ways of life, and FPIC, and the right to say “no” to continued extraction, is thus paramount to the discussion.

This was a formal side-event of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2022.

Speakers included:
-- Michelle Cook (Dine’/Navajo), Human rights lawyer and founder of Divest Invest Protect and Indigenous Human Rights Defenders and Corporate Accountability Program

-- Summer Blaze Aubrey (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Descendant of the Blackfeet Nation), Law Fellow, Indigenous Human Rights Defenders & Corporate Accountability Program and Staff Attorney for the International Indian Treaty Council

-- Leila Salazar-Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch

-- Sônia Guajajara (Guajajara), Executive Coordinator for Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB)

-- Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member

-- Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

-- Special Guest: Maria Violet Medina Quiscue (Nasa), Autoridades Indigenas en Bakata, Colombia with Xiomara Chingate

Interview with Sir Mark Moody Stuart, Foundation for the Global Compact and Member of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), on why Integrated Reporting is so vital in today's

Interview with Sir Mark Moody Stuart, Foundation for the Global Compact and Member of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), on why Integrated Reporting is so vital in today's business and next steps for ensuring its success.

Interview, Beijing January 2011

For generations, Indigenous science has safeguarded ecosystems worldwide—yet mainstream environmental solutions continue to sideline it. As climate crises escalate, young activists are

For generations, Indigenous science has safeguarded ecosystems worldwide—yet mainstream environmental solutions continue to sideline it. As climate crises escalate, young activists are reclaiming these knowledge systems, challenging colonial frameworks, and forging global solidarity. Drawing from her family’s six-generation history in India’s tea industry and her work decolonizing environmental education at UC Berkeley and through her nonprofit, Project Planet, Shreya Chaudhuri explores how students and youth-led movements are reshaping the fight for climate justice by centering Indigenous knowledge. The future of sustainability isn’t about reinventing solutions—it’s about reclaiming the roots that have long sustained our planet. The question is: will we listen?

(NASA) Earth's global surface temperatures in 2019 ranked second-warmest since 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

(NASA) Earth's global surface temperatures in 2019 ranked second-warmest since 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Global temperatures in 2019 were 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) warmer than the late 19th century, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. 2019's temperatures were second only to those of 2016 and continued the planet's long-term warming trend: the five warmest years on the instrumental record have been the five last years.

More details here.