according to a yale study about the long-term impacts of land dispossession of tribes in the united states, tribal nations are especially vulnerable to climate change. this is because of government policies that forced tribes from their traditional homelands to locations that were considered undesirable by settlers. these areas often had poor soil and lacked drinkable water.  climate justice is about supporting tribal communities that have been made vulnerable to climate disruption due to colonization, helping such communities adapt to climate change, and promoting connections to land, people, and traditional ways. 

creating a connection

natalia shaw works in the sangre de cristo mountains, just outside las vegas, new mexico. this area is where new mexico’s largest recorded wildfire took place in 2022. the fire began from a prescribed burn and quickly turned into a high-intensity crown fire. a crown fire is one that spreads quickly from treetop to treetop. due to decades of poor forest management leading to overgrowth and drought, the pine forest created a devastating blaze that displaced communities.

shaw is an environmental scientist and educator who works for the new mexico forest and watershed restoration institute. part of her job is reconnecting youth and community members to the forests through education. shaw believes, “forests and landscapes have always been influenced by humans- how do we continue to be land stewards?” she draws upon her interest in anishinabe burning practices to connect to the santa fe national forest and to teach others about plant identification. 

shaw helps youth foster a relationship to the land by identifying plant names and their uses. she knows that in order to restore a forest, the people in that community must have a meaningful connection to that land. in order to cultivate that connection, shaw has guided youth tours through the santa fe national forest forest to practice identifying plants.

“you can’t restore a forest if you don’t restore a connection to the land.”               -natalia shaw

forming a strong connection to the land is not just healing, but preventative as well. for example, indigenous cultural burning practices prompted new plant growth and seed germination. 

shaw is committed to fostering reconnection to lands through her work as a key component of supporting solutions to the climate crisis. she knows the threat of climate change is monumental. however, she believes with access to current technology, we have the tools to move forward in light of climate change. 

healing indigenous communities

robyn jackson (diné), fondly recalls spending her childhood in the chuska mountains, located on the navajo nation near arizona and new mexico border. she remembers abundant plant life and diverse insects like bumble bees and butterflies. there were vibrant springs teeming with tadpoles and lush forest meadows. the forested mountains were paradise in the navajo nation’s high-altitude desert. as jackson grew older, the climate began to change. she noticed fewer bumble bees in the area and drying springs. jackson and her family began to find it harder to find traditional medicinal plants, likely due to drought conditions and logging in the chuska mountains.

jackson is a diné woman from wheatfields, arizona. she is the executive director of diné citizens against ruining our environment (diné c.a.r.e). diné c.a.r.e is a navajo-led environmental justice organization that works with navajo communities affected by energy and environmental issues. 

the navajo nation, where jackson lives and works, was made vulnerable to climate change impacts such as drought and desertification due to natural resource extraction. in the 1940s, navajo people and other tribal people were recruited to mine uranium ore for the u.s. government without proper protection. today, there are hundreds of abandoned mines across the nation. many of these mines are exposed and contaminate groundwater. across the board, approximately 15% of people in the navajo nation lack access to clean drinking water. 

jackson’s parents are among the organization’s founding members who worked to protect the navajo nation from environmental threats. indigenous people have deep knowledge about their environment; this is known as traditional ecological knowledge or tek. stories, songs, and ceremonies record and pass down this knowledge. jackson draws upon traditional knowledge to find solutions that are climate justice focused. she does this by considering her diné teachings of kinship to help communities organize against extractive industries through local action.  

“humans are part of a collective memory that honors lessons from the past for survival; our traditional teachings provide guidance,” jackson said. she felt a generational call to help move the community forward to honor her parent’s legacy. jackson believes that climate justice is about assisting communities to use their voice to prepare for the future of climate change and she leads community information sessions to listen to community members and educate them about current natural resource extraction activities across the navajo nation. shaw’s and jackson’s heritages provides a solid foundation to lead the climate justice movement forward. 

full transcript below:

nadira:

yá’át’ééh, shí éí nadira mitchell yinishyé naakaii dine’é nishłį́, bilagáanaa bashishchiin, tótsohnii dashicheii, bilagáanaa dashinalí.

hello my name is nadira mitchell, i just introduced myself in the navajo language or diné bizaad. diné is what we call ourselves in our language, it means “the people.”

i am a natural resources major emphasizing in wildlife conservation and management and also minoring in american indian studies at the university of arizona.

my connection with nature and science first took place at home in my front yard. i was born and raised in the sonoran desert, specifically in tucson, arizona which is located on the traditional homelands of the tohono o’odham and the pascua yaqui. my father is from illinois and my mother was born on the navajo reservation.

out here in the rural part of tucson, it is mostly desert scrub with plants like cacti and thorny trees. plants that are drought resistant.

when my parents married, they decided to grow their own ‘oasis in the desert’ in our front yard.

my parents grow lush flowering plants like honeysuckle that attracts hummingbirds and pomegranates that are eaten by all animals.

our oasis in the deserts attracts many wildlife species like lizards, migrating and native birds, small rodents and the occasional sly coyote i’ll catch a picture of on my wildlife camera.

my earliest memory of interacting with wildlife was in our front yard. i would play in the mud during the monsoon season when i started to notice these snails with spiral shells. my mother encouraged me to interact with the snails because she grew up interacting with the natural world by playing with horned lizards, making mud homes, and chasing flying insects. i remember picking up as many snails as i could find and compiling them in a bucket. i would then tally how many snails i collected on a discarded cardboard box. once i finished analyzing the snails, i would put them back in their habitat because my mom taught me that in our diné culture, we respect all animals. by respect she meant to treat all animals like how we would want to be treated. so i would gently place them back on the earth and bless them for sharing their knowledge. 

even though i did not know it at the time, i was already engaging with environmental stewardship. this is an integral practice in traditional ecological knowledge. i was also conducting observations and data collection which is also part of the scientific method. for many people, our first experiences with science is not in a lab but by having an active role in it: sitting in mud puddles, catching lizards, tasting the sweetness of the dried mesquite pods, and seeing the clouds form during monsoon season. 

whenever i am asked why i wanted to go into the stem field and why i am a natural resources major emphasizing in wildlife conservation and management, i tell the snail story and how i have been involved with science since i was young.

it was not until college in my introduction to natural resources class when i realized that indigenous traditional knowledge is seen as less than, even inferior to western science.

in class the professor was discussing the different perspectives on the environment. he acknowledged the indigenous perspective, but to me, he failed to teach it as an equally valid viewpoint compared to the western perspective.

i will never forget him saying, during the lecture, that, “what the native americans were doing back then was not science,” his words surprised me so much that i could not remember the context for this statement. all i could think about was how he said this in front of a hundred students and no one seemed surprised at all.

instances like this is why the acknowledgment of indigenous ways of knowing is crucial. this dismissal of our knowledge is dehumanizing and diminishes the knowledge we have cultivate since time immemorial

when i think of traditional knowledge and traditional ways of knowing i think of ma’ii, the coyote.

the coyote is a trickster and teacher in navajo culture, but it is also a keystone species, which are an integral species in ecosystems

coyotes have adapted to survive in different habitats from north to central america. they have even adapted to cities due to their opportunistic feeding habits. they are known to scavenge and eat human food or even pets. one of the coyote’s main contributions to our ecosystem is managing smaller predators like foxes, cats, raccoons and opossums. these predators consume eggs and without the presence of coyotes, bird populations would decrease.

however, the coyote’s opportunistic nature has been seen as predatory by ranchers, farmers and landowners. in the past there has been support from the federal government to try and exterminate the coyote and wolf due to their perceived similarities as a nuisance. this extermination has been successful for wolf populations in america but not with the coyote.

and from what i know about my tribe’s interactions with the coyote, we have never led a campaign to wipe them out.

i learned through navajo stories that the coyote is a trickster and a teacher that disobeys normal rules and conventional behaviors. these stories are told to navajo youth to teach certain lessons or explain why our world is the way it is. in these stories, coyote interacts with various animals, humans and the navajo holy people to get food, steal possessions or cause mischief. these stories teach us how not to behave.

the coyote is the trickster because he embodies chaos to teach us what is wrong in our society. coyote plays an integral role in our diné creation story when the coyote’s foolishness helps form the world as we know it. our world is not perfect, and coyote is a symbol that teaches us this. without the trickster, there would be no sense of balance or hózhó in navajo. hózhó is an integral part of navajo culture, to me it is to live in harmony with yourself and the natural world. you cannot have hózhó if you do not understand what the opposite of hózhó is. that is why the coyote is important because he embodies characteristics we should not follow. 

the coyote stories are an example of why inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge and, indigenous ways of being is crucial for modern-day conservation.

oftentimes in western science, scientists see themselves as separate from the environment and what they are studying. within our ways of knowing, the researcher has a responsibility to what is being studied because we are in relation to each other. western science tends to break things into parts and isolate them like pieces to a puzzle, while traditional ecological knowledge tends to unify, connect them, and look at the whole system. within our knowledge systems we accommodate ourselves to the natural world rather than control it, which is an often occurrence in western science.

the acceptance and integration of traditional ecological knowledge and overall indigenous knowledge will allow for more intersectionality in conservation. this is vital for making ecological, environmental, and natural resource management decisions.

not just because our knowledge may or may not have the solutions to the climate crisis, but because our knowledge, our beliefs and traditional teachings have intrinsic value.

looking back at my time with the snails when i was kid, i did not even know what species they were. it was not until i was in high school that i thought to look it up online. i typed in the search bar, “spiral shell snails arizona ” and checked out the pictures and a few sites.

the moment i finally figured out the species of snail, it felt like i cracked a code. but it was bittersweet. the species of snail were not native to arizona, not even to america. they come from europe and were introduced to america to control another snail population. i felt betrayed by the snails i used to collect because they were an introduced species that have a tendency to cause damage to the local environment.

unfortunately, i have not interacted with the snails i used to observe when i was a kid. i asked my mom where they went, and she told me i have not been looking hard enough. and she is right, in order to understand the world around us, we need to return to our traditional ways of learning by going outside and connecting with the natural world not just to collect data, but to listen to the mourning doves, look for the snails on the moist topsoil, and possibly see a lone coyote out in the distance.

ahe’hee’, thank you for listening to my story

indigenous peoples like the piscataway are among the best stewards of our environment, however, across the globe they are losing historic lands to state development and factory farms. their belief system and knowledge of agricultural practices are central to transitioning our current food system to a more sustainable one.

as a result of extractive and polluting capitalist ventures, humanity is now engaged in a fight for our ocean’s survival along with the livelihoods of those who depend on it for sustenance, income, and cultural meaning. with industrial overfishing and marine environmental destruction threatening fish and crustacean health, we desperately need to overhaul our maritime relationships and seafood systems. a wealth of environmentally preservative marine stewardship traditions by indigenous communities provide examples of how to do things right. indigenous scholar kii’iljuus barbara wilson of the cumshewa eagle clan notes, “it’s time to…learn about all the things my ancestors did to ensure that there was enough fish and octopus — looking after and respecting the environment.” our planet is in dire need of sustainable food sources that both support our deteriorating natural ecosystems and nourish increasing human populations, requirements met by multiple indigenous seafood systems.

indigenous seafood stewardship past and present

there is an extensive history of first nations people across the world practicing mariculture, or the cultivation of marine life for food in enclosed areas of open waters. indigenous communities along the northwest coast of north america have long harvested herring eggs from kelp, cedar, and spruce fronds they strategically placed in shallow ocean waters. these introduced organic materials enhance spawning grounds, therefore improving the likelihood that herring will return. in new zealand, the māori people have engaged in mara mataitai –– various approaches to mariculture –– to ensure collective food security since 925. for instance, māori communities used bull kelp to fertilize beds of toheroa, a large bivalve mollusk, to enhance its productivity. māori mariculture is informed by utu, a concept dictating reciprocity with the species and ecosystems from which humans derive our resources. if this principle is replicated by ocean stewards worldwide, we can bolster and protect the ocean habitats on which we greatly rely.

one of the most productive indigenous mariculture innovations that could radically transform our seafood systems if adopted at a larger scale is the clam garden. various populations have been constructing clam gardens for at least 4,000 years by building a rock wall at the low tide line that traps sediment, thereby reducing the slope of the beach and increasing clam habitat area. clam gardens specifically support enhanced production by creating a larger area of optimal intertidal height qualified with prime growth conditions. in british columbia, butter clams within gardens had 1.96 times the biomass and 2.44 times the density as their counterparts in unmodified beaches. to create more productive food systems, the seafood industry must take indigenous practices of food cultivation seriously and learn from the skills willing to be shared. there is no use in waiting for western science to confirm what first nations people have known about the success of their seafood systems for centuries.

these examples of indigenous mariculture innovations provide a small survey of the indigenous stewardship methods that bolster seafood supplies while fostering a restorative relationship with our seas, all without utilizing industrial resources or exploiting the environment. in bitter irony, “indigenous people are now the ‘outliers’ on their own ancestral lands,” despite their superior, sustainable stewardship. first nations people engaged with mariculture practices deserve reparations and support from industrial actors and government programming alike. governments can start by reversing restrictive policies such as canada’s fisheries act that asserts federal authority over all fisheries in canada, undermining the rights of indigenous communities to exercise their expertise over the waters they’ve long depended on.

climate-forward collaborations

in a present-day model program, researchers, tribal nations, students, and various indigenous stewards are currently coming together through the cross-pacific regional collaborative hub funded by noaa’s sea grant program in washington state. this project is initiating research, outreach, and education in collaboration with indigenous communities across hawaii, alaska, and washington to advance indigenous aquaculture practices in the pacific region. the group hosts summits, advances existing restoration sites, and plans for future investments in indigenous aquaculture. returns to indigenous ocean stewardship, accompanied by reparatory and collaborative action, can build more gentle yet robust seafood systems while rebuilding the industry’s broken connection to the sea.

this story was featured in our series, slipping through our fingers: the future of water.

however, people’s use of oils came before we had engines to burn them. we have always chased fats for their energy. 

before my lindblad expedition trip to southeastern alaska, i subconsciously saw oil as something unnatural and something always damaging to ecosystems and to our own health. i now see oil as just another resource that industrialized societies have exploited and reaped in excess. the way we go about searching for energy, though, can vary from disastrous to or harmonious with nature, and we are at a crucial point in our atmospheric timeline to relearn old and sustainable ways of energy harvesting. 

fish as candles

the revelation began with my introduction to candlefish. on our second day in alaska, i joined a tour of the chilkat valley. with its pristine water and air quality, it is home to the latest salmon run of the year and is thus where eagles congregate in the fall. 

chilkat valley is aptly known as the valley of the eagles for its yearly visit of up to 3,000 eagles that decorate the trees like ornaments. living below the soaring eagles in this part of southeast alaska are the tlingit people who have been able to maintain their artistically expressive and resourcefully subsistent culture. historically, with all that their environment had to offer them, there was enough time for woodcarving, tapestry-weaving, and storytelling. 

“they have so much candlefish that the river turns black during their run,” our naturalist yelled over the bus engine and rattling windows. 

my ears perked up at that new fish name.

“hooligan is another name for candlefish, and it is so dense with oil that once it’s dry, it can be lit like a candle,” he continued. the klukwan clan gathered enough of the candlefish and traded the excess with the nearby abathascan peoples, establishing trade routes that were known as “grease trails.” this oil allowed them to light their homes and communities, as well as store food for up to a year in the oil. the fish itself also offers people half of their daily caloric needs due to the lipid density. agutuk or akutaq was even a pre-freezer ice cream made of hooligan oil, berries, and fresh snow for people in western alaska. the tlingit people who would procure the hooligan oil would mostly use it themselves to preserve berries, such as highbush cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries, year-round.

the fish and its oils provided light, food preservation, and nutrition for people. the grease from the fish is high in unsaturated fats and provides more vitamin a, e, and k than other sources of fat. even meriwether lewis, of lewis and clark, stumbled upon it during his travel and journaled that it was “superior to any fish [he] ever tasted.” with so many benefits and uses, i was amazed i had never heard of this fatty fish. hooligan, however, remains a prized possession only to alaskans. because hooligan is primarily found in southeast alaska, it was not a resource that is known to outsiders and was never harvested on a large scale. 

whales as lamps

 

later that day, back aboard the national geographic sea lion, we spotted and watched a humpback whale join us at the surface. it was bubble-net feeding, creating a tunnel of bubbles in which plankton and small fish would be trapped. then it swam with an open mouth through the middle and burst through the surface. in 2022, it was captured only in our photographs, but if it had been 50 years ago, the spotted whale would have been hunted down. since whales are found in all of the world’s major oceans, they are a prized and sought-out source of oil. 

between the 18th and mid-19th centuries, oil lamps across the united states and much of the western world required oil extracted from whale blubber. while in inuit cultures, whaling is a culturally, spiritually, and materially significant tradition, american whalers went out to sea to harvest profitable carcasses. from when they first arrived to the north pacific in the 1830s, the american whalers over-hunted the waters. and by the 1940s they had pushed north into the bering sea. they were primarily after bowhead whales, since each yielded 100 barrels of oil whereas sperm whales averaged only 45 barrels of oil. 

in addition to the blubber oil, bowheads also provided bristly baleen, of which the baleen plates were cut and filed into corset fixtures, fishing rods, or buttons. the oil was used for lamps, cooking, soap, candles, paint, and mechanical lubrication. since whales provided so much raw material for luxury goods, there is a genre of paintings that glorify the whaling industry for the goods they produced. 

 

whereas subsistent cultures involve the whole community in the hunting, processing, and consumption of a whale, industrial societies left the hunting to the professional whalers, the processing to the factories, and consumption to the elite in societies. 

the commodification of whale oil and baleen were devastating to their populations. in 1853 whaling became the fifth-largest industry in the u.s., where 8,000 whales were killed for the sake of commercial goods. about 20 years later, petroleum wells popped up on the west coast of the u.s., providing an even more accessible and powerful oil. 

oil as explosive modernity

the growth of the new oil industry didn’t correlate with an immediate decline in whale hunting. petroleum-powered engines outcompeted wind-powered sails, and whaleships had a chance to become even more effective. the petroleum industry thus increased whaling efficiency before whaling would be officially banned in 1971. 

 

alaska’s first oil reserves were discovered in 1957, two years before alaska was granted statehood. it was in 1967, though, that alaska became known as an oil hub with the discovery of prudhoe bay’s oil deposits. experts estimated there to be 24 billion barrels of oil, of which 12 billion have been recoverable and so far extracted. 

but today’s oil flow is slowing. the petroleum flowing through the 800-mile trans-alaska pipeline from prudhoe bay is estimated to be about a quarter of its peak flow in the 1980s. not only does the petroleum seem to be slowing, but land sales and industry interest in the region seem to be dropping as well. most recently, the biden administration canceled the cook inlet lease sale which “would have opened more than one million acres for drilling.” 

while this was met with contempt from pro-oil representatives and individuals, the bureau of ocean energy management has canceled lease sales in the region in 2006, 2008, and 2010 due to a “lack” of interest from the industry as well.

having read headlines about alaskan residents relocating towns due to the permafrost-dense soils melting below their houses and infrastructure, i thought all of the state’s residents would be eager to move away from fossil fuels. but while they are feeling the effects of climate change so directly and rapidly, alaskan residents also directly benefit from the alaska permanent fund. the fund provides an annual check to families that is a percentage of alaska’s oil revenues, averaging a payment of $1,600 annually. beyond fossil fuel money however, alaskans can cut down costs by investing in renewables since they already pay almost double the amount citizens in the lower 48 are charged for utilities. 

a future for alaskan energy

on that day on the klehini river when i learned about candlefish, i also learned about a mining operation that has sprung up between klukwan and deishú (now known as haines). across from the river that is home to candlefish, salmon, and eagles, as well as the human residents of the valley, stands a shredded mountainside. known as the palmer project, the mine provides copper and zinc to the metal-heavy electronics and energy markets. here stands the frustrating reality of our industrial society. to continue feeding our energy-intensive lifestyles, we must source the energy from somewhere. 

europe and the united states were once fueled by local vegetable oil, before whales were hunted down in alaska, and later abandoned for oil reserves there and abroad. today, internationally, we are in an era of pushing past fossil fuels to reach mineral-intense electrification. our air may be near free of fossil fuel emissions, but is it guaranteed that our soil and water will be free of leached minerals and chemicals?

 

with four years spent pursuing a bachelors in environmental studies at george washington university, punctuated with my trip to alaska, i continue to be skeptical of an industry-first approach to solving our climate crisis. this is where technological advances paired with profit are expected to spur change. as we’ve seen from how we’ve fueled our societies since the industrial revolution, it is damaging and unsustainable. 

in contrast to phrases we hear in mainstream politics and media like “boost growth,” “revitalize the economy,” and “energy superpower,” the word we often heard in klukwan and describing the tlingit culture was “subsistence.” through art, business, and architecture, even today the tlingit people focus on the renewable and the regenerative. one tlingit woman, jodi mitchell, founded the inside passage electric cooperative, which is an energy group that installs small-scale hydroelectric dams that use slow-spinning blades that small fish can swim through and large fish can swim around. 

mitchell started a renewable energy project that meets human desires and needs as well as those needs of surrounding animals and the land. her work follows the increasingly renewable trend in alaska, where its contribution to state-wide energy has increased by 25% between 2010 and 2019. 

across the state, with many native alaskan-run projects, we see solar projects saving their communities $7,726 each and dams safely built on salmon-rich rivers that plan to soon provide 90% of igiugig’s power. beyond the typical solar and hydro projects we often discuss in the lower 48, alaska also now has biomass facilities that process wood or fish waste and kelp. 

humans, like all living things, need to take resources from the environment in order to survive. but like all other creatures, we collectively need to be more in tune with natural processes so that we don’t continue to strain our environments. 

einstein is quoted as saying, “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” i deeply believe that we cannot solve an industrial issue with industrial methods. in this time of climate transformation and societal potential, we can use thoughtful technology on a smaller and more local scale to meet our energy needs. not energy wants, but energy needs.

i think it’s time we ask ourselves if we need to hunt a whale when we can just stick with a fish.

––

editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. all editorial content is created independently. we thank lindblad expeditions for their continued support of our project. read all the stories from the expedition in our astonishing alaska series.

earth day was cold and rainy this year. but that did not stop the northwestern university student organizers of generations of environmental justice from hosting an all-night teach-out on april 22 and 23.  

generations of environmental justice featured workshops, lectures and discussions about environmental justice issues, including pollution’s health impacts in communities of color and trespassing on indigenous lands and treaty rights. the student-led event began at 5 p.m. on earth day and continued until 7 a.m. the next morning in alice millar chapel and parkes hall.

“the goals of the event are to provide people with a general education about environmental justice and the history of the environmental justice movement and how that is distinct from the white environmentalism narrative that is very pervasive,” said nu junior lucy london. 

london is one of the organizers of the event. she is studying performance studies with a minor in environmental policy and culture.

this event was inspired by project survival, a student-led environmental event held at northwestern on january 23, 1970, before the first ever earth day. project survival was an all-night event that brought together 10,000 people and featured speakers and discussions of crisis level air and water pollution that kicked off the environmental movement.

“i was feeling really inspired by that energy and despaired at how it feels like there’s not really that type of directed energy happening right now towards the climate crisis,” said london.

london added, though, that she hopes the 2022 iteration will be more inclusive than project survival, where she said all the speakers were white men.

the opening statements began around 5:30 p.m. with a land acknowledgement from kadin mills, a northwestern sophomore and member of the ojibwe tribe. the northwestern campus occupies ojibwe (chippewa), potawatomi and odawa (ottawa) lands.  

a main focus of this event was to highlight indigenous voices, which london said have been central to the environmental justice movement long before the mainstream white environmentalist movement began in the mid-20th century.

one breakout session held in the first block of events was called “how indigenous philosophy can save the world.” doug kiel, a northwestern professor of native american history and member of the oneida nation of wisconsin led this session.

kiel opened this session with a traditional oneida opening for meetings and gatherings. the greeting gave thanks for over a dozen aspects of the natural world –– from the sun, to the fish, to the trees. 

“european philosophy has ruined the world,” kiel said simply in his lecture. 

he cited the “doctrine of discovery” as the root of european philosophies of ownership and extraction in the americas that had damaged the environment and native communities for centuries. he added, though, that indigenous philosophy may be the antidote.

one example he pointed to was the seven generations philosophy, which asks communities to consider how the decisions they make will affect their descendents seven generations into the future.

at the end of the session kiel asked the audience to form groups and discuss how they felt kinship with the land. when the whole group reconvened, people shared about their favorite places to go to feel connected to nature and how they connected to new places.

this sharing seemed to be at the heart of the event’s original intent: people coming together to share and learn about how they can connect with and contribute to the environmental justice movement.

“this is a very broad and very large movement,” said london. “we need everyone in it in whatever capacity and whatever role they have to fill.”

as we head towards a future of climate catastrophe, collaborative establishments that share cultural values applicable to every human being, such as the skä•noñh center, can help people recognize that we need to start taking care of the land that we live on.

if you would like to learn more about the skä•noñh center visit: https://www.skanonhcenter.org/academic-collaborative 

dr. luzadis is a professor in the environmental studies department at suny college of environmental science and forestry (esf), and is the founder of heart forward science, a program created to advance sustainable scientific outcomes with the whole-person approach. she also serves on the planet forward advisory council, and is chair of the board of directors of the global council for science and the environment (gcse). 

a huge thanks to dr. luzadis for taking the time to chat with me. it was great to get an inside look at what went on at the conference and from such an interesting perspective. as an educator at a school like esf, dr. luzadis has a unique point of view on these issues (i would guess that most representatives at cop don’t work with youth activists in their day jobs). i hope the solutions and behavior changes recommended by dr. luzadis will be widely heard and implemented. 

podcast transcription:

lily john  0:00  
my name is lily john and i’m a planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 at suny-esf. i recently sat down with esf professor dr. valerie luzadis to discuss her experience at this year’s un climate summit. was this your first time attending a cop conference?

dr. valerie luzadis  0:18  
it was this was my first one. yes.

lily john  0:21  
okay, and how did it compare to your expectations?

dr. valerie luzadis  0:25  
well, i didn’t have many going in, i wasn’t really sure exactly what to expect. of course, i know about this work, since it’s critical to sustainability. but this was also the first time that the global council for science and the environment had a delegation. so it was very interesting to work with a group of people from other institutions around the world to come together, and, you know, have a common platform for observing and connecting with one another. so it was a really, overall great experience, and so many ways. i was full time observing the second week, when all the negotiations were happening. and i found that i got very invested along the way, well, following certain threads of language and discussions. and as is typical with negotiations, and with consensus approaches, which is what’s used for the cop meetings, things are a little stronger, earlier, and usually get softened language wise by the end, and that happened, and there’s kind of an emotional ride with that, then it’s like, oh, i really wanted to see this. happen that way. and, and so almost disappointment at moments of that. it really took me a couple of days after the meeting ended to say, okay, remember what this is. it’s consensus. it’s global-level discussions. we have no formal enforcement mechanisms, and then really look at what happened at the meeting. and when i did that, i can say, i think progress was certainly made. and it’s not enough.

lily john  2:04  
yeah, that seems like the consensus. but, the language was softening just in order to reach a compromise, like that was the only way to get people to agree to what was being proposed?

dr. valerie luzadis  2:17  
yes, and it’s an interesting process that they use, because it’s not formal agreement. it’s just agreeing to not block it, right. so at the very end, that’s how the consensus is reached. and so there’s this process where they have these informal stocktaking sessions, and i found those very interesting was where the countries would be able to say, here’s what we want. and here’s what we think should be happening. and by the end, it became “we are not happy with this, this, this, and this, and we are not going to block this.”

lily john  2:52  
i imagine it’s quite complicated to be managing all of these different pieces of input and beginning with what each party won’t agree with. from that perspective, it’s kind of impressive that anything got done. what did the representation outside of government look like? and what was the role of these groups?

dr. valerie luzadis  3:11  
well, the the formal parties and government deal parties are all through the un. and so it’s not a formal representation in terms of the consensus building, that’s only the governments themselves. and so the observers and our ngos, businesses, civil… civil society groups that meet outside of this are there to share their thoughts about how to move things ahead. there’s a whole set of technical advisors who are also there. how do we do what we need to get done?

lily john  3:43  
it’s great that there was so much representation of different groups there. so this year, what were the primary themes of cop?

dr. valerie luzadis  3:51  
the primary themes continued, of course, to be on mitigation, and then adaptation. there was also a big discussion on what they called loss and damage. and that’s because there are already losses and damages related to climate change. and it’s happening in large part to countries and to peoples who are 1. not causing this problem, and 2. don’t have the resources to be able to respond to it. there was also a very big focus on climate finance. and then the final thing was creating what was called “the paris rulebook.” and this was really rules that are needed to implement what was agreed to in paris. so the goals of this particular cop 26, included, trying to secure global net zero by mid century, and keeping to 1.5 degrees within reach of possibility, because right now, we were set toward a greater than two degrees increase global warming before this meeting, and so a lot of the conversation was about what do we need to change what has to be added? how can we get to keeping us to that 1.5 degree limit. there were adaptation conversations around protecting communities and habitats. and then this finance issue was big because the agreements that were made, and paris didn’t come through, i heard at one point that only 20% of what was promised came through. and so there was a lot of attention to that lack of follow through, and the need for what they’re talking about, it’s $100 billion a year mobilized toward helping to deal with climate change. and there were certain countries, developing countries, who really wanted to say developed countries should be paying this. there are 20 countries that produce 80% of the the greenhouse gases. and the two biggest contributors, of course, are the us and china. and so i think this is one of the issues is who’s paying this money in? so when you talk about this climate finance, it’s not just countries, but it’s also private financing.

lily john  6:00  
is that private companies? are they part o f the question?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:04  
this would come from companies who have created some sort of… you might think about it the… so the language that we ended up with at this point was that we would agree to phase out “unabated coal” and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, but “unabated coal” suggests that we need to abate coal. so there are companies that have the technology and ability to be able to do that. and so they become part of the financing activity.

lily john  6:32  
is there a discussion around the big polluter companies making financial contributions?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:38  
this is one of the things that i do know is that within the nationally developed contributions, each country is looking at how they manage the polluters. and so the polluter pays, of course, is one of those techniques that are used.

lily john  6:53  
why do you think that these regulations haven’t been effective?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:57  
coal and fossil fuels have never been called out in one of the climate agreements, and so it wasn’t in the paris agreement. so the fact that this was going to come into play and get put into language in the document was a really big deal. and the beginning, it was to phase out coal, and to phase out subsidies to fossil fuels. and it changed to to phase out unabated coal and inefficient subsidies to fossil fuels. and those situations, it’s at the country level, or even sometimes sub-national level where these things are regulated. and so that’s the question, it’s kind of moving, it gets moved into different scales, where we have a global problem, but now we have to figure out how and at which scales do we need to do which things in order to have a global impact and changing it?

lily john  7:52  
yeah, those systems seem like they’re very well established. and the systems needed to reverse that action and to work together to end burning coal, or whatever else needs to be done. it seems like those systems haven’t really been established because of the lack of agreement.

dr. valerie luzadis  8:11  
yeah, so this is probably one of the most interesting things about this cop for me was was exactly this bigger picture around systems. the youth voice was strong at this cop. and there was not one voice. we also heard indigenous youth speak so clearly, and passionately. and one of the most astounding things i heard was this group, essentially saying, “why are we looking to you who created this problem to fix it? because there’s no incentive for that.” and so what i started to see was a very clear voice set of voices in this process, and a very clear set of voices saying this process is not going to do it. and we need to be doing something else. and the youth voice collectively, and the indigenous voices collectively, i believe, are likely to lead us otherwise,

lily john  9:04  
was there much youth or indigenous involvement in previous cop conferences?

dr. valerie luzadis  9:10  
there was more this time, from my understanding, than most. youth voice in particular was written into this cop in terms of following on with a regular set of activities with the youth groups and indigenous groups as well. the thing that really strikes me i saw on the major panels throughout this, both youth and indigenous people, the indigenous voice one of one of the the messages loud and clear is that indigenous people have knowledge that can help us to resolve these issues, to mitigate and to adapt with climate change. and i did not see any indigenous people invited to share substantive ideas about that. all i heard were indigenous people invited to say, our voices need to be heard. they were also saying we have knowledge that can help. we had science everywhere, on every panel all the time, but not indigenous knowledge with it. and i don’t understand that there’s a relegation of these voices. and that’s hugely problematic.

lily john  10:13  
i recently heard a piece on npr about a group of young indigenous women who had travelled from new zealand and alaska to speak at cop. but their time was cut short and almost eliminated. so it seems like only the first step is being taken with inviting them to be there.

dr. valerie luzadis  10:31  
i would say that’s right. and not only inviting, but inviting into a process that clearly they weren’t part of designing, and in which their approaches and their relationship with time and relationship were not respected. again, that’s hugely problematic. there was a very, very big sense of frustration. and that was really palpable. and not just in the protests, it was palpable in the rooms, it was palpable from different governments, and especially the smaller countries and the small island developing nations. and so it’s a really interesting question of what kind of activity through civil society can take place or will take place that will help us to address this problem. at the same time, we’ve got this formal process, and there was progress made.

lily john  11:19  
overall, would you say you’re leaning toward more towards optimism, or more towards being disappointed by the lack of results?

dr. valerie luzadis  11:28  
i am, by nature, an optimistic person. and i put my energy and my attention on the positive and on the vision of the future that i want to see. i can say, some progress was made. and it was not enough. i like to see the activity of working by consensus, because so much of our world is a violent world. and to see where countries can come together and work by consensus, that’s very important. it’s a non-violent approach to getting us to a non-violent, equitable, sustainable world. and at the same time, it’s not enough for modi to come out and say 2070 for india to be net zero. that’s too late. the ideas on the radar, that’s good. so is that better than not being on the radar? maybe?

lily john  12:17  
yeah, i was curious about india’s announcement, because that was one of the first things i heard out of cop. and i thought it was super exciting. and the landmark dramatic change that we were looking for, but now reading about the reactions and act thinking about where 2070 is… and also it seems like the social justice and the human issues have not really been acknowledged there. so it’s more of something for shock value is kind of how it seems from the outside.

dr. valerie luzadis  12:49  
well, the truth is that politics are at play in this setting. there was a us-china agreement that came out. and that’s actually got a lot to do with why we have the language of unabated coal and inefficient subsidies of fossil fuels, is because of the us-china agreement. is this a good thing? it is because as one of the biggest emitters, china, did not send their leader to this meeting. and so to have an agreement come out during this time was really important.

lily john  13:20  
given everything we’ve discussed, what do you see as being the most effective step in implementing the necessary systemic change?

dr. valerie luzadis  13:29  
i think that one of the things we do is that when we teach only about the intellectual mind, and the analytical aspects of things, and we don’t necessarily teach about heart, and love, and imagination, and intuition, these other parts of us super important. and that’s actually what’s going to weave into that with our intellect, that i think will help us to hold that vision and figure out how to get there. it’s the whole person approach, we need to bring all of ourselves to all that we do for a long time now, we’ve been asked just to bring this part of us just our heads. and that’s not enough, we can see it. and we certainly don’t teach the skills of how to understand intuitive knowledge, where there are skills affiliated with that, that we could learn. it’s different than analytical knowledge. it’s just as important. and so understanding and using these things in tandem, is actually the the education of the future, i believe, but we need to build that skill set and we need to build the community system that’ll allow us to do that.

transcribed by https://otter.ai

• indigenous peoples to get $1.7 billion in recognition of role in protecting forests. this pledge is part of an ambitious goal to reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, and was announced one week ago on the first day of cop26. learn more about the motivations and results of this historic moment.

• indigenous communities are at the forefront of climate resilience. a chair of the pawanka fund says that “indigenous knowledge includes the interrelationship between human being, mother earth, and cosmos.” learn what this means and why indigenous people are so essential to climate change resilience.

• the disproportionate impact of climate change on indigenous communities. explore why some of the communities that contribute the least to climate change are the most impacted, and why their voices need to be heard.

• indigenous territories fight climate change. read this quick q&a with a researcher about the results of her study examining the importance of indigenous territories in climate change mitigation across panama and the amazon basin.

• what western society can learn from indigenous communities, detailed in this essay from the opinion section of the new york times (note: this site is subscription only). learn about how the new zealand government is embracing indigenous knowledge, how this can improve the management of ecosystems and natural resources, and the global implications.

check back tomorrow for more info on what is being explored at cop26 — and good reads to keep you informed!

i recently had the opportunity to speak to the indigenous peoples’ liaison for north america with the food and agriculture organization of the united nations, mikaila way. today, her work is focused on building relationships and partnerships with the indigenous nations in canada and the united states focused on revitalizing indigenous peoples’ food systems. 

indigenous peoples’ communities’ challenges and priorities of “food security, food sovereignty, and health have accelerated and intensified during the covid-19 pandemic,” she told me in an interview. way began her job with fao one month before covid-19 changed the world. concerned about how the pandemic would affect indigenous peoples’ communities, she worked with the fao indigenous peoples unit and the liaison office for north america to support communications and network building internationally and regionally. throughout the regional and global coordination, indigenous youth have been and continue to be central in the work to protect and revitalize their food systems and the ongoing response to the pandemic. 

here is our conversation about the expanded and existing collaboration between fao and indigenous youth. the transcript was edited for length and clarity.

q: what do you do in your job? 

a: many different things! the main objective of my work is to connect the work of the indigenous peoples’ unit based in fao headquarters in rome with indigenous peoples in the north america region (canada and usa), with the fao liaison office for north america in washington dc, so we can implement a coordinated work plan. we have done amazing activities, including an introductory series of dialogues with more than 120 indigenous leaders, a high-level expert seminar on north american indigenous peoples´ food systems, a webinar highlighting indigenous women’s role in food systems, and a film screening with the producers of the documentary, “gather” which i strongly recommend all the readers to watch. in preparation toward the un food systems summit, we have coordinated with indigenous youth of north america to develop unified messages and key priorities for global leaders to include in plans for food system transformation. 

q: with the impacts of covid-19 and climate change, how is fao prioritizing opportunities to support and empower indigenous youth?

a: since 2017, the fao has offered an indigenous youth internship program, which is now remote. it is a yearly opportunity that goes out to all regions for indigenous youth internships at fao headquarters in rome, as well as regional offices around the world. the internship supports efforts related to raising awareness on the sustainable development goals (sdg), particularly sdg2 to achieve zero hunger through wide dissemination of fao’s work in this area, with a specific focus on including the voices and opinions of indigenous peoples’ communities.

fao’s focus comes in direct response to the loud call echoed by indigenous youth and elders for global support in the intergenerational transmission of knowledge and empowerment. this transfer of intergenerational knowledge is one of the key priorities for indigenous peoples’ climate change adaptation strategies. we are working with the global indigenous youth caucus as well as global indigenous youth leaders to ensure their voices and priorities are centered in global debates for covid-19 response, collective rights, and climate change adaptations. 

q: what are the highlights activities of the fao collaboration with indigenous youth?

a: fao offers various opportunities for indigenous youth to participate in the (october) world food day celebrations and the world food forum––from attending online events to participating in the poster and poetry contest. fao north america will be hosting indigenous youth for a world food forum launch event on october 6. the following week, they will be hosting indigenous chefs and producers from the americas for an indigenous peoples’ day and world food day event celebrating indigenous peoples’ cuisine across the region and emphasizing the importance of intercultural education about food systems for indigenous youth.  

over the past year and a half, indigenous youth have been contributing to the global dialogues leading up to the un food systems summit (september 23, 2021). during the summit, youth can use social media to make an impact. social media is a powerful tool to raise their voices and make sure they are seen.

this summer, fao and the global indigenous youth caucus organized the global forum on indigenous youth. due to  covid-19, the forum was held online. the silver lining of the online event was, indigenous youth and fao were able to bring together a larger global audience, and it was powerful to see people calling from their communities and territories. the global sessions focused on bringing together speakers on climate change, innovation, ecological knowledge, food systems transformation, the path forward, and the transmission of intergenerational traditional knowledge. the outcomes from these discussions were reflected in a strong statement and recommendations on sustainable and resilient food systems for global leaders to reference.

there are many other upcoming activities. follow the @faoindigenous and @faonorthamerica twitter accounts to get all the information from firsthand. 

information on the opportunities above, as well as fao’s partner organizations that provide similar opportunities, is available on the fao indigenous peoples unit website, as well as fao north america’s site.

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about this series: the planet forward-fao summer storytelling fellows work was sponsored by the north america office of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations (fao), and the fellows were mentored by lisa palmer, gw’s national geographic professor of science communication and author of “hot, hungry planet.”