SIRGE Coalition

The transition to a low-carbon economy, critical for combating climate change, relies on the extraction of essential minerals such as lithium, nickel, copper, and cobalt. However, mining for these transition minerals pose significant social, environmental, and health risks and disproportionately impact Indigenous Peoples. 🛠️ At the recently held Indigenous Peoples’ Just Transition Summit, leaders from all seven socio-cultural regions presented the outcome document Indigenous Peoples Principles and Protocols for Just Transition which denounced mining and renewable energy projects for violating their rights and proceeding without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent on their territories. 🌍 SIRGE Coalition's recent paper, prepared by Galina Angarova, Yblin Roman Escobar, and Bryan Bixcul, emphasizes these priorities, outlining pathways to safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ rights, health, and livelihoods across all phases of resource development. 📃 👉🏾 Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eZQitTv4 #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #JustTransition #TransitionMinerals #IndigenousSummit #ClimateJustice

Nearly 100 Indigenous leaders reached unanimous agreement on a first-ever document to define what a just energy transition is from an Indigenous perspective, with eleven principles to make the transition fair and equitable. 🌱 SIRGE's Executive Director, Galina Angarova, talks about the importance of this document and how it can be used moving forward. 📃 "Trying to fast-track critical mineral mining projects without stringent laws, regulations and partnerships not only creates an unjust energy transition, but can also create environmental issues down the line. Goals for renewable energy and a just transition can go hand in hand. It’s not a dichotomy. The transition has to be done in a way that upholds justice and equity for Indigenous Peoples." - Galina Angarova 👉🏾 Read the full piece via Mongabay! #IndigenousSummit #IndigenousSummit2024 #JustTransition #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #Environment #HumanRights #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice #Conservation #EnergyTransition

📢 The Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch within the Division for Inclusive Social Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is holding their 23rd session this week from Dec. 2-4, with the theme of the EGM, "The Rights of Indigenous Peoples," including those in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the context of the extraction of critical minerals. 👉🏾 Learn about more about the virtual event and check out their schedule here! #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #JustTransition

On this #NationalDayOfMourning, we celebrate Indigenous brilliance and provide resources to honor the truth in history, recognize whose land we are on, and work towards true allyship. We call on the #CulturalSurvival community to explore Indigenous perspectives, challenge colonial myths, and take action against ongoing injustices. Celebrate and uplift Indigenous Peoples every day. #NDOM2024 #NoThanksNoGiving #ThanksTaking #TruthGiving #LandBack #HonorTheTreaties #DecolonizeThanksgiving https://lnkd.in/eByTxNzJ

📢 A UN committee has accused Australia of breaching international racial discrimination conventions over failed changes to Western Australia's Aboriginal heritage laws. 🚨The changes that were made were without the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous communities and put Indigenous cultural heritage at risk. Click below to learn more. 👇🏾 #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #SocialJustice

🌍 COP29: The COP of Uncertainty, Divisions, and False Solutions As COP29 concludes, frustration lingers. The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) of $300 billion/year by 2035 falls drastically short of the $455–584 billion needed annually for mitigation, with adaptation alone requiring $215–387 billion/year. Meanwhile, fossil fuel subsidies reached a staggering $7 trillion in 2022—far eclipsing climate finance commitments. Discussions on Article 6 raised alarm among Indigenous Peoples, as carbon markets and offsets, which often lack safeguards for human rights, continue to be promoted despite reports that only 16% of carbon credits represent real emissions reductions. Transition minerals were central to discussions around transitioning to low emissions economies, with the scale of mining required for a green economy underscoring the need for legally binding protections to prevent harm to Indigenous communities. The SIRGE Coalition was on the ground, challenging harmful narratives, highlighting loopholes in voluntary standards, and advocating for Indigenous rights. 🔗 Dive deeper into these critical issues and our call for just, rights-based climate solutions in the full report: https://lnkd.in/eH_S4fsM #COP29 #COP29Azerbaijan #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #ClimateJustice

Reposted EARTHWORKS 🌍 Protecting Communities, Changing the Rules! 💪 At #COP29, Earthworks’ Executive Director Jennifer Krill spotlighted the dangers of mining on Indigenous lands—where over 50% of energy transition mineral projects are planned. These communities protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity yet face disproportionate harm from mining practices, including threats to their lands, waters, and cultural heritage. 🌊🌱 To create a just energy transition, we must prioritize Indigenous Peoples’ rights, community consent, and strong protections for human rights and the environment. Ditching harmful waste practices, improving recycling, and reforming outdated mining policies are essential to prevent repeating the injustices of the fossil fuel era. ✊💚 #COP29Azerbaijan #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #ClimateJustice

🆕 Brazil sealed a $37.1B compensation agreement with miners BHP, Vale, and Samarco for the Mariana dam collapse in 2015, one of the country's most devastating environmental disasters that contaminated water, flooded forests, killed people, and left hundreds homeless. 📢 It is vital for auto companies to pay close attention to the environmental and social impacts of their supply chains and include the participation of Indigenous Peoples in writing policies. Edson krenak of Cultural Survival and SIRGE's Executive Committee said: “We want the auto industry to understand the impact on communities when their suppliers don’t act responsibly, when they don’t respect human rights—indigenous people’s rights.” Vuyisile Ncube of EARTHWORKS said: “In addition to automakers and mining companies, we need policymakers; we need investors, we need finance institutions to also play a role in ensuring that this transition is truly just.” Lead The Charge has found that the majority of automakers have no policies related to Indigenous Peoples' rights, including Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). Christopher Alford of The Sunrise Project Inc. (member of the Lead The Charge Network) said: “With EVs, we have an opportunity to transform the industry for the better because the transition to electric vehicles is already necessitating a transformation of auto supply chains. So, the opportunity to intervene and improve that is now, whilst these supply chains are being transformed.” Click below to read more! 👇🏾 #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #EnvironmentalJustice #SocialJustice

#COP29: There Is Nothing To Celebrate Here In the early hours of Sunday, November 24, at the #COP29 closing plenary in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sheelah Bearfoot, MHS, a member of the Chiricahua Apache Nation, delivered a powerful statement on behalf of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change. Her words expressed deep disappointment over the direction of global climate negotiations and the outcomes of #COP29. Sheelah stated: "There is nothing to celebrate here today. As Peoples, as Sovereign Nations, we join the several other Nations that have voiced their vehement objections to these unacceptable decisions that are continuing to destroy our planet. We support the CSOs who have chosen to use silence to refuse to give legitimacy to this sham of a process, but we have an obligation to speak and hold our place as rights holders in this space and ensure our disappointment is put on record. It is unacceptable that human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples were removed from NCQG and instead prioritized carbon market financing, which profoundly harms Indigenous Peoples. While we urgently need direct and equitable access to climate finance for adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage across all seven socio-cultural regions, we reiterate that we reject the financial colonization that comes from loans and any other financial mechanisms that perpetuate the indebtedness of Nations who have contributed the least to climate change yet bear the brunt of its tragedies." Watch her full intervention here 👇🏾 Video credit: UNFCCC

Reporting from #COP29: We had the opportunity to speak with Ghazali Ohorella, an Alifuru representative, about the latest updates on the negotiations surrounding Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, the overall progress of COP29, and his hopes for COP30. When asked to describe COP29 in one word, he chose "uncertainty"—a sentiment that captures the prevailing mood of the negotiations underway here in Baku. Stay tuned as we continue to share insights and updates from the frontlines of these critical discussions. #ClimateAction #COP29 Listen to his updates here 👇🏾