Click the link to read the article on the Time Magazine website (Amy Bowers-Cordalis). Here’s an excerpt:
November 12, 2024
Time: What is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government (other than your own), needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?
Bowers-Cordalis: The most critical action in advancing the climate agenda is to work directly with Indigenous nations and peoples. Climate, biodiversity, and conservation are deeply intertwined; solutions to the climate crisis often lie in protecting biodiversity and embracing local, nature-based solutions. Indigenous territories hold 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity because these lands, reserved for Indigenous use, have been shielded from development while allowing Indigenous stewardship practices to thrive. Indigenous peoples manage these resources with reverence, guided by traditional ecological knowledge passed down through generations and safeguarded by inherent tribal sovereignty.
Governments and corporations must move beyond the exploitation of Indigenous resources and conflict with Indigenous nations, and instead form partnerships that honor Indigenous legal rights, knowledge, and unique political status. This approach is strongly supported by tribal, U.S., and international law. Many tribes in the U.S. have sophisticated tribal law and court systems that codify ancient reciprocal relationships with nature and land management practices. U.S. treaties with tribes are the supreme law of the land, providing powerful legal tools to advance nature-based solutions to the climate crisis. Furthermore, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) affirms the indivisibility of human rights, sovereignty, natural resource stewardship, and planetary health. It underscores our responsibility to restore the environment for future generations and calls on governments to remedy past harms to both Indigenous peoples and the planet. To advance the arc of justice and healing, it is time for the United States and all countries to fully implement the UNDRIP, ensuring protection for Indigenous Peoples’ human rights and all of our responsibilities to future generations.
Klamath River dam removal, the largest river restoration project in U.S. history, is a prime example of the tremendous potential of supporting Indigenous-led, nature-based solutions. Indigenous grassroots activism and tribal leadership have driven history’s largest river restoration project. The $550 million agreement, made with one of the world’s largest power companies, resulted in the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. The agreement equally respects Indigenous rights, the rights of nature, business interests, and public needs. Removing the dams was less costly than upgrading them, resulting in lower power costs for consumers, restoring over 400 miles of spawning habitat, improving water quality, and reducing methane emissions. Importantly, it ensures that Indigenous peoples on the Klamath can continue their fishing way of life by restoring the lifeblood of our culture.
This type of collaboration shows that solutions honoring the rights of nature, Indigenous peoples, and business are not only possible but essential. Achieving this requires dismantling colonial systems that took lands and resources for profit, resulting in ecological destruction. By restoring balance through the mutual interests of Indigenous peoples, nature, and business, we can heal the planet.
