On the front lines: Indigenous women and climate change

Indigenous communities are on the front lines of fighting resource extraction and climate change, but they are also on the front lines of solutions. Growing up in one of the world’s most intensive fossil fuel extraction projects in the tar sands, Melina Laboucan-Massimo became increasingly aware that our current global energy strategy is unsustainable. After witnessing a massive oil spill in her home community, she dedicated her work to building renewable energy solutions that are key to a community’s health and vitality. Join this session to find out how Indigenous communities are implementing clean energy projects, and how women in particular are creating climate solutions critical to addressing the growing impacts of climate change.   

 

Melina Laboucan-Massimo is the first Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Change Fellow with the David Suzuki Foundation. She has more than 15 years of experience organizing with Indigenous communities to plan and implement renewable energy projects and campaigns. Her Master’s degree in Indigenous governance culminated in the completion of such a project: a 20.8-kilowatt solar installation in her home community of Little Buffalo in Northern Alberta. A vocal advocate for Indigenous rights, she has written articles on the tar sands and produced short documentaries on water issues and on Indigenous cultural revitalization, while also working with organizations such as Greenpeace Canada, TakingITGlobal and the Indigenous Portal.

 

Simultaneous interpretation available.