TX environmental groups fight for global plastics treaty
June 18, 2024 , 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
Indigenous peoples have been pivotal in the environmental justice movement, leveraging their deep-rooted connection to the land and traditional ecological knowledge to spearhead powerful campaigns against environmental degradation. Recently, indigenous groups have led significant actions against pipelines (such as the Dakota Access Pipeline and Line 3), mobilized global support, and drawn attention to the threats these projects pose to sacred lands and water sources. They have also been at the forefront of efforts to combat water contamination in communities like Flint, Michigan, and across various reservations where water quality is a critical concern.
Indigenous organizing is characterized by its holistic approach, integrating cultural, spiritual, and communal elements, which not only fosters strong internal solidarity but also resonates widely, creating broad coalitions of support. Their methods emphasize collective action, community-led solutions, and the integration of traditional practices with modern advocacy, offering a resilient and inclusive model that can inspire and strengthen the broader environmental justice movement.
In this call, we have invited renowned organizer, Judith LeBlanc, director of the Native Organizers Alliance (NOA) to share her insights, victories, and advice as an indigenous organizer.
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June 4, 2024 , 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world, and Arctic Indigenous Peoples bear the brunt of the plastic and petrochemical industry’s toxic operations. Plastics and chemicals from all over the world are transported on atmospheric and oceanic currents northward, where they accumulate in the Arctic through a process called global distillation.
The production and use of fossil fuels by the petrochemical industry is the starting point for the damage faced by the Arctic related to plastics, chemicals, and climate change. These threats have combined to poison the lands, waters, and traditional foods of Arctic Indigenous Peoples, with ongoing health effects that threaten their cultures and communities.
A recent report jointly published by ACAT and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) synthesizes recent evidence from more than 250 studies on the interconnected threats from plastics, petrochemicals, and climate change that harm Arctic Peoples. The report describes how the Arctic is at risk from chemicals and plastics throughout their toxic life cycle and offers recommendations in support of a just transition to a regenerative economy.Â
CHE-Alaska will host Dr. Therese Karlsson, Pamela Miller and Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough in a discussion on how the combined effects of plastic pollution, petrochemical operations, and climate change are harming the health and well-being of communities in the Arctic. Pamela Miller, ACAT’s Executive Director and IPEN’s Co-Chair, and Dr. Karlsson, IPEN’s Science & Technical Advisor, are the lead authors of the report. Dr. Sambo Dorough, Senior Scholar and Special Advisor on Arctic Indigenous Peoples at the University of Alaska Anchorage, will discuss the compounding effects of chemicals and plastics on Arctic Indigenous Peoples as a human rights issue.
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May 28, 2024 , 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
The Sixth National Climate Assessment is underway. In this webinar, hear from Indigenous scholars who have contributed to past assessments, learn more, and get your questions answered about the current public call for author nominations and feedback.
Featured Guest Speakers Dr. Kyle Whyte, University of Michigan Ann Marie Chischilly, Office of Native American Initiatives at Northern Arizona University Melissa Watkinson-Schutten, Locus Innovations & Rising Voices Nikki Cooley, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals Allyza Lustig, US Global Change Research Program.
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February 21, 2024 , 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST
Learn how to use state trust land data from Grist’s latest bombshell project, a follow-up to the 2020 High Country News investigation, which examined how land grant institutions got their land and money. We’ll show you how to use our data set on Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming – states with Trust Lands that benefit land grant institutions. Grist has examined publicly available state data to locate trust lands associated with land grant universities, established their provenance, analyzed the revenue those lands produce for their associated colleges, and researched the activities states engaged with to generate income, such as timber harvesting, oil and gas extraction, and agriculture. We reconstructed approximately 8.1 million acres of land, currently producing income for 14 land-grant universities, taken from 146 Indigenous nations through more than 100 violence-backed land cessions, a legal term for the giving up of territory. Grist editor at large Tristan Ahtone and spatial data analyst Maria Parazo Rose will show you how to use this data to do your own reporting.
June 1, 2023 , 9:00 am – 10:00 am EDT
Tune into an important side event held during INC-2 in Paris, France: Native Nations Rising. Learn how to be a better relative, rise up and do our shared part to respond to plastic pollution and plastic poisoning, locally & globally. Scan the QR code in the below image to join.
