Not victims, but leaders: a fight for climate justice

Indigenous Peoples are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. 

The Arctic continues to warm faster than the rest of the world. In the North, vital winter roads that carry supply to remote First Nations melt earlier as years go by. Canada’s biggest polluters continue to poison Indigenous communities that sit adjacent to industry, in what are largely referred to as sacrifice zones.

As we launch our winter 2024 fundraiser with a goal to reach $150,000 by December 31, we need your support more than ever to continue bringing these critical stories to light. Your donation helps ensure that Indigenous voices and experiences remain at the center of climate journalism. Tax receipts are available for donations of $100+, see instructions at the end.

Environmental racism was an unspoken, unchallenged reality in Canada until Indigenous nations fought back. For too long journalists have failed to write these stories, treating Indigenous nations and citizens as powerless victims. But stories I’ve reported on over the past year have shown that Indigenous Peoples across Canada are agents for change and climate justice. 

“Aamjiwnaang will no longer be known as the community that is a victim of Chemical Valley, but we will be known for our environmental leadership,” said Janelle Nahmabin, Aamjiwnaang’s recently elected chief. 

Whether it is Aamjiwnaang in Canada’s Chemical Valley, or Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in the Tar Sands or Grassy Narrows fighting for mercury remediation, First Nations are taking their fight to Canada. It’s time for us to walk with them: to listen and bear witness to the struggle for a territory that can sustain their future generations, rather than poison them. 

Indigenous nations never asked for this. Colonialism imposed it upon them. For us, reconciliation centres reporting on the diversity of nations fighting a common enemy: our slowchanging system that stymies the health of the land and the people. 

Part of Canada’s National Observer mission is to report on this fight against colonialism and climate change by stewarding the stories of Indigenous nations. Storytelling, afterall, is one of the most powerful tools for change

I am proud of our work, but journalists alone cannot challenge power in our society. A revenue crisis has dawned on our industry, swayed by the whims and greed of big tech, the loss of ad revenues and the continued decimation of newsrooms at the hands of hedge funds. Corporate interest has left independents like us to fill the gaps. But we cannot continue and grow without you.  

What strengthens our mission in these frontal attacks on journalism is you and your role in our community of donors and readers. 

Ask yourself this: if we are not able to fund journalism that holds power accountable, who else will?

When you donate, you join us in our mission to report on climate change and make sure critical Indigenous stories stay at the forefront of our national conversations. 

We’re grateful to all our supporters who fund our journalism that unravels and explains what Canada’s changing climate means for our society. Your help means we can work together to tell the essential climate stories of our times.