Kwanlin Dün First Nation reacts to UN report on climate funding

The chief of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation in Yukon says he's not surprised by the findings in a recent report from the United Nations. The UN's Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples found that First Nations are often missing out on funding for green initiatives.

After meeting with Indigenous leaders in Canada earlier this year, Special Rapporteur José Francisco Calí Tzay presented his first report to a delegation in Geneva in late September. 

Tzay found that not only are Indigenous governments not being treated as equal stakeholders in the climate crisis, they are being excluded from the majority of green financing initiatives. 

"Funding does not effectively reach Indigenous Peoples and their projects," Tzay said.

That rings true for Kwanlin Dün Chief Sean Smith. He believes the current level of funding for land guardian programs doesn't indicate genuine investment in co-leadership and co-management. 

"They say, First Nations are going to help lead us, First Nations are going to help us deal with the impacts of climate change," Smith said. "But do they put that into their practice?" 

The Canadian government pledged a cumulative $572 million toward Indigenous-led conservation initiatives between 2016 and 2021.

While that funding was welcomed as a historic step, it was still less than one per cent of the government's total funding for green financing over the same period. 

Since 2016, Canada has committed more than $100 billion toward clean growth and climate action.

Tzay's report also found issues in funding delivery between governments and Indigenous-led programming. 

"Obstacles to financing must be understood in the context of the underlying structural racism and colonialism that continue to affect Indigenous Peoples," he wrote. 

Current barriers include a focus on short-term projects with tight deadlines, and the fact that Indigenous worldviews and realities are rarely accommodated. 

Brandy Mayes, who works as Kwanlin Dün's heritage, lands and resources operations manager, has experienced some of those obstacles through her own practice. 

"You almost need a project manager just to manage all the funding requirements and reporting," she said.