Greenpeace is committed to collaborating and consulting with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada to ensure its campaigns and positions respect their traditional rights and treaties. To live up to this commitment, the organization has adopted the Greenpeace Canada Policy on Indigenous Rights.
1. Recognizing the ongoing efforts of Indigenous Peoples worldwide to uphold and foster humanity’s shared responsibility to ensure that humans live respectfully and in balance with all living things;
2. Recognizing that the current state of environmental, economic and social injustice has, in great part, been caused by the heedless exploitation of traditional territories where Indigenous Peoples’ rights and authority have been marginalized or eroded;
3. Acknowledging the historic role that environmental and conservation groups like Greenpeace have played in undermining Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Title to their lands and waters and their ability to economically thrive;
4. Recalling the obligation of governments to acknowledge and reconcile historic and contemporary injustices towards Indigenous Peoples, to respect Indigenous and Treaty rights, to resolve outstanding Aboriginal Rights and Title issues, and to provide adequate support to ensure the well-being of Indigenous communities and cultures;
5. Recognizing the vital contributions of Indigenous science and knowledge towards human understanding of ecological health, human well-being and sustainable relationships with the land, the water and other species, and that typically landscapes where Indigenous Peoples continue to live and practice stewardship are shown to have higher ecological integrity;
6. Aware of the great potential for environmental justice as a result of meaningful alliances between environmentalists (including Greenpeace) and Indigenous Peoples and that such alliances have and can strengthen collective capacities to advance the regeneration, protection and sustainability of ecosystems, transition to renewable energy and support for biodiversity.
The Board of Greenpeace Canada agrees the following, to be understood in its entirety:
7. Greenpeace Canada respects Indigenous rights and supports the just restitution of outstanding Aboriginal Rights and Title issues as an integral part of the process of developing an ecologically and socially sustainable society.
8. Greenpeace Canada acknowledges that Aboriginal and Treaty Rights should be respected and enforced as constitutionally-recognized rights held in Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution.
9. Greenpeace Canada acknowledges that, under international law, Indigenous Peoples have the right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) for decisions that will affect their interests, as recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
10. Greenpeace Canada acknowledges that the Governments of Canada, provinces and municipalities, have an obligation to implement UNDRIP and abide by the principles FPIC which includes the right to say no. As entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, provincial and federal governments have a duty to meaningfully consult and accommodate First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, as upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.
11. Greenpeace Canada recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples to make decisions regarding activities on their traditional territories, such as fishing, hunting, trapping, gathering, revenue generation and development activities. Accordingly, Greenpeace Canada recognizes that protected areas must accommodate cultural use by Indigenous Peoples.
12. Greenpeace Canada respects the right of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination and recognizes that relations with the Canadian government and Indigenous Peoples in Canada are on a nation-to-nation basis.
13. Greenpeace Canada commits to conducting its campaigns in a manner that engages in culturally appropriate methods of communication and decision-making with the various forms of Indigenous leadership and/or governance; upholds the rights of Indigenous Peoples; and will seek consent before organizing events and/or actions that could take place on sites of cultural or spiritual significance for Indigenous Peoples.
14. Greenpeace Canada acknowledges that there may be times when there will be differences of views between Indigenous Peoples and Greenpeace, and commits to approach any disagreements through respectful dialogue and in good-faith.
15. Greenpeace Canada commits to continue building strategic alliances with Indigenous communities and organizations where common interests exist and further commits to engage with these communities and organizations in ways that are consistent with the spirit and intent of FPIC.
This policy was updated and approved by the Greenpeace Canada Board of Directors, May 5th, 2017.