Indigenous Peoples have already experienced changes in the Lands, Waters and Ice, sounding the alarm about climate change for decades (Indigenous Climate Action, 2021a; ITK, 2019a; Watt-Cloutier, 2015; Bolton et al., 2011; Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada [ICC], 2005; ITK, 2005). Drawing on knowledge and observations shared by Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and their reciprocal relationships with the natural world, Indigenous Peoples have been urgently and consistently voicing concerns about the irreversible impacts of climate change. For instance, the 2005 Inuit Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Oppose Climate Change Caused by the United States of America opened a global dialogue on the ties between the violation of human rights and impacts caused by climate inaction.
Specific impacts experienced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis are discussed throughout this report but generally include observed changes in wildlife and species migrations, shifting water levels, more variable weather patterns, increased intensity and frequency of forest fires, changing sea ice and freshwater ice conditions, impacts on health and well-being, effects on built infrastructure, and changes in vegetation, coastal processes, permafrost and more (see HCCC; NIR; RPR; Deranger et al., 2022; Galway et al., 2022; Reed et al., 2021b; McGregor et al., 2020; Cunsolo Willox, 2012; Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2005; Krupnik and Jolly, 2002).
Western science is now beginning to recognize what Indigenous Peoples have long known, and Indigenous Peoples are not passive witnesses to climate change (ITK, 2019a). As highlighted in this report, Indigenous Peoples are leaders, advancing our own climate measures and strategies at various scales based on our knowledge systems and continue to urgently call for action to protect the Land, Water and Ice (Gobby, 2020; ITK, 2019a). Our collective knowledge and action send a clear message: we are in a rapidly accelerating global climate crisis, already causing irreversible biophysical changes.
The first report from the current National Knowledge Assessment cycle, Canada’s Changing Climate Report (2019), revealed that Canada had already warmed by 1.7 °C since 1948 and is projected to continue warming at twice the global rate, with Northern Canada warming over three times the global rate (Bush and Lemmen, 2019). Subsequent Assessment reports (see NIR; RPR; HCCC) assess the range of climate impacts Canada is currently experiencing and projected to face in the future, as well as adaptation approaches. These reports indicate disproportionate impacts for First Nations, Inuit and Métis, given our unique climate risks due to our lives and livelihoods being tied reciprocally with the Land, Water and Ice. Our livelihoods, especially concerning food, water and energy insecurity, are at risk and are compounded by a colonial history that irrevocably impacts Indigenous political, cultural, social and environmental systems (Human Rights Watch, 2020; Chisholm Hatfield et al., 2018; Whyte, 2017b; Ford et al., 2012; Tsosie, 2007).
Climate change impacts are exacerbated by the ongoing legacy of colonialism (see Section 3.5 and Section 5.2) and how this, combined with capitalism, has influenced where Indigenous Peoples live, our socio-economic conditions, and how we maintain our relationships with Mother Earth (Whyte 2017b; 2016). These impacts often lead to maladaptation, leaving Indigenous Peoples to bear disproportionate impacts from mainstream approaches to addressing climate change (Penney and Johnson-Castle, 2021).