Infused with the spirit of their ancestors and unwavering determination to seek accountability and justice, a sixth Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation will meet virtually with representatives from Deutsche Bank on July 16th, 2020. The Delegation will highlight human rights and Indigenous rights violations— sharing data, stories and calls for immediate action toward fossil fuel divestment and support of Indigenous self-determination and a just, clean energy future. The delegation is organized by Divest Invest Protect (DIP) and the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International in our ongoing program.
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Since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, Deutsche Bank
has provided over $68 billion in financing
for companies active across the fossil fuel life cycle. This includes companies deeply involved in tar sands extraction,
the most carbon-intensive fuels on the planet
. Currently,
Deutsche Bank is co-financing billions in corporate loans
for the Keystone XL Pipeline, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project, Coastal Gas Link Pipeline, and Line 3 Pipeline Replacement Project, all of which endanger human rights, further the climate crisis, and neglect Indigenous People’s right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These proposed pipelines will go through Indigenous territories where many Indigenous peoples
have not given consent
for construction, a clear violation of FPIC that puts Indigenous communities at risk of further environmental and cultural injustice.
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Indigenous, Black and Brown communities are disproportionately affected by ongoing extraction and the current coronavirus health pandemic. Yet, fossil fuel companies are using this moment as an opportunity to
push forward construction
on pipeline projects, further exposing Indigenous communities to COVID-19 and environmental pollution. The companies are also moving forward with the development of ‘man camps’, which house pipeline workers from outside the community and
have been directly linked
with increased rates of drug use, sex trafficking and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
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“Deutsche Bank has a moral obligation to be responsible in its investments especially when those projects impact Indigenous communities... They have funded KXL, a zombie pipeline we've killed before but keeps coming back thanks in large part to funders like Deutsche Bank and directly affect my lands, my people, our water. From mancamps close to our borders threatening the safety of our women as they have been proven to increase sexual assault cases, increased drugs and provoke racial attacks on our people. Our water is being threatened, our sensitive prairie ecosystem, and endangered species, and our traditional medicines and food we still gather. I know these banks twist words around and say they aren't responsible for what companies do yet they honestly do have a moral obligation to educate themselves as to what their money funds. TC Energy is no friend to Indigenous people.”
said
Joye Braun
Wanbli Wiyan Kawin
,
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Community Organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network.
The bold actions and advocacy of the Delegation comes on the heels of the
Atlantic Coast pipeline
cancellation
, a major setback in the construction of the
Keystone XL pipeline
,
and a federal court decision halting the flow of oil in the
Dakota Access Pipeline
(DAPL) due to the U.S. Army Corp’s failure to conduct an adequate Environmental Impact Study. As the pipeline shuts down,
Reuters reported that
investors who own DAPL debt are now faced with DAPL's potential fate as a stranded asset
.
All of these recent victories are the result of years and years of sustained activism and enormous dedication, often involving harms to and criminalization of Water and Land Protectors.
Please read the press release for extended analysis and full quotes from all the Delegates.
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Born from the DAPL resistance at Standing Rock, the Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation has advocated and informed financial institutions of their responsibility to end detrimental financing patterns, and their need to address risks and harms to communities. The sixth Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation will bring this analysis to the discussion with Deutsche Bank as they call for fossil fuel divestment.
Past Delegations have illuminated the power and potential for
successful advocacy results
. To protect human rights, the global climate, the health of communities, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Black communities experiencing the worst impacts of oil extraction and climate change, it is essential to center and hear the voices of those on the frontlines of systemic oppression, racism, patriarchy, and the climate crisis.
WECAN stands with the Indigenous women leaders who are the backbone of the frontlines in their communities! To address the deep systemic inequity present in our global society, we must lift up the leadership of millions of women who are working ceaselessly to defend their communities, water, land, air, and our collective Mother Earth.
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Please consider donating to support our advocacy efforts, thank you!
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Freda Huson (Chief Howihkat), Unist’ot’en – Wet’suwet’en People, is Leader and spokesperson for the Unist’ot’en camps, which was founded in 2009. Her responsibilities as a spokesperson include holding meetings between her hereditary Clan Chiefs, perform liaison duties with industry and government, coordinate messages for media, and research all aspects of topics, which are brought up for discussion regarding Clan business.
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Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca Nation
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Casey Camp-Horinek of the Ponca Nation is a community leader, long-time Native rights activist, environmentalist and actress. As traditional Drumkeeper for the Ponca Pa-tha-ta, Woman's Scalp Dance Society, Casey Camp-Horinek helps maintain the cultural identity of the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma for herself, her family and her community. She has been at the forefront of grassroots community efforts to educate and empower both Native and non-Native community members on environmental and civil rights issues. She has raised her voice and taken action in countless forums across the world. Casey is an honored member of the WECAN International Advisory Council and US Women's Climate Justice Initiative.
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Joye Braun Wanbli Wiyan Ka’win, Cheyenne River Sioux tribe
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Eagle Feather Woman is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Joye was one of the first campers at Sacred Stone Camp at Standing Rock, moved to Oceti Sakowin Camp, and was at Blackhoop or Seven Generations Camp during eviction of the camps. Joye’s history of community activism includes the long fought campaign against the Keystone XL , the project resurrected at the same time DAPL was renewed and continues to threaten her homelands. She is also making stands to protect the Sacred Black Hills, her Ancestral sacred lands against Fracking, Uranium and Gold mining. Joye is a community organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network. She travels extensively and speaks throughout the northern plains and participates in Indigenous gatherings in the U.S. and Canada speaking about the negative impacts the extractive economy has on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the abuses taking place in the oil patch, pipeline work, and communities where man-camps bring drugs, human trafficking, and increase crime rates wherever they are located. She is a wife, mother and grandmother.
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Michelle Cook, Diné/Navajo
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Michelle Cook J.D. (Diné/Navajo) is the Founder of Divest Invest Protect campaign and Founder and Co-Director of the Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegations. She is an Indigenous human rights lawyer and served as a commissioner on the Navajo Human Rights Commission. She is currently an SJD candidate at the University of Arizona's Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program where she is developing the Indigenous Human Rights and Corporate Accountability Program. She is writing her dissertation on financial institutions, indigenous people’s human rights, gender, and indigenous transnationalism. She has worked with the Water Protector Legal Collective, the on-the-ground legal team, which provides legal services to those arrested at the Standing Rock encampment. She advocates for indigenous human rights internationally.
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The delegation is joined by
Osprey Orielle Lake
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Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International and Co-Director of the Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegations. She works nationally and internationally with grassroots and Indigenous leaders, policy-makers and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a clean energy future. She serves on the Executive Committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and heads-up WECAN’s advocacy work in areas such as Women for Forests, Divestment and New Economy and UN Forums. Osprey is the author of the award-winning book, "Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature."
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Divestment & Pipeline Updates
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In the last week, we have seen significant advancements in ending the era of fossil fuels! Multiple pipelines have been delayed or shut down in the U.S. and the decades of on-the-ground organizing is coming to fruition. While we know the fight continues, and there is much more to do, we celebrate these current victories and the
interminable work of frontlines communities.
We have such deep gratitude for Indigenous Peoples, Water Protectors and Land Defenders who are standing for Indigenous Rights and the well-being of Mother Earth globally, all
while being subjected to rights abuses, state-sanctioned violence and criminalization.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Cancelled
Keystone XL Pipeline Delayed
While the Trump administration attempts to by-pass important environmental processes for KXL, opposition from tribes, environmental and climate organizations, and landowners remains strong, having delayed the construction of KXL for more than a decade. If completed KXL would carry 830,000 barrels per day of crude from Alberta to the U.S. Midwest, polluting and harming Indigenous and frontline communities, fragile ecosystems, important water ways and our global climate.
Coastal GasLink Pipeline Construction Halted
On July 7, in Canada, the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office found Coastal GasLink (CGL) failed to follow its wetlands management plan and
ordered pipeline construction to stop.
The Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en Clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have been flagging concerns about the environmental impacts the CGL pipeline would have on hundreds of protected wetlands since the project's inception.
Dakota Access Pipeline Shutdown
On July 6, a federal judge ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) must be shut down by August 5th, stating that federal officials failed to do a complete analysis of its environmental impacts.
We honor the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in their struggle for the protection of their water and traditional lands against Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline.
This ruling is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes. It was found by the court that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because they did not conduct a full environmental impact review. Consequently, no oil can flow through the pipeline until the this review is complete.
Please learn about the responses from frontline communities to these recent decisions:
Mni Wic
oni—Water is Life!
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Demand a Just Recovery During G20
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From July 18-19, Finance ministers and central bank governors representing the world's 20 richest countries will meet to discuss how to spend trillions in public money on an economic recovery response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Join thousands in signing a global petition to demand that G20 economic leaders develop a Just Recovery centering and prioritizing community investment in healthcare, affordable housing, green jobs, clean energy and transport.
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Emergency Call for PPE Donations to the Amazon!
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When the novel coronavirus hit our communities, WECAN joined our colleagues at Indigenous Environmental Network, Movement Rights, Eaton Workshop, Idle No More San Francisco Bay, T.E.J.A.S., Amazon Watch, and Global Exchange for the Protect the Peoples Emergency (PPE) Partnership Fund. The partnership has created a distribution chain to supply COVID-19 Emergency Personal Protection Equipment, masks and supplies to Indigenous communities. Through this fund we have already distributed 80,000 masks to Indigenous communities in the hardest hit areas of Turtle Island (North America), Mexico, and Ecuador.
Now the Huni Kui Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon are putting out an Emergency call for PPE Donations.
From our PPE Fund partner Indigenous Environmental Network:
It is with immense concern that we share with you an emergency request from our close friend Chief Ninawa, President of the Huni Kui People’s Federation of the Brazilian Amazon, asking for at least 15,000 PPE masks and sanitation supplies from our Protect the People Emergency PPE Partnership necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19 that is racing through his homelands, taking the lives of beloved elders, community leaders and chiefs, and threatening the very existence of the Indigenous guardians of the living Amazon— the lungs of our Mother Earth.
Please donate here to the Peoples Partnership Fund to support the Huni Kui People's Federation in the Brazilian Amazon:
protectthepeoples.org
In the midst of recovering from COVID-19 himself, Chief Ninawa is now sending an urgent call for help because the Huni Kui peoples have not yet received any Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to date to protect themselves from the quickly escalating coronavirus pandemic that is already sweeping through the area.
Donations to the PPE fund go directly to providing Indigenous communities personal protection equipment (PPE) and other community needs. Every dollar raised will go to those most in need.
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For the Earth and All Generations,
The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
(WECAN) International Team
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S T A Y C O N N E C T E D
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