Global leaders must listen to those with connection to the land, Manitobans who attended climate summit say

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The decision-makers who attended COP26 must not forget the perspectives of Indigenous people who are the eyes and ears of the land, says one Manitoban who was also at the climate summit.

The Manitoba Métis Federation's Will Goodon attended the international climate conference to try to ensure those voices were not brushed aside.

The rapidly changing climate is especially noticeable to Red River Métis, including ice fishers whose seasons are shortened by warming winters and trappers who find the moose have moved off their traditional areas, he said. 

"In some of our traditional economies … [such as] forestry, firewood, trapping, hunting, fishing, picking berries and medicines," the effects of climate change are noticed "very, very quickly, because we are out on the land and our people are telling us that things are changing," he said.

Goodon is leaving COP26 feeling encouraged that some of those messages were heard. He said the importance of Indigenous rights and human rights is etched into some language emerging from the conference. That's a positive development, he said.

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"To be quite honest, I don't think we'll ever have enough time. There's just too many interests at the international level," Goodon added.

"There's a lot of aggressive ideas at the beginning and they usually get watered down at the end — but any move is a good one."

The Conference of Parties (COP), which meets every year, is the global decision-making body set up in the early 1990s to implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and subsequent climate agreements. 

This year's edition in Scotland took on significant importance as the effects of climate change become starker. Goodon, who has attended three previous COP summits, noticed the heightened urgency himself.

After pushing Friday's end date for the conference back a day, governments signed a deal Saturday to keep within the target of limiting global warming to a 1.5 C increase over pre-industrial times.

Some high-ranking officials, however, were disappointed by the agreement to "phase down" rather than "phase out" coal power.

Goodon was part of daily briefings with the Canadian delegation and the international Indigenous caucus at the summit. On the latter, he found Indigenous people throughout the world generally agreed that "people talk about us without us in the room."

There are "voices all around the world" calling for urgent action on climate change, Goodon said.

Some states and industries, such as those heavily invested in fossil fuels, may have "vested interests in keeping their economies going," he said.

"But there are other industries and states who understand that we will probably need to do something now because it might be too late — and it's almost getting to the point where it's too late."

Goodon would like international players to move more quickly to address climate change.

Ahead of COP26, Rebecca Sinclair was under the assumption everyone was coming together to save the planet.

Instead, Sinclair, who attended the conference with other representatives from Indigenous Climate Action, felt people were more focused on keeping the status quo, and existing economic structures, going. 

She bristles at the push toward net zero, which strives to remove as much greenhouse gases from the atmosphere as the emissions being produced. She likens it to a child stashing their toys under the bed or in the closet. It doesn't mean their room is clean, Sinclair said. 

"To me, it seemed as though humankind wasn't on the forefront of any of these policies," Sinclair said. It was "how do we keep producing and keep the economy going."

Pollution can't continue: Manitoba farmer

Anastasia Fyk, who operates a farm near Garland in western Manitoba, travelled to COP26 with other members of the National Farmers Union. 

A highlight of the conference was the connections she built with others in the agriculture sector who are committed to reducing emissions, she said.

But she, too, questions the narrative around net zero, that countries can nullify their significant emissions output by planting trees and sequestering carbon. A lot of that responsibility rests with farmers, Fyk said. 

"If we are going to keep polluting, there's nothing that is going to counteract all of the emissions."

It is incumbent upon everyone, Fyk said, to become better informed on environmental issues so accountability can be demanded of governments. 

It isn't fair to demand more trees be grown in developing countries while fossil fuels continue to be extracted with ease in developed countries, she said.