The inaugural Global Indigenous Carbon Summit was held in Regina Monday.
The one-day summit was held at Regina’s Atlas Hotel and featured “the perspectives and insights of those who are taking steps to address carbon reduction through the application of technology, land use and other practices in a meaningful way.
It featured discussions led by guests such as Carol Anne Hilton, CEO Founder of the Indigenomics Institute and the Global Centre of Indigenomics, and Canadian Amabassador to the UN Bob Rae as well as a panel on environmental sovereignty which included Cote First Nation Chief George Cote and Misipawistik First Nation Chief Heidi Cook.
At the event, an agreement was struck between event sponsor Carbon RX and First Nations from across Canada to “exercise their environmental sovereignty and initiate their rights to the carbon credits originated on their lands.”
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“We as First Nations people have always understood the importance of maintaining balance with mother earth — it is one of our natural laws. At the same time, we need to have access to economic opportunity to build our Nation in a sustainable way,” said Nekaneet First Nation Chief Alvin Francis in a press release.
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Nekaneet is located about 120 kilometres south of Swift Current.
“First Nations carbon credits gives us access to a modern economy, while maintaining a traditional way of life. This is the next generation of economic development in our communities.”
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Carbon RX “originates, digitizes and streams carbon credits in agriculture, forestry, and energy.”
Generally, carbon credits give their owner the right to produce a certain amount of carbon or other greenhouse gasses.
Through the trading of carbon credits, organizations seek to lower the amount of carbon reduction their operations are responsible for or earn profits off of activities that sequester carbon.
“The sale of these credits, those funds will go to the First Nations that have generated the carbon credits,” said Lionel Kambeitz Carbon RX chairman.
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“First Nations people in Canada control over 150,000,000 acres of land, with the capability of sequestering tens of millions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually. This would be the equivalent of the carbon footprint of over 5 million cars on an annual basis,” the Carbon RX release reads.
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