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IEN has made great progress in the last year. In 2009, Tom Goldtooth was invited as one of the leading Indigenous environmental leaders to consult with the Obama administration's transition team to discuss and move forward with promoting green energy jobs on reservations.

Our organizers, staff and board members were instrumental in opening the dialog necessary to support a clean energy future in the economic stimulus bill, which is poised to create thousands of new jobs.

Your support is needed to continue our work. Please act now!

IEN showed the power of our network as we were one of the leading Indigenous groups in Copenhagen at the UN Climate Change talks. An estimated 100,000 supporters rallied at the People's Climate March held on December 12 as part of the Copenhagen Climate Talks. Click the 'video' button below to watch Tom Goldtooth's address at the rally.

Help us continue the fight!

WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS TO move forward to ensure that the Environmental Protection Agency's crucial announcement that C02 does indeed pose a danger to human health and to keep the pressure up so that this does not get ignored and that powerful legislation is created to protect our communities from more fossil fuel extraction and refinement.

IEN works worldwide with Indigenous Peoples to bring the truth of global climate change and to empower communities to get involved and demand enviromental, economic and cultural justice. Please read the REDD booklet - found below. (Available in English and Spanish).

In Canada, our work has begun to put pressure on the government to strongly limit and stop tar sands extraction.

The Indigenous Peoples of Alberta are suffering from new and deadly forms of cancer linked to the chemicals flowing from the tar sands into the Athabasca River, along with CO2 and other noxious pollutants destroying the air, water and human health. We need your help to stop the destruction of thousands of square miles of ancient boreal forests. Learn More....

2010 is going to be a pivotol year as we take the small steps made in Copenhagen and move forward to solve the climate crisis - but only if we are able to continue to put the pressure on - this is up to you.

Our supporters are vital to our survival and ability to continue to be an effective voice for Indigenous Peoples worldwide.

Please ACT NOW - to make your tax deductable donation TODAY!

We have included in this newsletter a sampling of how the Indigenous Environmental Network has participated and continues to solidify its place on the domestic and world stage. Please watch the videos we have included and you can read more articles and view more at our website.

The Indigenous Environmental Network's organizers, staff and board want to thank everyone who has supported us through the years and remind you that we can't do this alone - YOU are the reasons we keep fighting the good fight!

» North American Indigenous Peoples Demand More in Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark - As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) winds down, thousands of people marched in the streets today to "reclaim power" from the UN process they say is not good enough. Indigenous Peoples led a march from inside the official venue of the climate negotiations, to stand in solidarity with the rest of civil society in demanding climate justice.

Over the past two weeks, indigenous peoples have been working to ensure all potential climate policies and actions that come out of the negotiations, ensure recognition of and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. Specifically, indigenous peoples have lobbied for the incorporation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into climate policy. Although some would see the mention of the UNDRIP in the text of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) a small success, many feel it is a slap in the face of indigenous peoples. Click here to read more....

» Canadian First Nations at COP 15 Roll Out the Welcome Mat for Stephen Harper in Rally at Canadian Embassy

“Hey Harper: Climate Commitments = Shut Down Tar Sands”

Copenhagen, Denmark – Indigenous Peoples of Canada and their allies from around the world are in Copenhagen for the UN summit on climate change. Today they rolled out the “welcome mat” for Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen. This action was part of a global day of action against the Canadian tar sands. The tar sands are the largest and most carbon intensive industrial project on the planet. Indigenous leaders of communities impacted by the tar sands and allied campaigners contend that Canada hasn’t kept Kyoto commitments and hasn’t ratified the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) because of the half-trillion dollar investments the massive tar sands development represents.

In a gesture of hospitality for the Prime Minister and an act of solidarity with communities directly impacted by the tar sands, Indigenous representatives and their allies delivered a gift basket full of Treaties for Prime Minister Harper to honor and/or sign in Copenhagen. These included important documents such as the Kyoto Protocol, First Nations Treaties and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“As Indigenous People, we are here at the international climate negotiations to speak about threats to our cultural survival and the direct life-threatening impacts of climate change in our communities,” said Clayton Thomas Muller, Tar Sands Campaigner of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Canada has been blocking the climate negotiations and hasn’t kept Kyoto commitments or ratified the UNDRIP because of the tar sands.” Click here to read the rest of this press release and more from IEN at Copenhagen....

More News and Video From Copenhagen

Video From Democracy NOW!

The following videos are available on our IEN Carbon Trading Page: Click titles to view.

Indigenous Activists March on US Embassy in Copenhagen Urging Obama to “Stop the US Energy Industry’s War on Native Peoples and Lands”

Shortly before President Obama received his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, a coalition of North American indigenous groups marched to the US embassy in Copenhagen calling on Obama to stop what they described as the war on native peoples and lands waged by the US energy industry. Speakers at the protest included Faith Gemmill from Arctic Village, Alaska and Clayton Thomas-Muller of the Canadian-based Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign.

Climate Change and the Global South: A Roundtable Discussion

We host a roundtable discussion with three guests who have extensively studied how climate change is affecting poor populations around the world: Saleemul Huq, a Bangladeshi-born scientist and lead author on parts of the last two reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Lidy Nacpil of Jubilee South; and Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Indigenous Leaders at the Front Line of Climate Change, at the Front of the Historic Climate March in Copenhagen

On Saturday, over 100,000 people marched in Copenhagen calling on world leaders to agree to a just climate policy. Leading the march was a delegation of indigenous leaders from communities on the front lines of climate change. Democracy Now!’s Anjali Kamat and Elizabeth Press speak to indigenous activists at the march and at the Danish National Museum.

» Learn More!

Native Energy & Climate Program

• Native Energy Justice
• Energy Climate Justice
• Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands - CITSC
• REDOIL: "Alaskan Native Grassroots Network"
• Tribal Campus Climate Challenge
• Carbon Trading, Carbon Offsets and RED/Ds 

IEN's NEW YouTUBE Channel!

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LEARN MORE at the IEN WEBSITE!

View IEN Videos on CNN's iReport:

• Indigenous Peoples at Copenhagen US Embassy: Procession, Prayer & Protests
• American and Canadian Youth Stand Together Against Tar Sands: No Concessions for Dirty Oil
• SFT-Interview with TOM GOLDTOOTH on Indigineous People and Climate Change
• Tom Goldtooth speaks at the Copenhagen Climate March on Indigenous Rights, Climate Justice

» Native Peoples Native Homelands

U.S.- based Native Nations respond to climate change threats. Nearly 400 Native leaders, scholars, elders and Tribal College students from across the country, joined by scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), came together at a watershed gathering, the Native Peoples Native Homelands Climate Change Workshop II, to formulate a collective response to the far-reaching impacts of climate change on Native lands and communities. The Climate Change Workshop, held November 18-21 at the Mystic Lake Casino & Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota. At its conclusion, participants issued a milestone document, the Mystic Lake Declaration (link below), to offer solutions that can help Tribal communities and policy makers form plans to address climate change impacts that threaten the traditional cultures and life ways of Indigenous peoples. The Declaration was taken to Copenhagen for presentation at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Native Nations respond to climate change threats Mystic Lake Declaration lays out Indigenous solutions

THE MYSTIC LAKE DECLARATION

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In This Issue:

» Climate Hero Clayton Thomas-Müller

Clayton Thomas-Müller is working to keep corporations from privatizing the atmosphere, as they have privatized the land and exploited the natural resources that once belonged to  the First Nations of Canada. As an activist with the Indigenous ­Environmental Network, Thomas-Müller campaigns against the multinational oil companies that are stripping crude oil from the Alberta tar sands and leaving behind toxic heavy metals and carcinogens that pollute nearby native lands.

Indigenous people around the world are among those most affected by fossil-fuel development, and Thomas-Müller is organizing those communities to make sure they have a voice in the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December. Click here to read the full article from YES! Magazine.

» At Copenhagen, Native Alaskans Urge Action

By LARS KROLDRUP, Green, Inc.

Alaska’s indigenous people are seeing erosion, rising waters and melting permafrost – and their representatives at this week’s climate meetings in Copenhagen are raising the alarm.

“The rising temperatures have an huge effect on our lives, and we are now in the middle of a big crisis,” said Faith Gemmill, a Fairbanks-based outreach coordinator from Redoil, an organization that advocates for indigenous people. Click here to continue reading....

» Alberta Clipper and Canada's Dirty Oil

Click Image to Listen to radio broadcast by BBC's reporter Jeb Sharp - comments by IEN's Marty Cobenais

» REDD Booklet

IEN collaborated with several environmental groups to produce this booklet. It was printed in both English and Spanish and distributed in Copenhagen.

ENGLISH: Download/Print Double_Sided, Legal Size, Booklet Format - PDF This is a large file and can take up to a few minutes to open.

Español: Descargar/Imprimir Tamaño Oficio, Folleto Format - PDF Este es un gran archivo y puede tomar hasta unos pocos minutos para abrir.

» More News

Warming of the Arctic continues to be widespread, and in some cases, dramatic. Linkages between air, land, sea, and biology are evident. 

At Key Copenhagen policy on forest protection hangs in balance- Leaked text shows that proposals would make 'Redd' scheme 'toothless and nothing but fancy window dressing'

Chiapas Anti-Mining Organizer Murdered

EPA chief: evidence of human climate impact 'overwhelming'

U.S.: "We All Breathe the Same Air and Drink the Same Water"

Louisianans Watches Native Land Sinking Into Sea

System change, not climate change!

Indigenous Communities Are the Key to Climate Deal

EPA: Greenhouse gases endanger human health

Enbridge Review Panel Already An Infringement of Aboriginal Rights

McCain blasts Obama administration over copper mine

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