"First Nations Release Critical Minerals Strategy in British Columbia to Facilitate Net Zero by 2050" March 2024

First Nations in B.C. have announced a proactive critical minerals strategy for their territories in British Columbia. The First Nations Critical Minerals Strategy was facilitated and prepared by the BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council and supported by the First Nations Leadership Council....

This strategy was developed at four half-day interactive webinars between October 2023 and January 2024 with more than 250 participants from First Nation communities throughout the province...

“173 years after gold was first confirmed on Haida Gwaii, in what is now known as British Columbia, the time has arrived for the governments of Canada and British Columbia to work on a trilateral basis with First Nations on the consent-based extraction of critical minerals from Indigenous First Nations lands in a manner that is fully aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” said Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit Political Executive....

[The Union of BC Indian Chiefs] president, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip echoes the commitments of the strategy and concluded, “The climate emergency is upon us, and we need to accelerate our transition away from fossil fuels in order to reduce global warming. It is absolutely essential that First Nations are full partners in any discussions, plans or profits regarding critical mineral extraction in their unceded territories"...