Cop26 is officially over, and my time in Glasgow almost at an end. I was at the forum to represent my community and to stand up for First Nations people who are leading global movements for climate justice. I was cautiously optimistic about what could be achieved.
Instead, at this supposedly historic event, I saw a conference that relied on dated colonial constructs and ignored Indigenous people. I watched the Australian pavilion used to promote gas and carbon capture and storage, sponsored by corporations such as Santos. Outnumbered by fossil fuel lobbyists, First Nations people witnessed an aggressive big business approach to climate negotiations, hardly the turning away from and permanent closure of extractive, polluting industries that we are all calling for.
And I saw a lot of talk. Countries said they would be ambitious, but without implementation by all governments at all levels, these are just empty words when we desperately need action.
First Nations people were locked out of discussions, and as a result for me Cop26 has failed, denying us the right and ability to safeguard our futures. Doors were closed to us, both physical and metaphorical, but as the attenders disperse and return to their homes across the world, it is essential these are opened for us.
What happens next is critical. Globally, Australia arrogantly flaunts its high ranking on the lists of countries trying to soften global commitments to climate action, and recent analysis from Cop26 showed that Australia’s per capita emissions from coal power nearly doubled those of China. In fact, Australia tops the class in this field.
But politics is the name of the game and, with a federal election looming and many state elections around the country to follow, it is here that we must strike. It is essential that First Nations people have a seat at the table and that we stand together to protect our country, our home. In some cases, we’ll need to just build our own tables.
More than half the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this country are younger than 25. Increasingly, young people are leading the way in many areas of social change for our communities. Young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must be supported to lead the movement for climate justice and ensure our voice is heard on issues that affect us and our future.
First Nations young people see through the spin, the manipulated numbers, the glossy sponsorships, but perhaps most importantly we see the solutions. When I talk to communities they have boundless ideas for solutions to the climate crisis. Ideas that exist in the present, draw on the past and genuinely respond to the challenges communities across the country are facing. They are not just solutions for our communities but solutions that would benefit everyone.
They tell us there is a need to shift away from an industrial civilisation to an ecological civilisation, in which traditional practices are embedded into everything we do, led by First Nations people.
Where they can, communities are already acting to make these changes reality. For example, in the Northern Territory, where Australia’s first Indigenous youth climate network, Seed, is working with communities to protect country and water from dangerous gas fracking, communities are working to become energy self-sufficient and supply clean and cheap power with solar power and batteries. When communities have the freedom to define their own path, our people thrive, and they heal.
And when I reflect on my conversations with communities, I remember that, while Cop26 failed, there is enormous power with the people. There is power in their actions, their voices, their votes. So, while tired, I am not without hope.I will continue to work with communities to elevate their voices and table their ideas for acting on a climate crisis which is very much already here. It’s time to push doors previously closed to us open and bring others on the journey. In fact, it’s time to tear those doors down all together. Because when First Nations people have a seat at the table, have a voice, have self-determination, all of our country wins.
Tishiko King is the campaigns director at Seed Mob and community organiser for Our Islands Our Home.