(April 22, 2025 – Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa, Ontario) – Today, National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak issued the following statement to mark Earth Day. This year’s theme, Our Power, Our Planet, calls on the world to unite behind renewable energy and triple global clean electricity generation by the year 2030.
“Since time immemorial, First Nations have lived in balance with Mother Earth,” said National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “Today, we face a triple planetary crisis: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. First Nations laws and intergenerational knowledge systems provide the foundation for solutions to these crises. Our people are already taking action, protecting nature, advancing environmental justice, and responding to climate change. But more support is needed. Investments in clean, sustainable, First Nations-led solutions must be prioritized. Our strength comes from Mother Earth, and our future generations depend on how we continue to honour and protect her.”
“Across the country, First Nations are leading the way in clean energy projects, from solar and hydro to wind and geothermal,” added National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “But barriers such as limited access to capital, jurisdictional uncertainty, and restrictive federal funding programs continue to limit our full participation in the clean energy transition. As the world works to triple clean energy generation by 2030, governments must do more to support First Nations leadership in this work, including ensuring our full and equal participation at every table where decisions are made.”
The AFN’s federal election priorities document, Prosperity for All, calls for sustained investment in First Nations-led climate action, environmental protection, and sustainable development. The AFN National Climate Strategy and its First Nations Climate Lens, endorsed by First Nations-in-Assembly through Resolution 36/2023, Urgent and Transformative Climate Action through the AFN National Climate Strategy, sets out a path centered on First Nations’ knowledge, jurisdiction, and rights and promotes urgent, transformative action aligned with the First Nations-in-Assembly Declaration of a Global Climate Emergency.
“We urge the next federal government to fully implement the AFN National Climate Strategy with stable, adequate, and long-term investments,” concluded National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak. “This includes supporting First Nations-led solutions that restore balance with the land and move away from colonial systems that have long excluded First Nations from decision-making. It also means respecting First Nations jurisdiction, inherent rights, and responsibilities to Mother Earth, and ensuring free, prior, and informed consent in all major projects, including resource development, critical minerals, and infrastructure that affect our lands, waters, and air.”
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The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is a national advocacy organization that works to advance the collective aspirations of First Nations individuals and communities across Canada on matters of national or international nature and concern.
For more information, please contact:
Cherish Francis
Press Secretary
Office of the National Chief
(343) 630-1372 (mobile)
[email protected]
Ayman Hammamieh
Communications Officer
Assembly of First Nations
343-573-1771 (mobile)
[email protected]