Upper Nicola chief attending United Nations Climate Change Summit

UPPER NICOLA — COP27, the United Nations summit on climate change is underway in Egypt and will run through the 18th of November. The event brings together world leaders from around the globe including Canada who signed the original UN climate agreement in 1992.

The three main topics at COP27 will be reducing emissions, helping countries prepare and deal with climate change, and securing support and funding for developing countries.

Also attending the conference this year will be First Nations leaders from British Columbia, including the chief of the Upper Nicola Band, Harvey McLeod. After a year when he saw his community struggle from the effects of climate change through floods and wildfire, McLeod is looking forward to discussing the challenges with his peers.

“To see the people who are talking about the impacts and changes they want to see in our world to protect our environment… I see them, I hear them on the news but I haven’t really sat next to them or had dialogue with the individuals or countries that are doing the work. But, at the same time I want them to see and hear me because I will be involved in a few sessions sharing the experience and the worldview of myself and the Upper Nicola community and the worldview of the Nicola chiefs,” said McLeod.

The Upper Nicola Band is working to combat climate change on reserve with the creation of a solar farm, and with new technology that pulls carbon from the atmosphere.

Thanks to their connection to the land and vast ancestral knowledge passed down through the generations, McLeod believes First Nations people can play a large role in the fight against climate change.

“We were given teachings that [said], ‘Hey, that’s important out there and this is why it’s important, this is how you are connected to the land and the environment and everything that happens out there. It’s for your survivorship.’ And at the same time, having respect for what’s out there so, generation after generation, we all have something we can lean on and depend on to survive,” added McLeod.