Supported by SSHRC and ECCC, Professors Niladri Basu, Treena Delormier, and PhD student Lynn K. Jacobs will partner with Indigenous organizations in Canada and internationally to address the disproportionate impacts of plastic pollution on Indigenous Peoples.
 

Niladri Basu, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Health Sciences, Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, and member of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE), has been awarded $475,000 through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) joint initiative on Indigenous Science and the Impacts of Plastic Pollution.

The funded project, “Uplifting the rights, science, and participation of Indigenous Peoples in decision-making related to plastic pollution”, is co-directed by Treena Delormier, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Nutrition, Director of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE), and Associate Professor in the School of Human Nutrition.

Leading the project is Lynn K. Jacobs, a PhD candidate in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill and former Director of Environment Protection at the Kahnawà:ke Environment Protection Office, a unit of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke.

The project aims to address the disproportionate impacts of plastic pollution on Indigenous Peoples around the world. These impacts occur throughout the plastic lifecycle, from environmental contamination associated with fossil fuel extraction and refining to waste colonialism and the growing presence of microplastics in ecosystems and traditional foods.

Despite experiencing these impacts firsthand, Indigenous Peoples continue to face barriers to participating in the policy and governance processes that shape responses to the global plastics crisis. With negotiations underway toward a legally binding international plastics treaty, the project seeks to help ensure that Indigenous rights, knowledge systems, and priorities are meaningfully reflected in future policies and decisions.

Working in partnership with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Plastics (IIPFP), the research team will address two key challenges: a lack of synthesized knowledge on Indigenous Peoples and plastic pollution, and limited opportunities for Indigenous participation in decision-making on plastic pollution, especially internationally.

Grounded in Indigenous science and an Indigenous Environmental Justice framework, the team will conduct literature reviews and carry out community-informed ethnographic research to identify knowledge gaps and generate evidence that can support action and advocacy.

The initiative also includes the creation of an Indigenous Peoples and Plastics Pollution Hub and activities to support international knowledge exchange and strengthen Indigenous leadership in global plastics governance.