SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, California  March 2, 2021— In March, BlackRock representatives will meet with Indigenous women leaders and partners, as part of two workshops organized by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), to present information on aligning with the Paris Climate Agreement and addressing human and Indigenous rights issues and policies.

In December 2020, BlackRock published a report outlining its new guiding expectations for company engagement in 2021, including several notable changes to its policies on environmental and social factors. The report states a strategy that includes aligning BlackRock investments and financing with the goals and targets set forth in the Paris Climate Agreement. 

The workshop engagements will offer valuable insights on the significant impact of extractive industries on local and Indigenous communities. Several key issues will be considered including the links between financing for deforestation-risk commodities and climate change, the impact of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure in Indigenous communities, the operationalization of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) as outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, impacts in extraction zones to affected women, and how sustainability and human rights policies can meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. 

Speakers to date include: Devi Anggraini, President of PEREMPUAN AMAN – an association of Indigenous women across Indonesia and the women’s wing of AMAN; Puyr Tembé, Leadership, human rights and environmental activist, Treasurer of the Union of Indigenous Women in the Brazilian Amazon, and President of Fepipa (Federation of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Pará); Rita Uwaka, Forest and biodiversity expert, Nigeria; Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa),  Indigenous leader from Sarayaku, Spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva, Ecuador; Helena Gualinga (Kichwa-Swedish), Indigenous youth social and climate activist, Ecuador; Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Environmental Ambassador, Senior Project Lead/Board Member for WECAN, USA; Faith Gemmill-Fredson (Pit River/ Wintu), Neets’aii Gwich’in Athabascan from Arctic Village, Alaska, campaign organizer for Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), USA; Michelle Cook (Dine’/Navajo), Human rights lawyer and Founder of Divest Invest Protect, USA; and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, USA.