Siċaŋġu Co Goes to COP28
Indigenous Peoples Lead the Way Towards Climate Change Solutions
Siċaŋġu Co CEO Clay Colombe with Indigenous leaders from around the world.
Photo credit: CGIGAR Photo Library
Last month, Siċaŋġu Co CEO Clay Colombe traveled to Dubai to represent our ecosystem at COP28, or the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The COP Conferences are annual gatherings of nations, climate leaders, activists, world leaders, corporate executives, and other stakeholders to discuss climate change and the various efforts to mitigate the worst effects of it.
Though the COP Conference has been held annually for almost 30 years, food and agricultural systems have long been omitted from the agenda, declarations and agreements that have emerged from these meetings. COP28 not only included these topics onto the agenda; it dedicated an entire day to food and agriculture, and ended with a final agreement that highlighted sustainable agriculture as a necessary part of responding to climate change and committed signatories to increase investment in indigenous communities.
CEO Clay Colombe speaks on panel about the importance of rethinking our food systems.
Photo credit: CGIGAR Photo Library
Our food systems: how we grow/produce food, eat it, throw it away, accounts for approximately 30% of all emissions. If we want to create a better world for future generations, rethinking all things food is critical.
Siċaŋġu Co was invited to speak on the “Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge on regenerative practices, agroecology, and food systems,” which featured indigenous food leaders from around the world. Indigenous people have long been practicing sustainable agriculture and thrived off food systems that were intimately intwined with Unci Maka and her seasons. Though we have long known this, the rest of the world is finally recognizing the knowledge indigenous people can bring to the table.
Indigenous leaders from across the world come together.
Photo credit: CGIGAR Photo Library
Much of the discussion focused on what we at Siċaŋġu Co already knew and are already doing: taking our ancestral wisdom and applying it into the 21st century, innovating combining our past with our present and future. This work can be seen, and is getting recognized, in our food work here in Rosebud: both the Food Sovereignty Initiative and the Wolakota Buffalo Range have been lauded internationally as leaders in re-indigenizing food systems and regenerative agriculture.
It is long overdue, but we were grateful and encouraged to see so many Indigenous groups from around the world, all in one place, to exchange ideas and build power. There is growing awareness – among investors, foundations, activists, elected officials, businesses and other groups – that indigenous communities, leaders and knowledge must be centered as global food systems shift to become more sustainable and regenerative.
After leaving the COP28 Conference, we are more committed than ever to ensuring that this momentum towards a more just, sustainable and healthier world is maintained and even accelerated. As we have long said, food is at the center of what we do. It is medicine, not just for our minds and bodies, but also for Unci Maka and our non-human relatives.
We are very grateful for you and for our partners in this work of re-indigenizing and revitalizing the food system to make it more equitable. A special thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food for making the Siċaŋġu Co presence at COP28 a possibility.
Please continue to support our work or join us in creating a better world for future generations.
Wopila!
