{"id":43912,"date":"2025-08-02T09:34:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T13:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=43912"},"modified":"2025-08-04T00:55:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T04:55:25","slug":"the-sustainable-indigenous-finance-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/the-sustainable-indigenous-finance-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sustainable Indigenous Finance Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"
> Back To August 2025 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n
\"Rebecca
Rebecca Adamson of First Peoples Worldwide (right) with Fawn Sharp, the 23rd President at National Congress of American Indians in Washington, DC at speaking at the US SIF Forum 25 conference<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A collaboration between First Peoples Worldwide and US SIF launched the Sustainable Indigenous Finance Initiative (SIFI)<\/strong> at the SIF FORUM 2025 held in June in Washington, DC to standing room only crowds for both Indigenous Peoples sessions. The SIFI inaugural panel was opened by former Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland<\/a> followed with a powerful plenary moderated by Mark Trahant<\/a> Founding Editor ICT, Wharton Professor Witold Henisz<\/a>, First Nations Major Projects CEO Mark Podlasly<\/a>, and Kyle Whyte<\/a> Director of the Tishman Environmental Science Center.<\/p>\n

The Breakfast Roundtable provided an advanced preview of the Sustainable Indigenous Finance: Investors Guidebook, Navigating the Energy Transition <\/strong>where it was proclaimed a \u201ctour de force\u201d for investors. Designed to be a working resource for investors The Guidebook includes tools, case studies and checklists to help investors accurately identify, assess and mitigate the risks related to Indigenous concerns particularly in the context of energy transition and land-based sectors.<\/p>\n

The earliest collaboration between First Peoples Worldwide<\/a> (FPW) and US SIF<\/a> was in 1994 at a time when Indigenous Peoples were seen as part of the environment not as sovereign, culturally distinct, landowners and rights holders. FPW founder and Calvert Social Investment Funds Trustee Rebecca Adamson created the earliest standalone Indigenous Peoples Investment Screen. Collaborating with US SIF members, Indigenous Peoples Rights became one of the top 3 shareholder concerns for the next two decades. In 2004, the Onieda Nation, through the leadership of Susan White, collaborated with US SIF and incubated the Investors and Indigenous Peoples Working Group IIPWG. In 2017, FPW was Advisor to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on their DAPL investor engagement efforts joining again with US SIF in a worldwide campaign to reroute the Dakota Access Pipeline DAPL.<\/p>\n

Today the SIFI <\/strong>collaboration combines the financial acumen, academic rigor and Indigenous thought leadership to flip the script on business models that presume you can do it faster and cheaper without sociopolitical-community risk mitigation. As the world transitions to a low-carbon economy, the material relevance of Indigenous voices has never been clearer. From mineral extraction to renewable infrastructure development, many projects intersect directly with Indigenous lands and communities. Indigenous inclusion is no longer a matter of ethics or compliance \u2013 it is fundamental for managing financial risks and opportunities.<\/p>\n

\"5,097<\/p>\n

Geographic distribution of 5,097 mining projects for energy transition minerals and metals, highlighting overlap with Indigenous Peoples\u2019 land and other land-connected peoples.\u00b2<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Globally, 72% of investors believe that energy transition investments are accelerating, despite geopolitical uncertainty and fluctuating interest rates. Yet companies often overlook or disregard the impact of their actions on Indigenous Peoples, leading to conflict and violence that, in turn, creates significant business risks – including supply chain disruptions and legal disputes – that can diminish future growth and undermine long term portfolio performance. Indigenous Peoples\u2019 lands hold over half of the deposits for thirty of the essential minerals and metals that are necessary to the energy transition, including 85% of the lithium and 75% of the manganese. Fifty-four percent of the 5,097 global transition mineral and mining projects are located on Indigenous territories.<\/p>\n

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