Lighting the Path: Indigenous Fire Stewardship & Climate Leadership

Wildfire has become one of the defining climate challenges of our time, with impacts reaching across communities, ecosystems, and economies. In 2023, emissions from Canada’s wildfires surpassed those of global aviation, underscoring the urgency of re-centring knowledge systems and practices that have sustained landscapes since time immemorial. This session will convene Indigenous leaders, scientists, and practitioners in an engaging, participatory dialogue on how Indigenous Fire Stewardship strengthens climate resilience, biodiversity, and adaptation. Through dynamic exchange and audience interaction, the event will highlight Indigenous climate leadership and showcase how collaborative, relational approaches to land and fire can inform sustainable, whole-of-society action in Canada and globally.

facilitator

Yolanda Clatworthy Director Mitigating Wildfire Initiative, SFU

Speaker

Joe K. Firekeeper & Co-Chair Thunderbird Collective zSecwepmc Nation

Speaker

Dr. Jennifer Grenz Assistant Professor & Indigenous Scholar University of British Columbia

Speaker

Dane de Souza Senior Policy Advisor - Emergency Management Métis National Council

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