In this episode of Protect The World, I speak with Galina Angarova. She comes from the Abzai clan of the Ekhirit nation of the Buryat peoples in Siberia, and she's also the executive director of the SIRGE Coalition.
The SIRGE Coalition is an international association dedicated to securing the rights of Indigenous Peoples during the transition to a green economy. It's projected that this transition could see the global extraction of raw materials rise by 60% by 2060, and demand for so-called 'transition minerals' such as cobalt, lithium, copper, and nickel is already skyrocketing.
Perhaps more alarmingly, over half of the world's current transition mineral projects are located on or near Indigenous land, so Galina and her team are working tirelessly to ensure that the right of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination is upheld through the implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
Galina comes to this conversation with a wealth of knowledge from decades of experience working with Indigenous Peoples around the world, and I hope she inspires you to reflect on your own place within our global community.
As always, half the money that came into the Patreon this month was donated directly to the SIRGE Coalition. This money will go towards direct support for communities on the front line in the battle to protect their lands against exploitative mining and extraction.
You can donate to the SIRGE Coalition via their partners at the Batani Foundation, and if you'd like to help me give more money to more amazing NGOs in the future, please consider signing up to the Patreon for as little as $5 a month at patreon.com/brodiehopkinsmedia
You can follow the SIRGE Coalition on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and you can also follow the rest of my own work on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
A huge thank you to everyone who supports this podcast, and to Galina Angarova for joining me on this episode. If you enjoyed it, please be sure to leave a review and share it with your friends and family. Thanks for listening!
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Additional Links:
Donations via the Batani Foundation
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
NorNickel Oil Disaster (Russia)
Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA)
Society for Threatened Peoples
International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
Transition Minerals and Indigenous Land
A Guide to Free, Prior and Informed Consent
Dakota Access Pipeline Protests (USA)
Cobre Panama Protests (Panama)
Fenix Nickel Project (Guatemala)
Juukan Gorge Destruction (Australia)