Significant renewable energy resources will be needed to power Australia’s energy transition, all of which need consent from Traditional Owners.

The Nari Nari Tribal Council in south western New South Wales is working with companies willing to partner with it to build a wind farm on Country.

The economic shift brought about by the Australian Government's Future Made in Australia Act cannot come at the expense of First Nations peoples. We want to see economic and policy systems that include and embed First Nations culture, rights and interests, and priorities. We don't want to see a repeat of the mistakes of the past.

Collaboration and equitable partnerships with First Nations are critical to ensuring a clean energy transition which is just and prioritises community benefits. Access to finance, capacity building and an enabling policy environment will be key to making this a reality.

Australia’s Capacity Investment Scheme, rolling out from April 2024, has room to echo significant First Nations equity participation requirements currently being spelt out in Canada.

The combination of First Nations partnership, governance and equity is unequivocally the factor that unlocks positive impacts for First Nations communities and projects.

It is estimated that 43% of all clean energy infrastructure required to get Australia to net zero emissions will be sited on land under the care or control of First Nations.

First Nations communities will be significantly impacted by, and critical to, decarbonisation. The Indigenous Estate should be accessed by agreement with First Nations communities.

First Nations ownership and equity models are essential, alongside genuine partnerships that have deep levels of trust, reconciliation efforts, and a sense of community. Benefit-sharing must start early (before impacts are felt), to build and sustain trust, and maintain momentum.

Best practice frameworks for clean energy projects such as, First Nations Better Practice Community Engagement and the First Nations Clean Energy Network, should be used across all projects impacting the Indigenous Estate. Factors including a commitment to cultural heritage and land stewardship, protecting Country, sharing economic and social benefits through strategic partnerships, and ensuring cultural competency.

This Mobilisation Report was put together by Net Zero Australia, in partnership with The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, Princeton University and NOUS, and was published in July 2023.

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In a settler colonial context like Canada, renewable energy transitions and projects will take place on or near Indigenous traditional territories.

In the emerging body of knowledge around Indigenous community involvement in renewable energy the role of the Indigenous economic development corporation (EDCs), a uniquely Indigenous legal form has had little attention.

Although a range of governance structures that could support renewable energy projects exist; what has not been explored are which legal forms tend to employ specific governance structures.

Employing a national dataset, surveys and interviews, this study assesses the experience and involvement of Indigenous EDCs as a legal form in renewable energy projects, the governance structures EDCs employ, and how these governance structures respond to the needs for self-determination and decision-making power of Indigenous communities.

The findings show that at least 26 EDCs are involved in renewable energy projects, that EDCs tend to use economic instruments, while political organizations, (e.g., Band Council), tend to use political instruments, such as impact and benefit agreements (IBAs).

Interviewed and surveyed EDCs agreed that ownership of a project is more beneficial than IBAs that tend to be short lived. Although full ownership denotes control over a project, which aligns with UNDRIP, the desired level of ownership varies depending on a variety of factors, such as comfort with risk and how provincial context affects preferred ownership structures.

Authors: Katarina Savic, Christina E. Hoicka, 'Indigenous legal forms and governance structures in renewable energy: Assessing the role and perspectives of First Nations economic development corporations', Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 101, 2023

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Thanks for use of the photo Keshav Rajasekar on Unsplash

Common ownership with Indigenous communities provides a way for energy industry project proponents to align their interests with those of Indigenous communities, allowing both to benefit in a meaningful way from such projects.

Equity participation of Indigenous communities in such projects is becoming a more common strategy and involves unique challenges and considerations that other co-ownership situations do not.  

While Indigenous communities are diverse and their views cannot be condensed to a homogenous set of bullet points, this article discusses common priorities that such projects typically must consider, particularly relating to economic, environmental, and cultural interests of Indigenous communities.

Similarly, unique challenges relating to financing, transactional issues, and the general structure of co-ownership agreements are explored.

Authors: Vivek W Arrier, Luke Morrison, Ashley White, and Stephen Buffalo, Indigenous Ownership of Natural Resource Projects: A Framework For Partnership and Economic Development, ALBERTA LAW REVIEW (2021) 59:2

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Thanks for use of the front cover photo roman pentin

Reconciliation is about the genuine restructuring and transformation of the relationships between Indigenous and settler people.

Although renewable energy has not been inherently positive for Indigenous peoples, Indigenous communities in Canada have been participating in renewable energy production, which presents a potential pathway to reconciliation, climate change mitigation and a just energy transition.

This study explores whether and to what extent community energy—defined by deep engagement in process, as well as local and collective benefits—relates to elements of participation associated with reconciliation, both conceptually and empirically.

A conceptual framework based in community energy was developed to characterise and analyse 194 renewable energy projects associated with Indigenous communities. This framework considered ‘community’ as belonging to traditional land, places where Indigenous people live, and as local authority, such as the Indigenous political organisation of a settlement or reserve. Projects were examined by legal form, project location, and control.

The findings do not provide strong indications of reconciliation.

We suggest that one pathway to reconciliation is equity ownership, which has risen over time, although most projects located on traditional territories and Indigenous communities generally have minority or no ownership. There were no projects associated with Métis communities, and only 6 associated with Inuit communities.

Institutional change requires implementation of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and extensive policy supports.

Authors: Christina E. Hoicka, Katarina Savic, Alicia Campney, Reconciliation through renewable energy? A survey of Indigenous communities, involvement, and peoples in Canada, Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 74, 2021

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