First Nations co-ownership of renewable energy projects is increasingly proposed as a tangible pathway towards economic reconciliation, enabling communities to assert sovereignty over their lands and land use decision-making.

This is despite limited empirical understanding of the value of First Nations co-ownership, how and where it exists, and what its on-the-ground influence may be in advancing First Nations self-determination and economic resilience.

To address this gap, this paper offers a first-of-its-kind foundational, evidence-based knowledge of the state of play on First Nations co-ownership of large renewable energy projects.

We present an original dataset, comprising 61 projects carefully curated to establish a much-needed global baseline on the spatial and temporal trends and patterns across technology, project size, development stage and equity share.

Overall, we find evidence of growth in the number of renewable energy projects with First Nations equity over the last three decades across four jurisdictions.

Most projects in Canada (mainly wind) and New Zealand (geothermal) are operational, while many in Australia (mostly solar) and the US (transmission) are in the planning stages.

First Nations equity shares range from 3.2% to full ownership, with minority ownership the most prevalent.

Authors: Vigya Sharma, Julia Loginova, How are Indigenous groups participating in large renewable energy project co-ownership? Mapping global progress, Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 132, 2026, 104557, ISSN 2214-6296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2026.104557.

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'Respect and courtesy aren’t enough. We also need to engage in ongoing practical reconciliation and the drive to eradicate Indigenous disadvantage. To me, the energy transformation is one of our best, if not the best, opportunity to do just that.'

The importance of community engagement and strong working partnerships during operations and inevitable mine closure cannot be overstated. 

In many jurisdictions around the world, mining and extractive industries are closely associated with environmental degradation, injustice, and colonial dispossession.

Less frequently considered in the scholarship on mining and injustice are the impacts of mine closure and mining's long-term social and environmental legacies.

Mine closure and remediation is often the longest and most complex phase of the mining cycle, yet it receives the least attention during project assessment and approval. The long-term, even perpetual, nature of post-mining impacts is a major socio-ecological challenge and contributes to cumulative impacts in extractive regions, particularly for local and Indigenous communities whose lands host large-scale mining, but who are often excluded or marginalized in discussions of mine closure and remediation. 

This Special Section brings together a series of Indigenous-authored and collaborative articles offering a deeper exploration of community perspectives, engagements and governance practices at extractive sites in Australia and Canada. 

Written from diverse ecological, social and political contexts, taken together the articles elevate Indigenous voices and experiences in mine closure governance.

This addresses the significant gap in the literature on the social aspects of mine closure, which is particularly glaring in relation to Indigenous peoples' rights and interests.

Authors: Holcombe, S. E., Hall, R. J. & Keeling, A., (2025) “Self-Determination in mine site transitions and mine closure governance across Indigenous nations”, Journal of Political Ecology 32(1): 8604. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.8604

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Thanks for use of the cover photo by Yong Chuan Tan on Unsplash

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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