Takeaways: IIPWG October 2025
Items excerpted from the October 2025 Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG) Newsletter. IIPWG strategy calls take place the third Thursday of the month. Learn more.
Presentation Takeaways: Bay Mills Indian Community’s Response to Line 5
On the October IIPWG call, Whitney Gravelle, President of the Bay Mills Indian Community, shared about her Nation’s ancestral relationship, treaty rights, and ongoing responsibilities to the water and beings of the Straits of Mackinac–known to the Anishinaabe as Michilimackinac, the center of creation.
These waters connect the Great Lakes and remain central to Bay Mills’ identity, sustenance, and way of life. More than half of the Bay Mills Nation continues to rely on treaty-reserved resources for food security and livelihood. Enbridge’s [TSX:ENB] Line 5 pipeline, built in 1953 with a 50-year lifespan, carries up to 23 million gallons of oil and gas each day across treaty territory primarily for use in Canada.
Since its construction, the pipeline has leaked at least 33 times, releasing more than 1.1 million gallons of oil. For the Anishinaabe, such risks pose an existential threat to the ecosystem and the Indigenous Peoples who steward the land. In 2020, the Michigan Governor revoked Enbridge’s easement, yet the company continues to trespass and operate in violation of state orders. Bay Mills leads efforts to decommission the pipeline through litigation and public advocacy, aiming to protect the Straits and the generations yet to come.
For more information, please explore these resources and case updates.
Indigenous Peoples’ Priorities for COP30
A record number of nearly 3,000 Indigenous Peoples are expected to participate at the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP30), November 10-21 in Belém, Brazil. The location in the Amazon is significant given the region’s extensive biodiversity and as the ancestral home to hundreds of Indigenous communities. As climate negotiations take place, Indigenous Peoples’ leadership is critical to build sustainable and equitable climate solutions.
For investor COP30 considerations, Tallgrass Institute’s investor brief and webinar, Investor Briefing on Indigenous Peoples’ Priorities for COP30, parse themes such as direct climate financing and no-go zones, as well as investor stewardship recommendations.
Additional resources include Indigenous Peoples’ statements demonstrating strong consensus on priorities, such as the Political Declaration of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin and All Biomes of Brazil for COP30 and Priority Demands of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities of Brazil and the Amazon Basin.
The Gwich’in Nation Condemns Endangerment of the Arctic Refuge
The Gwich’in Steering Committee (GSC) responded to the U.S. government’s opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas development, including the entire Coastal Plain of the Refuge. “The Gwich'in Nation strongly condemns this action and stands united against any effort to destroy the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd,” says the statement.
The Coastal Plain is sacred to the Gwich’in, who call it Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit – “the sacred place where life begins.” The GSC warns oil and gas drilling “would destroy the caribou calving grounds, devastating the animals and, in turn, the Gwich’in people.”
Kristen Moreland, the Executive Director of the GSC, emphasized the Gwich’in Nation’s united stance to protect the caribou and shared, “We will continue to raise our voices and fight for the protection of this sacred land and for our way of life.”
Final Consultation Open for the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative
The Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI) released the second draft of its Standard, Assurance Process, and Reporting and Claims Policy with comments due for the final consultation period on November 17, 2025.
A summary report from CMSI’s first public consultation highlighted that feedback on the initial draft “consistently noted the need to align with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and to incorporate principles of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and specify engagement and co-design of plans with Indigenous Peoples.” The final consultation represents an important opportunity for investor input as only seven investors submitted feedback during the first consultation.
For more information, investors may explore Tallgrass Institute’s CMSI investor brief and A Civil Society Briefing for Automakers and Other Downstream Purchasers.