INDIGENOUS RIGHTS & CLIMATE JUSTICE ORGANIZING & ADVOCACY PRIORITIES
We're organizing our communities and pushing our state government to strengthen Minnesota's climate leadership and to go bold on advancing Indigenous rights and climate justice.
We're organizing our communities and pushing our state government to strengthen Minnesota's climate leadership and to go bold on advancing Indigenous rights and climate justice.
As people who care passionately about our planet and the people in it, we want to build a future that supports vibrant Native and non-Native communities living in right relationship with the land.
As part of our systemic work, MNIPL has developed Organizing and Advocacy Priorities focused on actions Minnesotans and our state government can take to repair the harms of climate change, prevent more carbon from being put into the atmosphere, and protect Minnesotans from further harm.
We believe that including the perspectives and experiences of local communities, people of faith, conscience, and spiritual practice and those most impacted by climate change is crucial to creating effective and equitable policy.
Join us in creating a more just and sustainable Minnesota!
Get Involved
Sign up for updates! Interested in getting further involved in the legislative work this year? Join our policy team by contacting Sara Wolff (sara@mnipl.org) or sign up for email updates from MNIPL by clicking here!
Make a financial gift to MNIPL to help us continue our leadership and engagement in this critical moment in history. You can become a sustaining donor with a monthly contribution or make a one-time donation.
MNIPL's Advocacy Approach
We know that advocacy for the issues we care about isn't defined by one legislative session or one bill. Building towards a greener and more interdependent world will take intentional and long-term work in multiple different ways. At MNIPL, we have three complimentary approaches to our advocacy:
Legislative Advocacy
MNIPL works with advocates and legislators to advance specific bills and policies at the legislature. This includes helping connect constituents with their legislators and helping advance legislation.
In 2023, for example, MNIPL was instrumental in passing the Minnesota Climate Innovation Financing Act (MNCIFA) which is investing more that $40M in building energy efficient infrastructure in chronically underfunded communities.
Administrative Advocacy
MNIPL also works to make sure that policies are actually enacted in ways that respect tribal and Indigenous sovereignty and that prioritize the needs and health of everyday Minnesotans over corporations.
Decisions made by entities like the Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency have real impacts on people's lives. We help makes sure that the voices of Minnesotans are heard in those spaces.
Education & Organizing
We know that our advocacy is only effective when we are listening to the needs of our communities and bringing people from across the state into this important work.
MNIPL is also committed to organizing with folks most affected by climate change and bringing support and education to groups who want to get involved and government officials who want to support.
MNIPL's Advocacy Approach
We know that advocacy for the issues we care about isn't defined by one legislative session or one bill. Building towards a greener and more interdependent world will take intentional and long-term work in multiple different ways. At MNIPL, we have three complimentary approaches to our advocacy:
Legislative Advocacy
MNIPL works with advocates and legislators to advance specific bills and policies at the legislature. This includes helping connect constituents with their legislators and helping advance legislation.
In 2023, for example, MNIPL was instrumental in passing the Minnesota Climate Innovation Financing Act (MNCIFA) which is investing more that $40M in building energy efficient infrastructure in chronically underfunded communities.
Administrative Advocacy
MNIPL also works to make sure that policies are actually enacted in ways that respect tribal and Indigenous sovereignty and that prioritize the needs and health of everyday Minnesotans over corporations.
Decisions made by entities like the Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency have real impacts on people's lives. We help makes sure that the voices of Minnesotans are heard in those spaces.
Education & Organizing
We know that our advocacy is only effective when we are listening to the needs of our communities and bringing people from across the state into this important work.
MNIPL is also committed to organizing with folks most affected by climate change and bringing support and education to groups who want to get involved and government officials who want to support.
2025 STATEWIDE ADVOCACY PRIORITIES
Wild Rice, known as manoomin to the Anishinaabeg and psíŋ to the Lakota and Dakota, is crucial to the health of people and ecosystems in Minnesota. Importantly, manoomin/psíŋ is central to Anishinaabe and Dakota spirituality, culture, and nutrition, as well as their economies. Wild rice is also the state grain of Minnesota and an essential part of our understanding of this place we call home. Manoomin/psíŋ is under threat from invasive species, climate change, and pollution.
MNIPL will staff and support the work of the Rise & Repair Alliance, which will lead legislative actions to strengthen protections for Manoomin/Psiŋ as a food source, a living being, and a crucial part of Minnesota’s ecosystem.
The language for the bill proposed this year was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light (MNIPL).
Click here to learn more about this effort with Rise & Repair!
We know that climate disruption is having an effect on both our present and our future, but many of the places where we and our state are investing money aren’t taking those realities into account. In fact, 17 states across the county, influenced by fossil fuel interests, have passed laws barring their State Investment Boards from considering risks like climate change. Not only is this bad news for the environment, but it’s bad news for those pension-holders.
What’s more: as insurance companies are raising rates for Minnesotans and citing increased wind and storms as the cause, they are continuing to invest in projects and companies that are exacerbating wind and storms by ignoring climate change.
MNIPL is working to pass legislation that allows Minnesota’s State Investment Boards to take climate into consideration when making investment decisions and legislation that will hold insurance companies accountable for providing affordable coverage for Minnesotans.
For more resources and information on climate-smart investments, click here!
Young people here and across the world are the generations most impacted by climate change and the generation least responsible for it. We can’t do climate justice work without making sure that young people are at the center of our decisions.
MNIPL is supporting young people across the state who are organizing around issues of Indigenous rights & climate justice.
Carbon dioxide pipelines are being sold as a necessary part of meeting our climate goals. What industry representatives don't like to mention is that they are taking compressed CO2 to oil wells in North Dakota to push out more oil – a process called Enhanced Oil Recovery.
We know that a safe and equitable transition to a greener future means ending our use of fossil fuels, not finding more creative ways to hide it.
MNIPL is working through administrative advocacy and education to keep carbon pipelines (and other false solutions like carbon sequestration) from being built or pursued in Minnesota.
For more resources and information on carbon dioxide pipelines, click here!
PROTECTING MANOOMIN/PSÍŊ (WILD RICE)
Wild Rice, known as manoomin to the Anishinaabeg and psíŋ to the Lakota and Dakota, is crucial to the health of people and ecosystems in Minnesota. Importantly, manoomin/psíŋ is central to Anishinaabe and Dakota spirituality, culture, and nutrition, as well as their economies. Wild rice is also the state grain of Minnesota and an essential part of our understanding of this place we call home. Manoomin/psíŋ is under threat from invasive species, climate change, and pollution.
MNIPL will staff and support the work of the Rise & Repair Alliance, which will lead legislative actions to strengthen protections for Manoomin/Psiŋ as a food source, a living being, and a crucial part of Minnesota’s ecosystem.
The language for the bill proposed this year was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light (MNIPL).
Click here to learn more about this effort with Rise & Repair!
CLIMATE-SMART INVESTMENTS & INSURANCE
We know that climate disruption is having an effect on both our present and our future, but many of the places where we and our state are investing money aren’t taking those realities into account. In fact, 17 states across the county, influenced by fossil fuel interests, have passed laws barring their State Investment Boards from considering risks like climate change. Not only is this bad news for the environment, but it’s bad news for those pension-holders.
What’s more: as insurance companies are raising rates for Minnesotans and citing increased wind and storms as the cause, they are continuing to invest in projects and companies that are exacerbating wind and storms by ignoring climate change.
MNIPL is working to pass legislation that allows Minnesota’s State Investment Boards to take climate into consideration when making investment decisions and legislation that will hold insurance companies accountable for providing affordable coverage for Minnesotans.
For more resources and information on climate-smart investments, click here!
INVESTING IN THE NEXT GENERATION OF CLIMATE LEADERS
Young people here and across the world are the generations most impacted by climate change and the generation least responsible for it. We can’t do climate justice work without making sure that young people are at the center of our decisions.
MNIPL is supporting young people across the state who are organizing around issues of Indigenous rights & climate justice.
PREVENTING CO2 PIPELINES & OTHER FALSE SOLUTIONS
Carbon dioxide pipelines are being sold as a necessary part of meeting our climate goals. What industry representatives don't like to mention is that they are taking compressed CO2 to oil wells in North Dakota to push out more oil – a process called Enhanced Oil Recovery.
We know that a safe and equitable transition to a greener future means ending our use of fossil fuels, not finding more creative ways to hide it.
MNIPL is working through administrative advocacy and education to keep carbon pipelines (and other false solutions like carbon sequestration) from being built or pursued in Minnesota.
For more resources and information on carbon dioxide pipelines, click here!
MNIPL is proud to be a part of Rise & Repair, a diverse alliance of people and organizations advancing Indigenous rights & climate justice during Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session.
Check out this video to see some of what Rise & Repair is working on this session!
Rise & Repair Partners:
Cooperative Energy Futures, EcoFaith Network, Institute for Self-Reliance, Land Stewardship Project, Mi C.A.S.A., Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, Mountains and Waters Alliance, R.I.S.E. Coalition, Sierra Club, Vote Solar, Take Action MN, MCEA, Climate Generation, The Repair Communities for Makoce Ikikcupi, Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery, MUUSJA, CURE, Water Legacy, Episcopal Church of MN, MN 350 Action, and Recycling Electronics for Climate Action (RECA)