A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sain Baina hundete nuheduut (greetings in Buryat). 

As we come to the end of the year, we want to take a moment to thank you, our partners, allies, and community, for walking alongside the SIRGE Coalition in 2025. None of the progress we’ve made would have been possible without your trust, collaboration, and shared commitment to upholding Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the global transition to a green economy. 

2025 was a year full of challenges for Indigenous Peoples and for civil society in general, as we witnessed the continued decline of multilateralism and international cooperation in favor of nationalist and extractive agendas. Yet, we also witnessed the power of Indigenous communities defending their sacred lands and waters, the leadership of Indigenous women actively defying the status quo and the energy of Indigenous youth who refuse to be just spectators; they are ready to confront these challenges and bring about the change we collectively seek. 

As we move into 2026, we find hope in community and strength in our shared commitment to defending the land. Collective action remains our most powerful and transformational tool. However great the challenges facing our communities may be, we are not alone, we have each other.

With gratitude, 

Galina Angarova (Buryat)

In 2025, our collective efforts focused on advancing Indigenous Peoples’ rights, strengthening Indigenous leadership, and supporting Indigenous communities facing growing extractive pressures: 

• Launched SIRGE’s Indigenous-led grantmaking mechanism, designed by and for Indigenous Peoples, with the first funding cycle initiated in 2025 to support Indigenous communities affected by energy transition mineral extraction.

• Deepened trust-based partnerships with Indigenous communities around the world, supporting Self-determination, knowledge sharing, and collective responses to extractive pressures in their territories. 

• Developed and launched new advocacy tools for Indigenous Peoples, including the OECD Handbook: Standing Against Harmful Business Practices, co-developed with Voices to support Indigenous communities in accessing accountability mechanisms and defending their rights.

• Advanced Indigenous Peoples’ rights in global policy spaces, including sustained advocacy under the UNFCCC, CBD, UNEA, EU institutions, OECD among others, consistently centering Indigenous Peoples’ rights and supporting Indigenous experts and community representatives to engage directly in high-level policy forums. 

• Influenced corporate accountability efforts, engaging major automotive companies and mining companies to push for stronger Indigenous Peoples’ rights policies and meaningful implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) across supply chains.

• Amplified Indigenous voices globally, producing articles, statements, and public interventions that elevated Indigenous Peoples’ leadership and solutions. 

LOOKING AHEAD: WHAT WE ARE CARRYING FORWARD

Over the years, we have learned that meaningful progress is only possible when advocacy is firmly grounded in Indigenous Peoples’ realities, leadership, and priorities. Efforts to advance a just energy transition cannot be just or succeed without respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including the right to Self-determination and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and without recognizing Indigenous Peoples as decision-makers. 

We have also learned that systemic change requires work across multiple fronts at once. Policy advocacy, corporate and investor accountability, community-led strategies, research, and narrative change must reinforce one another to challenge extractive models and advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights and environmental justice in the global transition to a green economy.

As we look ahead, we carry forward the lessons of our shared experiences, our commitment to Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and our responsibility to the lands and waters that sustain life. We move with the strength of our ancestors, whose resistance and wisdom continue to guide us, and with a deep responsibility to future generations who deserve a world rooted in dignity, balance, and justice. This is the future we are working toward, one that respects Indigenous Peoples’ rights and lives in reciprocity with the land.

Learn more about our work and our member organizations here 

Thank you for being part of the SIRGE Coalition community. We look forward to continuing this work together in 2026, grounded in reciprocity with the land and accountability to the communities we serve.

Note: The SIRGE Coalition is going to be closed for the winter break from December 25, 2025 to January 2, 2026.

Thanks for reading! For any feedback, contact general@sirgecoalition.org.