Community-embedded Energy Transition Planning for Climate Resilience
Access to energy is critical to the wellbeing of individuals, families, communities, and businesses. However, transition of fossil fuel-based energy systems is essential to avoid runaway climate change, and the physical infrastructure that transports and delivers energy is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change that have already begun to materialize.
This project focuses on enhancing energy transition planning, recognizing that such plans must: integrate mitigation and adaptation; embrace a justice framework; and be socio-culturally embedded within local geographies.
Our primary objectives are to
Co-produce directly applicable knowledge to facilitate local climate adaptation planning that prioritizes justice and wellbeing; generate scalable knowledge to support capacity-building, enabled by a comparative approach.
Our international research team includes leading and emerging scholars
spanning multiple disciplines, each of whom is uniquely qualified for and committed to interdisciplinarity, collaboration, community engagement, and equity, diversity and inclusion.
Case studies represent equity-deserving Indigenous and marginalized communities uniquely vulnerable to climate change in Canada, the U.S., Norway, Germany, Mexico and Ghana, each of which hold in common three key climate risks: critical infrastructure; living standards; and peace and human mobility. One or more members of our team already has organizational partnerships in each of our case communities, enabling rapid deployment of research activities.
In each case, we will assess key risks; identify a range of regionally-appropriate options for mitigative/adaptive energy transition; pursue community-engagement to identify collective visions for equitable, livable communities based on local needs, values, and practices; and map enablements and constraints to the realization of those visions.
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It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the sudden passing of our dear friend and colleague, Leona Humchitt, also known by her family and community as Zux̌valaqs in her traditional language of Haíɫzaqvḷa, on March 12. A proud matriarch of the Heiltsuk Nation, a devoted partner to Tom Humchitt, a loving mother to her five children—Flora, Kristy, Mercedes, Cheryl, and Thomas Benjamin—and a cherished grandmother to eleven, Leona embodied strength, wisdom, and generosity. Her passing is an immeasurable loss, and we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and the entire Heiltsuk community.
Leona joined the Justice First team from the very beginning, serving as a guiding force in our work as an Indigenous knowledge and community engagement mentor. As a key member of the M̓ṇúxvṃṇts Council, our project’s advisory committee, she ensured that ethics, equity, diversity, inclusion, and deep respect for Indigenous knowledge and sovereignty remained at the heart of everything we do. It was Leona who suggested the name M̓ṇúxvṃṇts, meaning “we are one” in Haíɫzaqvḷa—an enduring testament to her belief in unity, interconnection, and collective responsibility to each other and the land. Though her time with us was far too short, Leona’s impact was profound. Her leadership was not just in her knowledge but in the way she carried herself—with an unwavering commitment to speaking from the heart, fostering continuous learning, and building relationships rooted in healing and reciprocity. She led with kindness, vision, and an unshakable devotion to her people and her homeland.
Beyond her work with Justice First, Leona was a tireless advocate for Indigenous self-determination, environmental stewardship, and climate justice. As the Climate Action Coordinator for the Haiłzaqv Nation in Bella Bella, she championed clean energy initiatives, food sovereignty, and pathways toward a more sustainable future. She was a dedicated member of the Clean Energy Association of British Columbia and an Advisory Board Member for British Columbia’s Remote Community Energy Strategy. Alongside her husband, Tom, she co-led Heiltsuk Wáwadi Kelp, a regenerative agriculture initiative aimed at cultivating sustainable kelp systems that honor traditional ecological knowledge.
Her passion for decarbonizing Coastal First Nations’ territories was instrumental in her work with the Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative (IODI), where she played a vital role in advancing clean energy transitions. In 2024, she co-authored Kinship and Prosperity: Proven Solutions for a Clean Energy Landscape, an influential report providing critical guidance for Indigenous-led renewable energy efforts—one of many legacies she leaves behind for future generations.
Leona’s presence, wisdom, and fierce advocacy touched countless lives, and her loss will be felt far and wide. She was not only a brilliant thinker and leader but a profoundly generous spirit, devoted to her family, her community, and the lands and waters that sustained them. As we grieve this immense loss, we also honor the immense gifts she shared with us. May we carry forward her teachings, her love for her people and the land, and her unwavering belief in the power of community and connection.
We are one.
