Accountability in environmental justice and health equity according to calls for justice

This article breaks down the the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Calls for Justice to articulate accountability and actionable steps for ensuring environmental justice is a priority in health care, academia, and beyond.

How do we define accountability in the context of environmental justice and healthy equity? What does it mean to be accountable as we strive to ensure our climate action achieves climate justice?

I'm frequently asked these questions in my line of work as an Indigenous and anti-racism policy advisory and researcher, and especially in spaces where I speak on my lived experiences living with disabilities. I rely on storytelling to communicate my personal journey while leveraging evidence-based research to contextualize myself within shared, living legacies that affect all of us. This approach tends to humanize the data, history, facts, that we too often engage with in such a desensitized way.

When it comes to defining accountability though, I turn to the frameworks that already exist: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Calls for Justice. These aren’t just theoretical documents. They lay out clear, actionable steps for ensuring environmental justice is a priority in health care, academia, and beyond.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action

Health Equity (Calls to Action #18-24)

• #18: Recognizes the disparities in health outcomes for Indigenous peoples due to systemic factors, including environmental determinants of health (e.g., lack of clean water, exposure to pollutants).

• #19: Calls for measurable goals to close these gaps, which includes addressing environmental conditions that impact Indigenous health.

• #21: Calls for sustainable funding of Indigenous healing centers, recognizing that land-based healing and environmental health are crucial to Indigenous well-being.

• #22: Calls on health care institutions to value and use Indigenous healing practices, which are inherently tied to land, water, and environmental stewardship.

  
  

Education & Academia (Calls to Action #62-65)

• #62: Calls for curriculum changes to educate students on Indigenous histories, including environmental and land-based knowledge.

• #64: Calls for Indigenous-led education programs that center land-based learning and environmental sustainability.

  
  

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

Environmental Justice & Land Rights

• Article 29: Asserts Indigenous peoples’ right to conservation and protection of their lands and environment, and the obligation of states to prevent hazardous waste and pollution from harming Indigenous communities.

• Article 32: Recognizes the need for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) before any environmental or economic development projects on Indigenous lands.

Health Equity & Academia

• Article 24: Affirms Indigenous peoples’ right to traditional medicines, healing practices, and equitable access to health services—directly linked to environmental health.

• Article 14: Recognizes Indigenous peoples’ right to education that reflects their cultural methods, including land-based knowledge.

• Article 31: Protects Indigenous knowledge systems, including environmental and ecological knowledge, from academic and corporate extraction.

MMIWG Calls for Justice

Health Care & Environmental Justice

• #3.2: Calls for the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in decision-making regarding land, water, and resource management—key to environmental justice.

• #7.3: Calls for the full implementation of UNDRIP, which includes Indigenous land rights and environmental protections.

• #18.23: Recognizes the environmental destruction caused by resource extraction projects and their direct links to violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Academia & Research Ethics

• #14.1: Calls for anti-colonial education in Canadian institutions, including environmental studies that center Indigenous worldviews.

• #16.6: Calls for ethical research that respects Indigenous sovereignty and prevents extractive academic practices related to environmental and social issues.

When institutions like health care and academia continue to uphold systems of environmental harm and racial inequity, they are actively contributing to the crisis. It’s not enough for them to acknowledge these problems; they must take real steps to dismantle them.

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