New Investor Guide Launches to De-Risk Energy Transition Projects on Indigenous Lands

The guide positions Indigenous inclusion as a key strategy for global investors, connecting it directly to stronger financial performance, sustainable value creation, and greater long-term resilience.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Indigenous Peoples' Day: The US Sustainable Investment Forum (US SIF) today announced the launch of Sustainable Indigenous Finance: Navigating the Energy Transition, a new guide offering investors a critical framework to assess and mitigate financial risks and opportunities tied to the energy transition, while aligning investments with Indigenous priorities.

Indigenous Peoples and local communities steward about 50% of global land, including 54% of intact forests, and over 40% of key biodiversity areas, vital watersheds, and vast mineral reserves.  Moreover, research suggests that over half of global energy transition mineral and mining projects—including 85% of lithium and 75% of manganese deposits—overlap with Indigenous territories, according to the journal Nature Sustainability.

Yet companies often overlook the impact of their operations on Indigenous populations, leading to conflict and ultimately business risks like supply chain disruptions or legal challenges. In fact, for energy transition mineral and mining projects within 10 km (6.2 miles) of an Indigenous Peoples' land claim, the annual incidence of material events, like disruptions, increases by as much as 500%.

"Ignoring risks related to Indigenous Peoples is a missed opportunity to protect and create long-term value," said Maria Lettini, CEO of US SIF. "By viewing Indigenous priorities not as an inconvenience but as a critical and material investment factor, this guide helps unlock de-risked private capital, drive net-zero infrastructure, and uphold our collective responsibilities for natural resource protection."

Developed in partnership with Indigenous advocates First Peoples Worldwide and sustainable finance consultancy ImpactARC, this guide outlines a three-tier de-risking framework—at the institutional, portfolio, and project levels—to help investors strengthen due diligence, governance, and risk assessment. It provides practical tools, case studies, and checklists to help fiduciaries, asset managers, and analysts integrate Indigenous considerations into investment processes.

Key insights include:

• Fiduciary Duty: Ignoring Indigenous concerns and claims may constitute a breach of fiduciary responsibility due to material investment risks.
• Risk Management: Failure to respect Indigenous rights can lead to supply chain interruptions, project delays, and long-term financial losses.
• Opportunity Creation: Direct collaboration with Indigenous communities can unlock shared economic, environmental, and social value.

"This guide offers investors new analytical tools for de-risking a portfolio and establishing the business case for upholding Indigenous Peoples rights," said Rebecca Adamson, Cherokee economist and Founder of First Peoples Worldwide. "New research and innovative AI tools are allowing the financial performance of companies across sectors— from the energy transition, agriculture, and land-based— to be linked to the positive or negative impact they have on Indigenous communities and lands," she added.  

"As a Native person working in responsible investment, I see sustainable finance as an opportunity to bring core values of reciprocity, respect, and relationship back into the movement of capital. For Indigenous communities, that means not being seen only as stakeholders, but as rights-holders and key partners in shaping a more equitable future for people and the planet," said Kevin O'Neal-Smith (Yaa sh kanda.ets'), Director of Impact, Adasina Social Capital, Tlingit, G̱aanax̱teidí.

Formation of New Indigenous Advisory Council
US SIF is also proud to announce the members of its inaugural Indigenous Advisory Council. All members of Native communities, they bring extensive experience across banking, law, philanthropy, and federal and tribal governments. This new Advisory Council will provide essential input and advise US SIF to ensure its workplans and activities are inclusive of Indigenous views and respect Indigenous rights. The current members are:

• Bryan Newland – Principal at Powers Pyles Sutter and Verville PC, member of the Bay Mills Indian Community
• Larry Roberts – Attorney General for the Mohegan Tribe, citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
• Janie Simms Hipp – Founding CEO of Native Agriculture Financial Services, citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma
• Toni Stanger-McLaughlin – CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, citizen of the Coville Confederated Tribes
• Libby Washburn – Associate CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, citizen of the Chickasaw Nation

"The intersection between Indigenous Peoples and finance represents one of the most powerful opportunities of our time. When capital flows align with Indigenous knowledge, stewardship, and self-determination, both investors and communities stand to benefit. By recognizing Indigenous rights and leadership as integral to sustainable investment, we open the door to shared prosperity — one that sustains people, economies, and the planet for generations to come," said Washburn.

"For too long, the material risks tied to Indigenous lands, food systems, and natural resources have been treated as peripheral to investment decisions. As we move through the energy transition and confront growing food insecurity, the capital markets and investors can develop collaborative market-leading partnerships with expert Tribal communities to catalyze new markets, address challenges and achieve above market investment returns," added Simms Hipp.  

About: US Sustainable Investment Forum
US SIF is the leading capital markets sustainable investing network in the U.S., with members representing $5 trillion in assets under management or advisement. US SIF works to ensure that the U.S. capital markets play an active role in driving investments toward more sustainable, resilient business and investment outcomes that consider people and the planet alongside safeguarding the long-term values of investment portfolios.
https://www.ussif.org/ 

About: First Peoples Worldwide
Founded in 2006 by Rebecca Adamson, eponymous with the Wharton School Rebecca Adamson Indigenous Risk Index, First Peoples Worldwide created the first standalone Indigenous Peoples Rights Investment Criteria in 1994, and has continued to kick down capital doors for Indigenous communities around the world. First Peoples is a leading advocate for system-level investing that includes better Indigenous Peoples risk management and innovative valuation methodologies regarding Indigenous conservation knowledge systems, biodiversity protection, custodial obligation to land and the ecosystem as investable assets. First Peoples is an Indigenous-led organization aligned with investors to influence capital flows according to millennial old principles of balance and harmony.
https://firstpeoples.org/ 

About: ImpactARC
ImpactARC is an independent, women-owned sustainable finance consultancy firm founded by partners Alya Kayal, Judith Moore, and Daisy Nicholls, and dedicated to increasing the quantity and quality of capital being channeled towards positive environmental and social impact.
https://www.impact-arc.com/ 

Media Contact: Raquel Pichardo
Phone: 240-305-2548
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE US Sustainable Investment Forum