How might government employees’ emotions be mobilized to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) in chemicals management? 

Contact: Anaïs Pronovost-Morgan

The connection between emotions, UNDRIP, and chemicals management might seem far-fetched at first blush. In fact, this project addresses two central research gaps: The petro-chemical industry is a major contributor to the climate crisis and several other environmental challenges, with major direct and indirect impacts on Indigenous populations. Even so, the chemical industry is rarely mentioned in discussions on UNDRIP. The other piece of the puzzle addressed in this project is that it is well-documented that government employees commonly react defensively when faced with questions related to Indigenous people, but it’s poorly understood why.  These two serious research gaps are explored through the use of a mixed-methods approach while drawing on a third field: research on climate anxiety and the ways in which people’s emotions impact how one thinks and acts.