Navigating Material Risks, Climate Resilience, Indigenous Rights and Communities in Investment Decisions
An invitation-only discussion held during Climate Week NYC hosted by ImpactARC and Shift
Monday 21 September 2026 | The Yale Club of New York City
As investment in renewable energy, critical minerals, and transition infrastructure accelerates, companies and investors increasingly face a stark operational reality: projects cannot succeed when they sideline the communities safeguarding the land, resources, and ecosystems companies depend on. With 54% of transition minerals located on or near Indigenous lands, community engagement and partnership is no longer only a rights-based obligation – it is a core determinant of project viability and financial performance.
While community engagement is widely recognized as essential for respecting Indigenous rights and community concerns, its relevance to portfolio and systemic risk management and fiduciary duty remains under-assessed. Inadequate engagement can lead to opposition, delays, disruption, and severe budget overruns. Conversely, early, inclusive, and meaningful engagement often builds trust, improves decision-making, strengthens project resilience, and creates long-term value.
During Climate Week NYC, Shift and ImpactARC convened an invitation-only event bringing together institutional investors, asset managers, companies, academic researchers, and Indigenous leaders. The discussion examined the evidence showing the financial materiality of high-quality engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, outlining an actionable framework for integrating these considerations into investment due diligence, stewardship, and decision-making.
One overarching message stood out: the costs of early, meaningful engagement are many multiples lower than the costs of conflict – and shortcuts almost always create delays.
Witold Henisz from The Wharton School highlighted that the financial case for considering Indigenous Peoples is increasingly strong, but there is so much more we can do. He challenged investors to treat this as an enterprise risk issue rather than community relations, ask for the right disclosure, fix the clock and look beyond quarterly performance, and define engagement not by the number of meetings, but by actual decision rights.
David Rutherford brought the practical investor lens. He spoke about the framework they developed at Mackenzie Investments and the reality of engaging companies. While a framework is a critical step, it remains limited without sufficient data and ground-level perspective.
Through engagement with 30+ companies on Indigenous rights, Katerina Papavasileiou from Federated Hermes shared how projects frequently change hands, but communities remain the permanent stewards. When you properly incorporate their views from the start, projects thrive over the long term.
Rebecca Adamson from First Peoples Worldwide reminded us all of the origins of sustainable investing: values. Shareholders drove this movement because they wanted a better world. She emphasised that we need humility to understand a different mindset and different worldview.
Please see below for a recording of the event.
Welcome – Judith Moore, ImpactARC
Opening Remarks – Rebecca Adamson, First Peoples Worldwide
The Financial Evidence – Jonathan Milläng presents findings from Shift's evidence review: Community Engagement, Nature, and Financial Materiality
The Investor Toolkit – Daisy Nicholls presents ImpactARC's investor guide and framework, developed in collaboration with US SIF and First Peoples Worldwide: Sustainable Indigenous Finance: Navigating the Energy Transition.
Panel Discussion – Moderated by: Bob Dannhauser, Shift
Rebecca Adamson, First Peoples Worldwide
Witold J. Henisz, Wharton Impact, Value and Sustainable Business Initiative
David Rutherford, Mackenzie Investments
Katerina Papavasileiou, Federated Hermes
Audience Q&A
At ImpactARC, we are dedicated to centering Indigenous Peoples in financial decision-making. If you have ideas, questions, or want to collaborate, please reach out: daisy@impact-arc.com.