COP30: Indigenous peoples demand stronger forest protection
In an unprecedented joint effort, the Brazilian indigenous movement, with the support of the Brazilian government, has enabled nearly 400 leaders to participate in the official negotiation spaces of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém. The movement has also set up a village in the city hosting 3,000 indigenous people, including traditional communities from other regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
According to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), this marks the largest presence of indigenous peoples at any climate conference in history.
“Many people have heard of the Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world, but do not know that protecting it costs lives, and that the forest is being violated, abused, and destroyed through predatory land and resource use. This is the message we bring to Belém, to COP30, and to the world: there will be no solution without the indigenous presence,” said Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sônia Guajajara during the opening of AldeiaCOP on Tuesday evening (Nov. 11).
Open to the public until November 21, the village was set up on the grounds of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). The site, which underwent a series of improvements and adaptations, includes lodging, a stage for performances, a bioeconomy fair, a geodesic space for debates, and a spiritual house for healing rituals and ancestral indigenous medicine.
“We wanted a space that would replicate, more or less, the dynamics of a village in our territories - a wooded area that is pleasant for welcoming visitors, but also a place for lodging, food, sleeping, and hosting debates and other activities,” said Kléber Karipuna, executive manager of Apib and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab), in an interview with Agência Brasil.
The process of indigenous social mobilization for COP30 is part of the so-called Circle of Peoples, an initiative of the Brazilian presidency of the conference, which was preceded by training for 2,000 indigenous people from 361 Brazilian ethnic groups.
Indigenous agenda
Among the outcomes indigenous peoples expect to achieve with their largest participation in COP history are the recognition of forest protection as a key measure to mitigate the climate crisis, the inclusion of territorial demarcation as a climate goal, and the establishment of direct financing channels to enable the transfer of resources straight to their communities.
“We come with the demand to establish a legacy from this COP - a legacy of commitment from countries and leaders to the demarcation and protection of indigenous territories. Not only indigenous territories, but also quilombola and other traditional communities, as part of an effective policy to address the climate emergency the world is facing today. This is the main legacy [we seek],” said Kléber Karipuna.
“We want to show the world a sustainable way of relating to nature, to Mother Earth, and of protecting the entire planet,” said Minister Sônia Guajajara.
