COP30 in Belem, Brazil, marks a historic moment with organizers expecting the largest-ever participation of Indigenous Peoples in a UN climate summit, with Indigenous Peoples delegates from the seven socio-cultural regions, namely: Africa, Arctic, Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia, North America, and the Pacific.
What Indigenous Peoples are Pushing for:
- For Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge to hold equal weight with Western science in shaping climate policies like NDCs and NAPs.
- Indigenous Peoples to be recognized as co-creators and contributors of climate solutions, not merely as consultees or beneficiaries.
- Direct and equitable access to climate finance for Indigenous Peoples to enable self-determined and Indigenous-led climate action.
- A just transition that upholds Indigenous rights, FPIC, gender equality, and Indigenous women’s leadership.
- Protection for Indigenous Environmental Human Rights Defenders.
- Safeguards that protect rights, ensure land tenure, and uphold FPIC over Indigenous lands and resources.
- Climate policies to uphold Indigenous Peoples' knowledge, ensuring its preservation and transmission for the next seven generations.
- Ensure the full, equal, and meaningful participation and leadership of women in all climate actions and decision-making processes.
Why Belem Matters:
Located at the gateway to the Amazon, Belem symbolizes the urgency of protecting the world’s largest rainforest.
COP30 is being hailed as the “Peoples’ COP” and the “implementation” COP by the COP30 presidency, a summit emphasizing grassroots leadership, voices of Indigenous peoples, and locally-led climate action
