Indigenous Activists Demand Climate Action at COP30 Summit

As the COP30 climate summit unfolds in Belém, Brazil, the country's minister for Indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara, has made a strong push for the recognition of Indigenous land rights as a crucial component of tackling the climate crisis.

Guajajara, a longtime Indigenous activist, emphasizes that the demarcation of Indigenous lands must be acknowledged as an integral part of climate policy. She expresses hope that the debates within traditional communities, Afro-descendants, family farmers, and Indigenous peoples can generate recommendations for the final text of the COP30 conference, which could then be carried forward to future COPs.

Guajajara's call for action comes as Indigenous protesters briefly disrupted the COP30 proceedings on Friday morning, peacefully blocking the entrance to the conference center. After about two hours, with a heavy police and military presence, the entry to the conference resumed as normal.

The minister also warns that countries must maintain the rights of Indigenous people, as mining interests seek to exploit the "critical minerals" necessary for the renewable energy and low-carbon equipment needed to address the climate crisis. She stresses the need to persuade Brazil's congress, which is dominated by agribusiness and mining interests, not to approve plans that would open up Indigenous territories to industrial mining.

One of the key outcomes that Brazil hopes for from COP30 is the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), a fund intended to help countries with large existing forested areas to keep them standing. However, Guajajara expresses regret that the UK, which had helped design the initiative, has decided not to invest in the fund.