At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Indigenous activists pushed for greater inclusion in climate talks, achieving recognition of their rights but falling short on fossil fuel transition commitments. Over 5,000 Indigenous participants attended, the largest number in the conference's history. Advocates like Emil Gualinga and Kaeden Watts highlighted both progress and persistent challenges.
COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, was dubbed the 'Indigenous COP' due to its Amazon location and Brazil's push for Indigenous involvement. On the second day, activists in traditional attire stormed past security into negotiators' zones, chanting 'they can’t decide for us without us.' Throughout the event, they marched in streets, blocked entrances, and demanded inclusion, as Indigenous peoples lack voting rights in U.N. talks.
This visibility marked a shift, with over 5,000 Indigenous participants—900 accredited—surpassing the 30-year COP record, per the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil. Brazil responded by demarcating lands for 27 Indigenous groups and pledging 59 million more hectares over five years.
Advocates sought a fossil fuel phaseout roadmap and deforestation end in the nonbinding Global Mutirão agreement, but proposals were ignored, diluted by nations like Saudi Arabia, China, and India. However, the Just Transition Work Programme now acknowledges Indigenous rights, including free, prior, and informed consent, aided by Panama.
Emil Gualinga of the Kichwa Sarayaku people, via the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, noted, 'None of our proposals were taken into account for the Global Mutirão text.' Yet he remains optimistic: 'The fight for Indigenous peoples is not only at the COP.' His community’s decades-long resistance against Ecuadoran oil drilling culminated in a 2012 Inter-American Court victory.
Pacific voices, like Belyndar Rikimani of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, decried the lack of fossil fuel phaseout references, calling it a 'devastating failure of political courage.' An earlier ICJ ruling by Pacific islands affirmed governments' climate duties, but it went unmentioned.
Kaeden Watts, from Māori tribes in Aotearoa New Zealand, praised the 'amplification of Indigenous voices' leading to 'tangible change.' Future efforts target Bonn, Germany, next summer, and Santa Marta, Colombia, in April 2026, for fossil fuel phaseout guidelines and Amazon protections.
Watts affirmed, 'Their advocacy and their determination for self-determination has never stopped,' signaling growing momentum for Indigenous climate justice.