“Wealthy nations to finance Indigenous peoples”
São Paulo, Feb 26 (EFE).-
Brazil will advocate at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in November, where it will serve as host, for wealthy nations to finance Indigenous peoples for their role in environmental protection, Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sônia Guajajara says.
In an interview with EFE, Guajajara emphasized the importance of ensuring both the protection of Indigenous territories and compensation for these communities for “the environmental services they have provided for centuries.”
“Our main message at COP30 will be the protection of Indigenous territories, which guarantee climate balance worldwide. It is urgent to care for those who take care of the planet’s life,” she said.
Funding as “historical reparation”
Guajajara argued that public policies targeting Indigenous communities should receive international funding, particularly from the wealthiest nations.
According to the minister, it is crucial that these communities have “direct access” to global funds dedicated to fighting climate change and preserving biodiversity, while also ensuring “respect for Indigenous autonomy” in the development of their communities.
“It is already late for this historical reparation, given the past of colonial violence and the ongoing extractivist exploitation in developing countries. The numbers don’t add up. Those who protect the environment the most and conserve biodiversity the most receive less than 1% of environmental funding,” she said.
The Indigenous COP
COP30 will take place in Belém, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. For Guajajara, as the first climate summit held in the rainforest, COP30 cannot be “just an event” and “must have an Indigenous face.”
To that end, Brazil will seek to achieve the “largest and most significant” Indigenous participation in the history of climate summits, aiming for “every Indigenous person in Brazil and around the world to contribute in some way” to the discussions.
“COP30 needs to move forward on this. We will have the largest Indigenous participation in history. We also need it to be the most meaningful, leaving a stronger legacy for Indigenous organizations and policies worldwide,” Guajajara said.
The participation of native communities at COP30 will be channeled through the International Indigenous Commission, a platform for “priority dialogue” between the conference’s presidency and Indigenous peoples worldwide.
The ministry is also in discussions with Brazil’s Indigenous movement to develop strategies that will allow them to present their demands in their own voices and to be “represented in their diversity.”
The Brazilian government has also launched the Kuntari Katu program, a type of “diplomatic” training for young Indigenous leaders to learn strategies for influencing international negotiations.
The Amazon under the global spotlight
The climate summit will also be an “opportunity” for the international community to understand the reality of the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest—shared by eight South American countries—and for “the nearly 190 global leaders attending to gain awareness,” the minister stressed.
“There is no way to convey the reality of the Amazon without Indigenous peoples, riverine communities, and other traditional groups,” she argued.
Guajajara noted that Brazil’s Amazon region is home to 450 protected Indigenous territories and nearly 870,000 Indigenous people, half of the country’s total Indigenous population.
“For at least 8,000 years, these peoples have lived, learned, cultivated, and cared for their natural cycles in this environment. This biome and its peoples play a fundamental role in maintaining the planet’s environmental and climate balance and ensuring the continuity of biodiversity,” she concluded. EFE
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