We, the Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities of Brazil and the Amazon Basin, guardians of the natural riches of our countries, we declare that we are united, we reaffirm and strengthen our historic alliance and our central role in the fight against the climate crisis.
We are not responsible for the climate crisis; we are the solution. We are diverse in our peoples and cultures and we are united in the defense of our territories and our ways of life, which represent living solutions to the current planetary crisis. We are ancestral territories, guardians of ancient knowledge and historical protagonists in the defense of territories, biomes and sociobiodiversity.
We are facing a historic moment and we have no time to lose: COP30 is the opportunity to guarantee a dignified present and future for all generations. We reaffirm: we are the answer to the climate crisis, which affects all humanity!
Although we are not responsible for the climate crisis, we, Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities from all biomes, are the first to be affected through the violation of our bodies, territories and rights. We continue to resist and denounce the impacts of deforestation, mining, the expansion of agribusiness, fossil fuel exploitation, hydroelectric dam construction and all forms of exploitation.
Therefore, we jointly declare that there is no solution to the climate crisis without the recognition and protection of our territorial rights. Thus, we present our priority demand and urge the Brazilian Presidency of COP30 to present concrete results for the:
- Respect, recognition and protection of our territories, with specific and monitorable targets for:
○ Demarcation of Indigenous Territories!
○ Recognition Land Regularization of Traditional Collective Territories!
○ Recognition and Titling of Quilombola Territories!
○ Recognition and Titling of Indigenous Territories in the Amazon Basin!
○ People’s Agrarian Reform!
Main demand for COP30: Territorial rights as global climate policy. This goal must be included in the Brazilian NDC and in the Climate Plan, with concrete, quantifiable and monitorable targets.
In addition, we demand:
- Free, prior, and informed consultation (FPIC) in accordance with the reality and specificity of the distinct realities of peoples and traditional communities for any undertakings, programs, projects and other actions that affect our territories, with the right and observance of veto; and
- Recognition and safeguard of our role as guardians of biodiversity and the climate, respecting our ways of life, our mother languages, spiritualities and our traditional and ancestral knowledge.
The connection between territory, biodiversity and climate is incontestable: Without our knowledge and management, there will be no effective solution to the climate crisis. The success and legacy of COP30 depend on the commitment of countries to make concrete progress on the territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities as the foundation of climate policies. Our success metrics for COP will be:
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- Official international commitment that the demarcation of Indigenous lands, and the regularization and recognition of traditional territories are climate mitigation policies.
- Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI): Ensure and safeguard the territories with PIACI presence as a core commitment to climate action.
- Protection of human rights and environmental defenders: It is necessary to ensure resources and effective mechanisms for the protection of leaders. According to 2020 studies, it is estimated that four environmental defenders were murdered every week worldwide, with the majority being Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities, especially from Latin America.
- Direct, unbureaucratic and access-adapted financing in accordance with our realities, with at least 40% of climate resources going directly to organizations, funds and other resource access mechanisms managed by us—Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities—, ensuring our autonomy in territorial protection and management.
- A just energy transition that stops predatory projects in our territories and prioritizes community-based renewable energies, respecting our governance.
COP30 must include our voices in decision-making spaces, with 1,000 credentials for indigenous peoples globally, 280 for Brazilian Traditional Peoples and Communities in the Blue Zone and the effective occupation of seats for PCTs on the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples platform.
More than an event, we want a legacy: The integration of our demands into national plans and the guarantee that climate justice begins with territorial justice.
We do not just want to be physically present at COP30, we want effective participation and the power to influence the negotiation spaces. We are here to turn it into a turning point in human history: The moment when the world recognized that climate justice begins with respect for the territories of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities. Our struggle does not begin or end in 2025; we will remain vigilant, for protecting our lives and our territories is the future for all.
THE ANSWER IS US! NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US!
Clean energy, yes, but not like this.
