On the eve of COP30, which opens this week in the Amazonian city of Belém, Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, delivered a powerful message: without Indigenous voices and leadership, “there is no future for humanity.”
A member of the Guajajara-Tenetehara people from the northeastern state of Maranhão, Guajajara is the first person to hold this ministerial post, created in 2023 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during his third term. Her appointment marked a historic recognition of Brazil’s 1.7 million Indigenous citizens, representing 391 ethnic groups speaking nearly 300 languages across the vast country.
Speaking to AFP, Guajajara said she expects COP30 — the first-ever United Nations Climate Conference to be hosted in the Amazon — to be “the best COP in terms of Indigenous participation.” But she also denounced the “deep-rooted racism” Indigenous communities continue to face in Brazilian society.
“There is great ignorance, and racism remains pervasive,” she said. “The COP can help the world better understand the crucial role Indigenous peoples play in maintaining climate balance. Where Indigenous peoples live — whether on demarcated land or not — there is clean water, protected biodiversity, chemical-free food, and preserved forests. Humanity needs all of this to continue to exist. Without Indigenous peoples, without their voices, there is no future for humanity.”
Guardians of the Forest on the Frontline of the Climate Crisis
Guajajara recalls her first experience at a UN climate conference in 2009 at COP15 in Copenhagen, where “there were only one or two Indigenous people present, and they were not participating actively.” Since then, she says, representation has grown significantly thanks to collective efforts to promote inclusion.
“An Amazonian COP must center the voices of Indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and those who have always struggled to reach these spaces,” she said. “We are still far from playing leading roles, but this year’s leaders’ summit was encouraging — many spoke about the need to include Indigenous peoples, ensure financing for them, and protect their territories.”
Often called the “guardians of the forest,” Indigenous peoples are among the first and hardest hit by the climate crisis. “Climate change affects us in many ways — through floods, severe droughts, and extreme weather that directly impacts our daily lives,” Guajajara explained.
“When river levels drop, fish die, leading to food insecurity. Children can’t go to school because river transport is interrupted. Our way of life, deeply tied to the forest and the rivers, makes us the first to suffer from environmental collapse,” she said.
Slow Progress on Land Rights
Despite President Lula’s environmental promises, Guajajara acknowledges that progress on Indigenous land demarcation has been slower than expected. “We are not satisfied with the pace,” she admitted. “This government committed to advancing the recognition of Indigenous territories, but we are facing a legal obstacle — a law passed by a conservative Congress that restricts the recognition of Indigenous lands.”
That law, currently being challenged before Brazil’s Supreme Court, has complicated the government’s ability to expand protected territories. “We are looking for ways to overcome these barriers. Even though the pace is slow, we have approved 16 new Indigenous reserves in the past three years — more than in the entire decade before Lula’s current term,” Guajajara noted.
A Call for Climate Justice at COP30
For Guajajara, COP30 must go beyond diplomacy and declarations — it must become a moment of truth for climate justice.
“A COP in the Amazon cannot ignore the voices of those who live here and protect it,” she said. “We have preserved this forest for centuries, and yet we are the ones suffering most from its destruction. Without us, there is no future for humanity.”
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