Countries must recognise the demarcation of Indigenous lands as a key component of tackling the climate crisis, and civil society must help in the defence of such lands against mining interests, Brazil’s minister for Indigenous peoples has said.
Sonia Guajajara, a longtime Indigenous activist before being appointed a minister by President Lula da Silva, said: “[Among the goals of the Cop30 summit is] a request that countries recognise the demarcation of Indigenous lands as climate policy.”
At Cop30 she put faith in the debates taking place within traditional communities, Afro-descendants, family farmers and Indigenous peoples. This, she said, “can generate recommendations for the final text of this conference”. The idea would be that this is then picked up as a theme for future Cops.
Sonia Guajajara says Cop30 could help the Amazon and its peoples by means of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. Photograph: André Penner/AP
Guajajara was speaking to the Guardian before peaceful protests outside the conference centre in Belém on Friday morning by Indigenous people brought the Cop30 talks to a brief halt. Protesters gathered outside the entrance, peacefully blocking the way for delegates. After only about two hours of mild disruption, though with a heavy police and military presence, during which delegates had to use a side entrance, entry to the conference resumed as normal.
Guajajara warned that countries must maintain the rights of Indigenous people, while mining interests seek to exploit the “critical minerals” necessary to manufacture the renewable energy and other low-carbon equipment needed to solve the climate crisis.
The Tapajós and many other of the Amazon’s great rivers have been contaminated by the mercury used in gold extraction. Moves are under way to open up Yanomami territory – the largest Indigenous lands in Brazil – to industrial mining. With critical minerals and gold increasing in value due to the energy transition and expansion of telecommunications, Brazil’s congress, which is dominated by agribusiness and mining interests, is pushing for further exploration.
Guajajara told the Guardian: “We are working hard here to prevent the exploitation of these territories. Our federal constitution guarantees the exclusive right to the territories of Indigenous peoples … We have to talk and persuade congress not to approve these plans.”
She also said one of the central ways the summit could benefit the Amazon and its peoples is through the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), which was launched last week in Belém.
The fund is intended to help countries with large existing forested areas to keep them standing. Most forestry finance is only available to areas already afflicted by deforestation, and there are no other global mechanisms to compensate countries that forgo the short-term financial gains from logging, ranching, or converting forests to plantations.
The TFFF is one of the main outcomes that Brazil hopes for from Cop30, and about $5.5bn (£4.2bn) has so far been pledged to it. Lula is hoping for $25bn from public funds, to be used to raise a further $100bn in the financial markets.
Guajajar said it was “regrettable” the UK had decided not to invest in the forest protection fund that it helped to create.
The UK was among 10 countries that helped to design the Brazilian initiative. City of London consultants built some of its initial financial models, and British diplomats have championed the plan. Prince William’s Earthshot prize put the TFFF on its shortlist. But shortly before it was formally unveiled, the British government announced that it would not be among the initial investors.
“It is regrettable that Britain is not contributing resources,” said Guajajara. “They were signalling, before the Cop, that they would certainly contribute resources.”
One veteran climate summit observer said this incident had cooled relations between Brazil and the UK, which was regrettable because these two countries should be working closely together to achieve a positive outcome at Cop30.
Environment minister Marina Silva also struck a diplomatic note, telling the Guardian she hoped the UK would come to see the TFFF as a worthwhile investment.
Another nation that was expected to invest in the TFFF was China. Last week, it expressed support and said it would join, but it did not quantify its commitment.
One possible cause of its hesitation is that China’s longheld position is that rich, industrialised nations bear the financial responsibility for tackling the climate crisis because they are primarily responsible for causing it.
Silva said this was understandable. “For a long time we have had to fight developed countries to fulfil their obligations under the Paris agreement, which has not happened until today.” But she said TFFF was different: “Each country has its own strategy about what they think is important to not open precedents of developing countries making donations. But in the case of the TFFF, it is not a donation. It is an investment.”
