novembro, 21 2024

By Fábio de Castro, special for WWF-Brazil

Indigenous peoples from Brazil, Australia and the Pacific Islands launched an alliance on Wednesday (November 13) to strengthen the protagonism and leadership of ancestral communities in global actions against the climate crisis. The initiative, called the “Troika of Indigenous Peoples”, was presented at the WWF Pavilion of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP29), with the presence of the Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, Sônia Guajajara, and the president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), Joênia Wapichana. The summit began on November 11 and continues until the 22nd, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The name of the initiative refers to the COP Troika, which is made up of the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Azerbaijan, presidencies of the COP28, COP29 and COP30 summits, respectively, formed to provide continuity and coherence to the conferences in pursuit of the goal of keeping global warming limited to 1,5oC. 

In the case of the Troika of Indigenous Peoples, the goal is to place organisations and members of indigenous communities at the centre of these debates, as they are the great guardians of nature and play a fundamental role in climate mitigation and conservation of natural resources. The member countries are expected to host the next three Climate Conferences.

According to Minister Sônia Guajajara, the initiative came from indigenous peoples and is not limited to organising the participation of traditional peoples in the COPs, but seeks to strengthen indigenous protagonism in the spaces of climate conferences, recognising their role as guardians of the planet.

“Although there is already recognition of the importance of indigenous peoples and territories, our participation is still not at the centre of the discussions. This needs to be said every day, because climate change is no longer a problem of the future, it is a problem that has already hit us strongly today,” said the minister.

She highlighted that indigenous participation has been increasing at COPs, but it has not yet become central. According to her, at the 2009 COP in Denmark, there were only three indigenous representatives from Brazil and very little participation from local communities. At the 2012 COP in Qatar, there were already 12 indigenous organisations from Brazil, and in Spain, in 2019, the conference had the largest participation of indigenous women in history. Last year, in the United Arab Emirates, the summit had the largest indigenous delegation in the history of COPs, with more than 300 indigenous people from all over the world and a hundred representatives from Brazil.

“Next year, at COP30, in Belém (Pará state capital, in the Brazilian Amazon), we want to have the largest and best indigenous participation in the history of COPs. But we have to think about how this process will be. How will we get to Belém?”, asked the minister. According to her, in addition to increasing the number of credentials for indigenous peoples, the ministry proposed the creation of a specific credential to identify that group - and there are already positive signs for this.

“At COPs, you can take part as an NGO, government, or company. We, indigenous people, are not in any of these categories. We want to have this distinction on our badge, to show this indigenous participation in a differentiated way, as we deserve to be recognised in this space of debate and decisions”, explained Guajajara.

Furthermore, according to her, the ministry has an ongoing initiative aimed at ensuring that indigenous peoples have a direct influence on COP decisions. “We have launched a training program for indigenous leaders for global politics. This is a course that is already underway, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. At COP30 in Brazil, these indigenous leaders who take part in this training process will already be working directly in the negotiation rooms.”

Global call for unity

Alana Manchineri, who leads the Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab), stated that the Indigenous Troika is a global call for unity and solidarity among indigenous peoples from all continents.

“While we bleed in Brazil, you bleed in Australia, in the Pacific and on all continents. Our fight is one: to guarantee our territorial rights and our lives, which have been cut short by those who claim to be authorities. But the true authorities are us, indigenous peoples, women, men, children, elders, who have made it our lives to fight to guarantee our territory,” she stated.

Manchineri highlighted that the COP Troika, formed by Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, was established to lead global efforts in order to limit global warming, but it actually plans to increase fossil fuel production by 32% by 2035.

“This expansion directly contradicts the climate leadership that these nations claim to defend. There will be no possible 1.5°C mission if plans to expand oil and gas continue, including in the Amazon. There will be no dignified life on a planet in flames. We know this and we stand in solidarity with our relatives in the Pacific Islands when they say: we are not drowning, we are fighting. We, from the Amazon, will be with you so that the sky does not fall,” she declared. 

She also demanded ambitious climate plans – especially in the countries that contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions – and that the demarcation of indigenous lands and territorial rights be recognised as climate policy. 

“Our alliance is guided by natural borders and not by imaginary colonial lines. We will not rest until urgent climate action is implemented. COP30 will be on our territory and we will not accept that the negotiations take place without the participation of our voices and our climate authority. To this end, we demand the co-presidency of COP30 in Brazil,” she stated.

Ancestral solutions 

The president of Funai, Joênia Wapichana, reinforced the proposal to have indigenous peoples as president of COP30, in Belém.

“The launch of the Troika of Indigenous Peoples is another step towards an alliance to address climate change. Indigenous peoples are the ones who have been the first to face the impact of climate change, but they have also shown the way to address it. At COPs, we do not want indigenous peoples only to speak, but we also want to ensure that they can present fundamental initiatives for the next step. Having them occupying the presidency of the next COP is important so that they do not have just a symbolic presence,” stated Joênia.

Cathryn Eatock, representative of the Indigenous Peoples Organisation of Australia - which brings together 360 indigenous organisations in the country - stated that the knowledge and traditions of indigenous peoples, as well as their connections with the environment, offer valuable insights that should be central to global solutions.

“Today we are announcing the creation of the Indigenous Peoples Troika to promote a coordinated approach for Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon, Australia and the Pacific, in order to ensure the implementation of the Paris Agreement, as climate solutions are rooted in Indigenous worldviews,” said Eatock.

She explained that the Troika is not only a call for participation and recognition, but also a call for action. “This Troika is a call for action. It is a call for recognition that Indigenous leadership in the climate movement is not just a moral imperative, it is a practical imperative. We are the first to experience the effects of climate change – and we have the solutions,” she said.

A mirror for global leaders

Rufino Varea, Coordinator of the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, said that the coordinated effort of the indigenous peoples of the three countries that make up the Indigenous Peoples Troika aims to establish a platform that advances the legacy and priorities of these peoples in global climate negotiation spaces.

“This shared model is inspired by our current presidency of the COP Troika. More than just the other side of the same coin, the Indigenous Peoples Troika is a mirror that reflects to our leaders the consequences of their decisions and the greed that is harming our Mother Earth and her people.”

Varea highlighted that in the indigenous culture of his region, in the Pacific, as in that of many other peoples around the world, oral tradition plays a central role and storytelling is a powerful and effective means of passing on legacies, practices, customs and values ​​through the generations.

“But today, storytelling has become a dangerous weapon, used to mislead with distorted narratives and to evade responsibility. We cannot let them control the narrative. Let us use this Troika of Indigenous Peoples to reclaim the power to tell our stories and control the narrative. While our peoples are on the front lines of the planetary crisis, world leaders have not done enough to address these issues.”