Excellencies,
We extend our respectful greetings and appreciation for your leadership in addressing the urgent global challenge of climate change. As you undertake negotiations here in Belém, we wish to underscore the essential role that Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities play in safeguarding forests and stabilizing the global climate.
Scientific evidence consistently demonstrates that territories managed collectively by these communities experience significantly lower rates of deforestation and forest degradation. Their stewardship not only conserves biodiversity and stores vast amounts of carbon, but also sustains cultural heritage and strengthens resilience in the face of climate impacts. Ensuring the continuation of these contributions requires formal recognition of their land and territorial rights, support for community-led conservation efforts, and the protection of their right to self-determination. In this regard, we respectfully encourage COP30 negotiators to:
- Affirm and strengthen collective land and territorial rights, acknowledging them as a proven and cost-effective strategy for advancing climate and biodiversity objectives. This includes calling on state parties to adopt and enforce legal frameworks that fully recognize the tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples and local communities.
- Enforce the rule of law so as to stop violence against environmental and land defenders, and ensure the security of leaders, women, youth, elders and other vulnerable groups engaged in territorial stewardship in a holistic and comprehensive way.
- Facilitate direct and predictable access to climate finance for Indigenous, Afro descendant, and local communities and their organizations, enabling them to expand their work to protect forest ecosystems in line with global climate goals.
- Integrate human rights considerations systematically into climate and forest-related policies, ensuring that the protection of people and territories is inseparable from the protection of the planet.
The decisions adopted at COP30 will resonate far beyond this meeting. By affirming and resourcing the leadership of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities, negotiators have the opportunity to strengthen one of the most effective strategies available to halt deforestation and protect
biodiversity and the climate.
We respectfully urge you to embed these priorities into the outcomes of COP30, recognizing that protecting those who protect the forests is both a moral imperative and a practical necessity in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
With highest consideration,
