Indigenous Voices Take Center Stage as Cultural Survival Pushes for Rights-Based Climate Action at COP30

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) is underway in Belém, Pará, and Indigenous leaders from around the world have converged on the Amazonian city to demand stronger recognition of Indigenous rights in global climate policy.

Among them is Cultural Survival, a global Indigenous-led organization headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, whose delegation is actively participating in the two-week summit that runs from November 10 to 21. With representatives from 198 countries, UN agencies, civil society, and industry in attendance, COP30 is expected to be a defining moment for climate justice — especially as it takes place in the heart of the world’s largest rainforest.

Cultural Survival’s team joins the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) and allied organizations to amplify Indigenous priorities in negotiations, urging governments to move beyond tokenism and embrace policies rooted in Indigenous knowledge, autonomy, and stewardship.

The organization’s delegation includes Aimee Roberson (Choctaw and Chickasaw), Executive Director; Alicia Moncada (Wayuu), Director of Advocacy and Communications; Edson Krenak (Krenak), Brazil Program Manager; Rosy Sul González (Maya Kaqchikel), Mariana Kiimi Ortiz (Ñuu Savi/Mixtec), Camila Romero (Quechua), Dev Kumar Sunuwar (Koĩts-Sunuwar), Thaís Soares Pellosi, Carmem Cazaubon, and consultants Djalma Ramalho (Aranã Caboclo) and Polina Shulbaeva (Selkup). They are joined by local partners Newiwe Ana Miranda Top’Tiro (Xavante/A’uwẽ Uptabi), Safira Ribeiro da Silva (Quilombola Mumbuca), Osmar Marcelino Miranda (Aranã Caboclo), and Ailton Seabra Borges (Itacoã Miri).

Throughout the conference, the delegation is pressing for:

• Direct climate finance for Indigenous and community-led initiatives.
• An end to sacrifice zones perpetuated by extractive industries and “green” projects that reproduce historic injustices.
• Implementation of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in all decisions affecting Indigenous lands.
• Rejection of false climate solutions, including carbon markets and offset schemes.
• Protection of Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation, and demarcation of Indigenous territories.
• Integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into national climate policies and adaptation plans.
• Digital sovereignty, support for Indigenous youth and Elders, and stronger protection for environmental defenders.

As discussions intensify in Belém, Executive Director Aimee Roberson underscored the urgency of centering Indigenous wisdom.

“Humanity is at a crossroads,” she said. “Will we continue the path of destruction, or choose stewardship rooted in balance and respect? Indigenous Peoples have the knowledge to guide sustainable solutions — but we need autonomy, self-governance, and the right to steward our territories.”

Alicia Moncada, Cultural Survival’s Director of Advocacy and Communications, stressed the inequity in climate finance.

“Indigenous Peoples are on the frontlines of the climate crisis yet excluded from funding and decision-making,” she noted. “We’ve safeguarded much of the planet’s biodiversity, but our lands and food systems are under threat. Climate justice demands reparations and direct investment in Indigenous-led solutions.”

From the host country, Edson Krenak, Brazil Program Manager, said COP30 represents a historic opportunity.

“After 30 years of global climate conferences, Indigenous Peoples are still waiting for real action,” he said. “This COP is different — the forest and its people are not being observed from afar; they are speaking for themselves, here in their own home.”

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With COP30 unfolding in the Amazon — a region central to global climate stability — Indigenous advocates like Cultural Survival are working to ensure that the summit delivers not just pledges, but tangible commitments to justice, self-determination, and the protection of Mother Earth.