By Mayara Subtil*
The commitments signed during COP30 have begun to take shape in one of the initiatives considered most strategic for the next few years of the international climate agenda: the design of global roadmaps to end deforestation and transition away from polluting energies to clean ones. The initiative, articulated by the Brazilian presidency of the 2025 climate summit in Brazil, should guide actions and targets with these aims until 2030.
According to the executive director of IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute), André Guimarães, who is also the special envoy for Civil Society at COP30, the documents represent more than a set of technical targets: they are a “unique opportunity” to put conservation, the enhancement of territories and social participation at the heart of climate decisions.
The statement was made during the seminar COP30 has passed. What now? Indigenous, quilombola and traditional community strategies for engaging with the climate agenda, held in Brasilia until this Thursday (21) in partnership with the ICS (Climate and Society Institute), RCA (Amazon Cooperation Network) and the Iepé Institute. The event brings together representatives of civil society, the government and socio-environmental organizations to debate the results of COP30, the challenges of the climate agenda and the paths towards COP31, as well as the negotiations at the Bonn Conference.
André’s speech took place at the panel on the role of COP special envoys, which also included the participation of lawyer Denise Dora, special envoy for Human Rights and Just Transition, and a video by indigenous leader Sinéia do Vale, special envoy for Indigenous Peoples.
The initiative came about in the final stretch of the COP30 negotiations, when disagreements between countries on issues such as fossil fuels and deforestation put the conference’s consensus at risk. As a diplomatic solution, the Brazilian presidency of the summit proposed the creation of parallel commitments to structure implementation paths in these areas. One of the roadmaps will focus on ending and reversing deforestation by 2030. The other should bring together strategies to accelerate the energy transition and reduce global dependence on oil, gas and coal in their energy matrices.
For André Guimarães, discussing climate without fighting deforestation and forest destruction is incompatible with the Brazilian reality.
“Brazil is a forest-dependent country. We need them to guarantee rain, energy and agricultural production. There is no climate future for the country without conservation,” he said.
Guimarães advocated that indigenous territories, traditional populations and conservation units be recognized as a central part of the climate solution. According to him, these groups already play a fundamental role in protecting forests and need to participate directly in the construction of these roadmaps.
“Family farming, for example, has never been discussed at a COP before. Neither had the issue of fossil fuels. Until COP 28, it hardly even appeared in the reports. Bravely, Brazil put the issue up for discussion. We have to remember: fossil fuels are 80% of the planet’s problem,” he added.
Also during the panel, lawyer Denise Dora said that the climate crisis has come to represent a structural threat similar to the mechanisms of oppression experienced during the military dictatorship in Brazil. By linking the impacts of climate change to the violation of rights, the expulsion of populations from their territories and the omission of the state in the face of extreme disasters, she argued that tackling the climate emergency requires political mobilization, international pressure and the strengthening of civil society, strategies which, according to her, also marked the democratic resistance in the country.
“The climate emergency is, metaphorically, our dictatorship today. It is what has the greatest potential to oppress, kill, remove people from their territories and silence voices. As was the case in the struggle against the military dictatorship, the answer lies in the organization of social movements, international pressure and the ability to demand that states fulfil their responsibilities in the face of the climate crisis,” she said.
Sinéia do Vale highlighted the importance of the participation of indigenous peoples and traditional communities in the construction of the documents being debated in the run-up to COP 31. She also stressed the need to strengthen indigenous contributions to the debates on climate adaptation, including the GGA[Global Adaptation Goal], a mechanism of the Paris Agreement aimed at increasing global resilience in the face of climate change.
“We are following the construction of these documents and indigenous peoples have a lot to contribute, both on the forest map and on the fossil fuel map. For us, the forest is life. We defend the rejection of deforestation and the strengthening of indigenous rights. We need to eliminate fossil fuels and build policies that tackle global warming, because the Amazon is already feeling the extreme impacts of increasingly intense droughts and floods,” she said.
Sinéia also argued for indigenous adaptation plans to be recognized as strategic instruments in international climate negotiations.
“Our adaptation plans are mechanisms built by indigenous peoples themselves and can contribute a lot to the debates on climate adaptation. This is an important moment to bring together knowledge, experiences and build collective contributions to these processes,” he concluded.
End deforestation and the use of fossils
The debate on the end of fossil fuels has advanced, especially since the Santa Marta Conference in Colombia, a meeting that brought together political leaders, experts and representatives of civil society in defense of a faster energy transition and the strengthening of global commitments to the gradual end of these energy sources.
The conference ended with a joint declaration advocating that countries expand targets for reducing the use of oil, gas and coal, accelerate investments in clean energy and strengthen climate finance mechanisms for developing countries. The meeting also reinforced pressure for the next COPs to move on from the negotiation phase to concrete measures for implementing the energy transition, with clearer targets for gradually replacing fossil fuels and expanding access to clean technologies.
In the case of forests, the COP30 presidency presented in New York the initial structure of the roadmap aimed at ending deforestation and valuing biomes as a central part of the global climate response. The proposal is based on the assessment that it will not be possible to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement without curbing the destruction of tropical forests, which are responsible for essential functions for climate balance, such as storing carbon, regulating rainfall and maintaining biodiversity.
The framework presented by the Brazilian presidency also advocates that environmental conservation, economic development and social inclusion be dealt with in an integrated manner. Among the points discussed are expanding climate finance for forest protection, strengthening sustainable production chains, valuing traditional knowledge and recognizing the role of indigenous peoples and local communities in preserving territories.
The road maps are expected to receive contributions from civil society over the coming months and will be presented in a consolidated form at COP31.
*IPAM communications analyst. mayara.barbosa@ipam.org.br
**Cover photo: Mayara Subtil/IPAM
