Karina Custódio*
Securing indigenous lands should be considered a climate mitigation strategy, according to indigenous leaders who took part in the III Climate Justice Seminar, which took place between July 29 and 31 in Brasilia, with the theme “The central role of indigenous peoples and their territories in mitigation strategies”.
The event was one of the listening spaces promoted to update the plan that will guide climate actions, and was held by MPI (Ministry of Indigenous Peoples), IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) and APIB (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil), with the support of MMA (Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change), Funai (National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples), GIZ (German Technical Cooperation in Brazil), iCS (Institute for Climate and Society) and EDF (Environmental Defense Fund).
More than fifty indigenous leaders from all regions of Brazil attended the event and demanded that percentages of land be set aside by the end of the plan period, which runs until 2035. Currently in the public consultation phase, the Climate Plan is due to be presented at COP30 in November. The document creates national strategies for implementing the Brazilian NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution).
The Climate Justice seminars have been supported by IPAM since the end of 2023, and promote training for the technical staff of government indigenous bodies and for the indigenous movement via CIMC (Indigenous Committee on Climate Change).
“In conjunction with the MPI, MMA and APIB, this window of opportunity has arisen to allow the indigenous movement to participate in the Climate Mitigation Plan before the end of the public consultations, but this insertion doesn’t end here. This is a long-term plan that will need to undergo periodic revisions and the movement needs to participate in these moments as well,” explains Paula Guarido, a researcher at IPAM.
Paula Guarido was at the event’s closing table
The program included discussions on the contribution of indigenous territories to the global climate balance, the presentation of the indigenous NDC, the analysis of strategic sectors of the Climate Plan and the development of proposals to ensure the effective inclusion of indigenous peoples in national mitigation targets.
“It was a very important moment for us, because we brought our demands to the table. In the mitigation strategy we want to make it clear that demarcation is an action to combat climate change. It is essential to emphasize that the indigenous presence within their territories is contributing to climate mitigation,” commented Alberto Terena, APIB’s executive coordinator.
First established in 2009, the update of the Climate Plan made it possible to broaden popular participation, and the policy’s mitigation document is open for public consultation until August 18.
“This seminar seeks to confirm the leading role of indigenous peoples in climate mitigation strategies in Brazil and around the world. This is a historic moment, because it is the first time in the Climate Plan’s history that Indigenous Peoples have participated in learning about the policy and indicating the points on which they see themselves,” says Elis Nascimento, Director of MPI’s Climate Justice Department.
Climate Plan documents
The Climate Plan is part of the PNMC (National Climate Change Policy) and consists of six documents. At the seminar, the focus was on the climate mitigation document, which defines targets and tactics for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
“The Climate Plan addresses indigenous issues at various points. For mitigation, there is the nature conservation plan, where the main axis contains discussions on demarcation of indigenous lands, protection of territories and territorial management. The agriculture and livestock plan also includes actions related to indigenous peoples, especially with regard to sustainable production activities,” says Ana Lívia Kasseboehmer, national secretary for climate change at the MMA (Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change).
Kasseboehmer also points out that the climate adaptation document contains an exclusive sectoral and thematic plan for indigenous peoples, which incorporates the population’s demands.
Communications analyst*
Cover photo ASCOM MPI*
