COP30 marks the first in three years for the event not to be held in a petro-state. Since Belém was announced as this year's host country at COP28 in Dubai, Indigenous communities have been mobilizing through local, national, and international gatherings – they have arrived in Brazil as leaders ready to shape climate action, including forest and biodiversity conservation.

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And they intend to be seen and heard. In an unusual breach at a conference that has strict protocols, protesters carrying signs reading "our forests are not for sale" broke through security lines of the COP30 climate talks on Tuesday night in Belém, Brazil. 

Brazil contains the largest portion of the Amazon, about 60%, making it the largest continuous tropical rainforest on Earth. This rainforest plays an irrefutably critical role in climate change by acting as major carbon sinks, regulating local and global temperatures, and influencing rainfall patterns. They absorb large amounts greenhouse gases and release water vapor, which cools the planet. 

Indigenous peoples and local communities manage or have land tenure rights over a significant portion of these forests. In the Amazon Basin – where roughly 30% of the land is Indigenous territory – the conference offers a historic opportunity to recognize the key actor role of Indigenous Peoples. Their stewardship is unmatched in terms of global biodiversity conservation, frequently preventing deforestation, to greater success than government-managed or protected areas. 

The Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and its affiliates convened in Brazil before the start of COP30 to coordinate regional demands, COICA’s Political Mandate for COP30: “Territorial Voices of the Forest”, outlined several key priorities including: 

• Legal security of Indigenous territories, including those of peoples in voluntary isolation.
• An end to predatory extractivism and recognition of Indigenous lands as exclusion zones for oil, gas, and mining—including “transition” minerals.
• A just energy transition that respects Indigenous ways of life and economic autonomy.
• Direct access to climate finance, with at least 40% of funds from mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund and the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) going directly to Indigenous organizations.
• Inclusion of cultural and spiritual losses within the Loss and Damage Fund, acknowledging that climate impacts extend beyond material damage.

• Voting seats in global climate governance bodies, ensuring parity in decision-making.

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Indigenous leaders are no longer asking merely for participation but demanding the opportunity to shape global climate policy. An estimated 3,000 Indigenous participants, including 1,000 accredited leaders, are expected in Belém—making COP30 the most inclusive climate conference in UN history. Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil stated her belief that, “This will not only be the COP with the largest Indigenous participation ever—it will deliver the greatest results. Belém will be the place where science and ancestral knowledge walk side by side.”