Explore this page to discover Tenure Facility’s participation at COP30. Find out how we supported Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendant Peoples, and local communities – the guardians of our planet’s vital ecosystems- at this decisive global event.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism asked 100 Indigenous Peoples this question.
Interviews with Indigenous Peoples, mostly from Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Peru, and Venezuela, were compiled. Their voices provided a glimpse into their needs and the threats to their livelihoods. Their experiences show how the fate of forests is inseparable from their own.
When asked about their basic needs, Indigenous Peoples stated that when deforestation increased, their living standards declined. This has led to difficulties in accessing water and food and has worsened their health.
From across the globe, Indigenous Peoples shared how they experience multiple threats on a daily basis.Most of the interviewees are already experiencing climate change firsthand. Their communities and lands are exposed to floods, droughts, wildfires, and extreme temperatures. The crisis is changing their lives. They also shared how extractive industries are poisoning their waters and bringing sexual violence into their communities.
The 100 Indigenous voices also echoed that they are the solution. Deforestation rates are lower in the areas they inhabit, and they hold vital knowledge to face the climate crisis.
To support them, they powerfully shared that formally recognising their territorial rights and enforcing laws that protect their lands is essential so they can continue to sustain forests through traditional knowledge, helping face climate change.
In a panel setting our speakers will discuss how data, land rights and advocacy can fuel global movements and help hold governments and corporations accountable.
Organiser: The Audacious Project
Date: November 10, 15h30-16h15
Location: Ted Countdown House
Reciprocal relationships are key to solving the climate, biodiversity, and health crises. Centering Indigenous, Afrodescendant, and local communities shows that direct investment in their solutions yields equity, regeneration, and planetary health.
Organiser: Health in Harmony
Date: November 11, 11h30-13h00
Location: Side Event Room 3 – Blue Zone (*accreditation required)
The event will explore Indigenous territorial governance and self-determined forms of organisation as pathways to address environmental and social challenges.
Organiser: AIDESEP
Date: November 11, 13h00-16h00
Location: Peoples COP – Green Zone
COP30, hosted in the heart of the Amazon in Belém, will serve as a key platform to affirm Indigenous Peoples’ role as forest guardians, ensure their voices influence global decisions, and highlight their successes and challenges in protecting the world’s ecosystems.
Organiser: Forest Stewardship Council Indigenous Foundation
Date: November 12, 10h00-11h30
Location: COP30 Forest Pavilion
Blue Zone (*accreditation required)
The traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) is a recognised source of resilience/adaptation by the IPCC AR5, Paris Accord, Cancun/Warsaw frameworks. Yet less than 1% of climate finance reaches IPs. The event will present ways for Indigenous Peoples to increase direct access to climate finance.
Organiser: CIPRED, FSC-IF, Tebtebba, Tenure Facility
Date: November 12, 15h00-16h30
Location: Side Event Room 3 – Blue Zone (*accreditation required)
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/enhancing-indigenous-peoples-direct-access-to-climate-finance-tickets-1962097298839?aff=oddtdtcreator
The event “Babassu Coconut Breakers in Three Acts: Image, Sound, and Scene” presents a series of cultural activities at Casa BNDES.
The programme includes:
Film discussions on women’s environmental activism and the fight for free access to babassu palm forests.
A theatrical performance portraying the struggles and stories of women babassu coconut breakers in defense of their land and traditions.
A musical show by the group As Encantadeiras, featuring songs about environmental preservation, gender equality, and community resilience.
Organiser: Interstate Movement of the Babassu Coconut Breakers (MIQCB)
Date: November 12, 15h00
Location: Casa BNDES during COP 30 in Belém
The event aims to share perspectives and reflections on how territorial rights contribute to conservation, biodiversity protection, and climate action, highlighting Colombia’s experience as a regional benchmark.
Organiser: CNTI
Date: 12 November 2025, 16h40-17h55
Location: Embrapa Eastern Amazonia – Auditorium A3/Auditorium 3
The session will showcase Indigenous Peoples’ experiences and lessons learned in developing their concept notes to the Green Climate Fund, highlighting leadership, best practices, policy application, and pathways to strengthen partnerships and capacity for direct access.
Organiser: Tenure Facility, Green Climate Fund, ILEPA, Tebtebba, Julian Cho Society
Date: November 12, 18h00-19h00
Location: Indigenous Peoples Pavilion – Blue Zone (*accreditation required)
A one day convening amplifyng frontline voices around 6 demands of the global campaign “The Answer is Us”, connecting with stories from Shandia and meeting the makers of key projects in territories. Coordinated by INUTW and GATC, the day will incorporate a showcase and discussion session on success stories from the ground around direct funding, a makers market with products from the communities on the ground, and a private dinner with an experiencial session to taste, smell, and share the key ingredients that communities protect globally.
Organiser: If Not Us Then Who, Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), Tenure Facility
Date: November 13
Location: Casa Maraka
Registration: https://luma.com/nossa-aldeia-cop30
The event will highlight the convergence between guaranteeing territorial rights of Amazonian Indigenous Peoples and their territorial management as the basis for climate transformation and the need to integrate these rights into NDCs.
Organiser: OPIAC, ACT, Tenure Facility
Date: 13 November 2025, 9h30-10h15
Location: Colombia Pavillion
A dialogue among Afrodescendant women leaders about the challenges and solutions in building a sustainable and regenerative future in the face of the climate crisis.
Organiser: Conservation International (CI)
Date: November 15, 10h00-12h00
Location: Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi – Chico Mendes Space
Av. Perimetral 1901, Bairro Terra Firme,
This panel, organised by our partner COIAB will explore the advances and challenges in securing Indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon by discussing concrete examples.
Organiser: COIAB
Date: November 17, 10h50
Location: Circle of Peoples Pavilion in the Green Zone
The speed at which the Asia-Pacfic region can transform into climate-compatible economies will shape the global fight against climate change. Asian philanthropy is also growing quickly, from family offices to corporate foundations, yet climate accounts for less than two percent of total giving—a gap even more pronounced in Asia. Against this backdrop, COP30 offers a timely opportunity for global and regional philanthropic actors to convene, raise ambition, expand the ecosystem of climate innovators and change makers, and chart pathways for scaling strategic, high-impact climate funding.
Organiser: Asia Climate Solutions
Date: November 18, 11h30-13h00
Location: Asia Climate Solutions Pavillion – Blue Zone (*accreditation required)
A full-day event highlighting the vital role of the Congo Basin—the world’s second-largest tropical forest—in global climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development. It features high-level panels, reports, and the launch of the Belem Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests, uniting Central African countries and international partners to protect and finance sustainable forest management.
Organiser: COMIFAC, CBFP, CAFI, GIZ, and partners (France–Gabon Co-Facilitation).
Date: 18 November 2025, 10h00 – 18h00
Location: COP30 Forest Pavillion
Be a part of a global conversation to transform climate finance from the ground up — with justice, equity, and community leadership.
Follow "The Answer is Us" campaign
We support The Answer is Us campaign.
The campaign echoes the call of the peoples of the forest, the waters, the countryside, and the cities for global mobilization for climate and life. In the year of COP30 in the Amazon, voices from different territories unite to affirm: this world is ours, and we have the answer to the crisis! It is time to take back control of the future: hear the call and be part of the answer.
Learn more about our regional partner – OTCA
OTCA is the inter-governmental bloc uniting the eight Amazonian countries to promote sustainable development, forest protection and Indigenous rights across the Amazon Basin. (link to web)
As we prepare for COP30, we’re pleased to highlight OTCA’s leadership role and invite donors and partners to engage with the region’s most strategic coordination body for Amazon-wide cooperation.
Visit OTCA’s website to explore their projects, commitments and opportunities for collaboration
Pre-COP Initiatives
On the road to COP30, our partners and allies prepared, coordinated, and led key actions. Explore some of their recent Pre-COP events and initiatives below.
Afro pre-COP meeting, led by CITAFRO – Brasilia April 2025. It resulted in the Brazil Declaration setting a collective roadmap towards COP30.
Acampamento Terra Livre, led by APIB – Brasilia April 2025.
OTCA’s newly enacted coordination mechanism with Indigenous Peoples – May 2025
Indigenous Pre-Cop, led by COIAB – June 2025. It resulted in an Indigenous Declaration outlining priorities towards COP30.
Learn more about the Yaku Mama Amazon Flotilla
As of October 12th, a delegation of Indigenous leaders, women, youth, and allies from different countries of the region will be traveling through the Amazon and, by the conclusion, will have navigated more than 3,000 kilometers along the Napo and Amazon rivers—from the glaciers of Ecuador, through Peru and Colombia, ending up at Belém, Brazil timed to arrive around the beginning of COP30. This journey, known as the Amazon Flotilla (Flotilla), connects territories, peoples, and movements to demonstrate that true climate solutions are found within these territories—in the knowledge, resilience, and proposals of those who live in harmony with the forest.
With support from Tenure Facility, MALUNGU—CONAQ’s state organisation in Pará—together with the Quilombos Menino Jesus and Itacoã Mirim, is opening their territories near Belém (about 25 km) to visitors during COP30. Participants can stay in the communities and engage in a rich political and cultural exchange while learning about quilombola life and stewardship of the Amazon. The initiative strengthens local infrastructure and skills, advancing ethno-tourism as a form of territorial protection and a lasting legacy for national and international visitors.
Are you interested? Please contact erica_fh@hotmail.com