IPRI calls for land justice as the foundation of climate action at COP30
As the world gathers in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UNFCCC, the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights International (IPRI) brings a clear message: there can be no climate solution without land justice.
For IPRI, COP30 is more than another global summit; it is a historic moment. Taking place in the heart of the Amazon, on lands where Indigenous Peoples have long defended life, culture, and biodiversity, COP30 offers the chance to realign global climate policy with the realities and rights of those who have cared for the planet since time immemorial.
This call comes as the United Nations (UN) issues one of its starkest warnings yet. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has declared that humanity has failed to limit global heating to 1.5°C and must “change course immediately.” Ahead of COP30, he acknowledged that overshooting the Paris Agreement target is now “inevitable,” with devastating consequences for people and the planet.
Guterres urged world leaders gathering in Belém to act decisively, warning that every delay in cutting emissions pushes the world closer to catastrophic tipping points in the Amazon, the Arctic, and the oceans. Yet fewer than a third of countries — only 62 out of 197 — have submitted updated national climate action plans.
For IPRI, this failure underscores the urgency of grounding climate action not just in science and pledges, but in justice — recognizing that the survival of the planet is inseparable from the survival of Indigenous territories.
Why land rights must be at the heart of climate solutions
Indigenous Peoples protect over 50% of the world’s remaining biodiversity and steward about a quarter of the Earth’s surface. Scientific evidence, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), confirms that forests under Indigenous control experience two to three times lower deforestation rates than surrounding lands. Yet, more than half of Indigenous territories remain legally unrecognized, leaving communities vulnerable to land grabs, extractive industries, and renewable energy projects that disregard Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).
IPRI underscores that this lack of recognition is not a technical gap — it is a systemic injustice.
At least 196 land and environmental defenders were killed worldwide last year — many of them Indigenous. Beyond the killings, intimidation takes subtler forms: surveillance, harassment, and criminalization.
Across Asia, conservation and renewable-energy projects continue without FPIC, driving arrests, displacement, and violence that silence communities and undermine real conservation.
From 2021 to 2025, IPRI’s data reveal a troubling pattern across India, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines: over 500 Indigenous people have been sued or arrested simply for farming, gathering forest products, or asserting their ancestral land rights — actions now miscast as “encroachment.”
As IPRI Executive Director Joan Carling emphasizes, “Land justice is climate justice. Governments cannot claim climate leadership while permitting the dispossession of Indigenous lands in the name of development or conservation.”
For IPRI, securing Indigenous land rights is among the most effective and just measures for climate mitigation and adaptation. It is also a moral obligation, one rooted in justice, reciprocity, and the survival of both people and planet.
Four Priorities for COP30
- Centering land rights in climate policy
At COP30, IPRI will push for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ collective land tenure as a foundation of climate action. Securing land rights not only protects forests and carbon sinks, it ensures that Indigenous governance systems, grounded in reciprocity, collective care, and intergenerational stewardship, continue to sustain biodiversity and community resilience.
Through the event “Protecting Territories to Protect the Planet,” IPRI will invite policymakers, climate funds, and Indigenous leaders to engage in a participatory dialogue demonstrating that protecting Indigenous territories protects the climate itself.
IPRI also calls for the inclusion of legally binding commitments in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and climate finance mechanisms that explicitly recognize and fund Indigenous-led land governance. Despite their proven effectiveness, Indigenous organizations receive less than 1% of global climate finance directly. IPRI urges states and climate funds to bridge this gap by investing directly in Indigenous governance systems rather than through intermediaries.
- Defending the defenders
The escalating violence against Indigenous land defenders reveals the human cost of the climate crisis. Across the world, Indigenous leaders face threats, criminalization, and death for protecting their territories from destructive projects.
In “Guardians of the Land: Collective Defense for Climate Justice,” IPRI will transform awareness into collective action. Using immersive role-play and a “Protection Shield Action Map,” participants from government officials to donors will co-create fundamental strategies to strengthen legal protection, funding access, and global solidarity for those who risk their lives to defend our shared future.
Based on IPRI’s rights violations monitoring between 2021 to 2025, more than half of the environmental defenders killed worldwide are Indigenous, with many targeted for opposing extractive or conservation projects lacking FPIC. IPRI continues to call on states to end the criminalization of Indigenous leaders and to adopt national protection mechanisms aligned with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The organization is also advocating for climate funds and companies to adopt zero-tolerance policies for reprisals linked to their projects.
- Ensuring a just energy transition through land justice
As the global push for renewable energy and critical minerals accelerates, Indigenous lands are again under siege, this time in the name of energy transition. Over half of the known essential reserves of minerals lie within or near Indigenous territories, often triggering new waves of conflict and dispossession.
IPRI’s session, “Just Energy Transition Starts with Land Justice,” will convene governments, companies, and Indigenous communities for an honest “Commitment Exchange.” Each actor will share what they commit to and what they need to ensure an energy transition that upholds FPIC, equitable partnerships, and Indigenous-led renewable solutions. The goal: a collective “Just Energy Exchange Map” that redefines clean energy through fairness and respect.
Recent IPRI data reveal that at least 24 documented cases of violations against Indigenous Peoples are directly tied to so-called “clean energy” projects, including hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal, and transition mineral mining—affecting nearly 100,000 people. IPRI warns that without Indigenous consent and participation, the global energy transition risks becoming another form of “green colonialism.” The organization calls for a binding global standard ensuring that climate and energy investments respect Indigenous rights throughout the value chain.
- Fostering intergenerational stewardship
Climate resilience cannot exist without intergenerational continuity. Indigenous communities hold the ancestral knowledge that has sustained ecosystems for centuries, while Indigenous youth are shaping new paths toward sustainability and innovation.
The session “Intergenerational Indigenous Land Governance for Climate Resilience” will celebrate this continuum through dialogue, reflection, and a symbolic “Tree of Continuity.” It will highlight how Indigenous governance rooted in reciprocity and responsibility offers timeless lessons for adaptation and survival in a changing climate.
IPRI emphasizes that intergenerational dialogue must be backed by tangible resources — education, capacity-building, and representation in decision-making spaces such as the COP negotiations. It calls on governments and donors to fund Indigenous-led education and climate innovation programs that enable the youth to inherit not just ancestral knowledge but the political power to defend it.
Through its presence at COP30, IPRI seeks to shift global climate discourse from rhetoric to responsibility. Its calls are clear:
- Land rights mean climate justice.
- No just transition without land justice.
- Protect the defenders who protect the Earth.
- Invest directly in Indigenous leadership and governance.
Belém offers the world a rare opportunity to listen — not only to policy experts, but to the true guardians of the Earth. The path to a just and sustainable future begins with securing Indigenous land rights, honoring their governance systems, and ensuring that the energy transition heals both the planet and the people who protect it.
The future of climate action rests on the survival of Indigenous territories. To save the planet, we must first uphold the rights of those who sustain it — because when Indigenous lands are protected, the Earth itself stands a chance to thrive. – iprights.org
