A) The Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC)

APIB is one of the five founding members of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), a political platform of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities that has been united since 2015 in the defence of Mother Earth for the present and future benefit of all humanity. We guarantee our legitimacy and political representation thanks to democratic processes, from the community to the plurinational level.

Our Alliance represents 35 million people living in forest territories in 24 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Together, we defend more than 958 million hectares of land.

The five organisations that constitute the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities are: the Indonesian Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN); the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB); the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB); the Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA); and the Network of Indigenous and Local Populations for the Sustainable Management of Central African Forest Ecosystems (REPALEAC).

The Global Alliance is politically structured around five areas of focus:

1) Territorial Rights

2) Free, Prior and Informed Consent

3) Direct Financing

4) Protection of Life

5) Traditional Knowledge

To promote direct access to climate finance for indigenous and local community organizations, the GATC created the Shandia Platform in 2022, designed to strengthen and coordinate direct financing mechanisms for the member organizations of the Global Alliance.

Learn more about the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities here, and about the Shandia Platform here.

B) People’s Summit Towards COP30

APIB is part of the People’s Summit Towards COP30, a political articulation that brings together more than 1,000 social movement and civil society organisations globally. The People’s Summit was created in March 2023 to build a unified representation that expresses the diversity of biomes and the voices of social and popular movements, presenting a set of axes and causes that seek to transform reality and build a popular future. The six central axes of articulation of the People’s Summit are:

• Axis I – Living territories and ‘maritories’, Popular and Food Sovereignty

• Axis II – Historical Reparations, Combatting Environmental Racism, False Solutions and Corporate Power

• Axis III – Just, Popular, and Inclusive Transition

• Axis IV – Against Oppressions, for Democracy, and People’s Internationalism

• Axis V – Just Cities and Living Urban Peripheries

• Axis VI – Popular Feminism and Women’s Resistance in Territories

Learn more about the People’s Summit towards COP30 here.

Historically, we, indigenous peoples, have always defended our territories, which are inseparable from our ways of life. As such, we are protagonists in the fight against climate change. We demand that all States and actors recognise our role at the forefront of this struggle and include us at the centre of decision-making regarding our territories, bodies, and all life.

We have therefore intensified our efforts in recent years to increase indigenous participation and governance in various areas of influence and decision-making on climate issues. Currently, APIB and our regional organisations have direct representation in the following governance bodies related to the climate agenda and advocacy for COP30:

• Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC)
• People’s Summit Towards COP30 
• International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC; Indigenous Caucus)
• Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform for the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FWG/LCIPP/SBSTA/UNFCCC)
• COP30 Special Envoy for Indigenous Peoples
• COP30 Circle of Peoples’ International Indigenous Commission
• Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Platform for the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership
• Advisory Council of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities for the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF)

Through our direct advocacy and the participation of our representatives in these different bodies, we have been able to directly and actively put forward our demands, expectations and contributions to COP30 and to our peoples and territories.

Conscious of our leading role and leadership in the climate agenda, we have collectively developed the demands of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil for the Brazilian climate goals, the Indigenous NDC, in reference to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which are the climate commitments made by the signatory countries to the Paris Agreement. This document is the main reference guiding the demands of the indigenous movement for the debates that will take place within the official agenda that UNFCCC member countries will hold during COP30, that is, the Negotiation Agenda.

The Indigenous NDC was collectively developed throughout 2025, as a result of various debates between political representatives of Indigenous Peoples (including leaders from all over Brazil, other countries in the Amazon Basin, countries in the Congo Basin, Indonesia and Central America) and also through exchanges with peoples from other segments that are equally fundamental in the fight against the climate crisis, such as Traditional Peoples and Communities and Local Communities.

The Indigenous NDC outlines the reasons why the demarcation of Indigenous territories should be recognised by the Brazilian State as part of its climate mitigation policy, while the protection of Indigenous territories, specifically the implementation of the National Policy for Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (PNGATI), should be recognised as a climate adaptation policy. Our NDC calls for such recognition to be incorporated into the National Climate Plan, with specific and measurable targets. 

The document also presents the demands and contributions of indigenous peoples on other issues related to the negotiation agenda under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), such as direct access by indigenous peoples to climate finance, as a recognition of our protagonism in the fight against the climate crisis. APIB demands that the Indigenous NDC be officially recognised by the Brazilian State and incorporated into the country’s official NDC.

The Indigenous NDC presents 37 proposals structured around seven thematic areas:

1. Mitigation: the demarcation and protection of indigenous territories as a climate mitigation policy; 
2. Adaptation: climate plans that stem from our traditional ways of life and  governance; 
3. Just Transition: an end to fossil fuels and to mining and energy exploration in our territories;
4. Climate Financing: equitable and direct access to financing by indigenous organizations;
5. Climate Justice: respecting indigenous rights and ensuring indigenous participation;
6. Traditional Knowledge & Culturally Adapted Climate Education;
7. Connection between Climate, Biodiversity, Desertification, and Oceans.

Find out more about the Indigenous NDC here.

During Climate Conferences (COPs), there are two main types of agendas. The first is the Negotiation Agenda, which is part of the official activities of the UNFCCC and brings together formal agreements between countries. As these decisions require consensus among all member countries, they tend to be less ambitious.

In parallel, there is the Action Agenda, consisting of voluntary initiatives — most of which are non-binding — that seek to go beyond official commitments. As a result, these actions tend to be bolder and more ambitious than those defined in the Negotiation Agenda.

Throughout 2025, APIB focused on different initiatives within the Action Agenda, for which we called for announcements of concrete commitments during COP30.

• Intergovernmental Commitment on Territorial Recognition of the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP): the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) is a government coalition launched in 2021 during COP26 in Glasgow, bringing together more than 30 countries and the European Union. The FCLP was established with the aim of fostering high-level commitments from these countries on forests, land use and climate, and on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. APIB, through GATC, is part of the FCLP Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Platform (launched at COP28 in Dubai) and, through the Platform, has been working since 2024 for the FCLP to announce at COP30 the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment, aimed at securing an unprecedented commitment to a global target for the recognition of indigenous and local community territories, including demarcation targets, for the next five years.

   

• Forest Tenure Funders Group (FTFG): in 2021, during COP26 in Glasgow, a group of donors organised themselves around the Forest Tenure Funders Group (FTFG) to establish the first Commitment with the aim of strengthening the land tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP&LCs). The commitment came in response to a widely recognised fact: that less than 1% of global Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been directed towards IP&LC-related initiatives, despite their essential role in forest conservation, climate mitigation and biodiversity protection (Rainforest Norway, 2021).

The launch of the Commitment represented a significant milestone. For the first time, a substantial group of bilateral and philanthropic donors publicly agreed on a concrete financial target: to invest at least US$ 1.7 billion over five years in actions related to the rights of IP&LCs in tropical forest regions. The main goal was to support secure land tenure and strengthen organisations that represent forest peoples and communities.

With the conclusion of the first FTFG Commitment in 2025, APIB, through the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities and the Shandia Platform, has begun advocating for the announcement of a second commitment to be launched at COP30. This new proposal calls for a more ambitious financial allocation than that announced in Glasgow, with resources specifically directed toward direct financing for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. It also calls for the commitment to extend beyond tropical forest ecosystems, encompassing all biomes, acknowledging both the presence and the rights of Indigenous Peoples across all regions, as well as the equally essential and interconnected importance of all ecosystems.

Learn more about FTFG here.

• Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF): launched by the Government of Brazil in collaboration with the World Bank and international partners, the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF) is a global initiative with the aim of mobilising long-term resources for the conservation of tropical forests in recognition of their eco-systemic services. The objective of the TFFF is to create a permanent financial mechanism capable of guaranteeing recurring payments to countries and communities that maintain their forests standing, and thus contribute to climate change mitigation, biodiversity preservation, and the strengthening of sustainable local economies.

APIB, through the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC) and its Shandia Platform, decided to actively engage in the TFFF co-design process, as we consider the initiative to be a tangible opportunity to transform the architecture of climate financing. Such a transformation requires an explicit inclusion of and commitment to direct financing for organisations and mechanisms led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, ensuring that new global financing initiatives are built on the principles of self-determination and the right to meaningful participation. In addition, we seek to ensure that all resources mobilised through the TFFF are guided by a vision that fully respects and integrates the knowledge, practices and rights of Indigenous Peoples, which are fundamental to the protection of tropical ecosystems.

Throughout the conception process, APIB, together with GATC, contributed to the inclusion of two specific mechanisms for direct financing, ensuring that at least 20% of TFFF resources are allocated to territorial funds and mechanisms led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Our next step is to ensure that this commitment is effectively implemented through clear eligibility criteria, adequate social and environmental safeguards, and governance arrangements that respect the self-determination and leadership of Indigenous Peoples. Only then can the TFFF fulfil its transformative potential and consolidate a new paradigm for global climate finance.

Learn more about the TFFF here, and about the position of APIB and the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC) on the TFFF here.

• National Climate Plan: the National Climate Plan, formally known as the National Plan on Climate Change, is the Brazilian government’s main planning tool for guiding its actions and programmes to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the country. Created in 2008 and updated periodically, the plan establishes targets and guidelines for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving forests and biomes, promoting energy transition, and strengthening the resilience of communities and economic sectors in the face of climate impacts. It integrates sectoral policies and seeks to align Brazil with the international commitments made under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.
  
  Since 2024, the Brazilian Government has promoted a series of debates to update the new version of the National Climate Plan, which will be launched in 2025 with objectives and targets until 2035. APIB demanded the organisation of workshops with the participation of indigenous leaders from all biomes, so that indigenous contributions and demands could be incorporated into both the Climate Adaptation Plan (Indigenous Sector workshop held in September 2024) and the Climate Mitigation Plan (workshop with the participation of Indigenous Peoples held in July 2025). These demands are presented in the Indigenous NDC, the main objective being that the Climate Mitigation Plan incorporates specific targets for the demarcation of indigenous territories as a climate mitigation policy, and that the Climate Adaptation Plan incorporates the full implementation of the National Policy for Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (PNGATI) as a climate adaptation policy.

• Creation of the Indigenous Land Protection Programme (PPTI): throughout 2025, APIB and its regional grassroots organisations, in partnership with the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) and the National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai), promoted the creation of a new national programme aimed at demarcating and protecting indigenous lands, as well as strengthening the political organisations and financial mechanisms of indigenous peoples — the Indigenous Lands Protection Programme (PPTI).

The creation of the PPTI was inspired by the successful experience of the PPG7 (Pilot Programme for the Protection of Brazilian Rainforests), launched in the 1990s under the influence of the international agenda generated by ECO-92 in Rio de Janeiro. PPG7 was the largest international environmental cooperation programme of its time, bringing together Brazil and the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom). Among its most relevant subprogrammes were the PDPI (Indigenous Peoples Demonstration Project) and the PPTAL (Project for the Protection of Indigenous Lands in the Legal Amazon), which operated between 1995 and 2009.

The PPTAL was responsible for the demarcation of around 90 Indigenous Lands, amounting to more than 60 million hectares in the Legal Amazon. It was also innovative in adopting a tripartite governance model, with direct participation from the indigenous movement: the Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) represented the Amazonian indigenous movement; FUNAI represented the Brazilian Government; and the German cooperation agency GTZ (now GIZ) represented the G7 International Cooperation.

Inspired, in this sense, by the influence of the international agenda – which in the 1990s led to the creation of PPG7, PDPI and PPTAL – APIB seeks to make COP30 a milestone capable of generating a concrete and lasting legacy for the protection of indigenous territories and the strengthening of the indigenous movement through the creation of PPTI.

The PPTI was developed throughout 2025, through three workshops and a national seminar, as well as several meetings and interviews. The process was conducted collectively by APIB, its regional grassroots organisations, the MPI and Funai. At these meetings, it was decided that the PPTI will have national coverage, tripartite management — between the indigenous movement, the Brazilian Government (through the MPI, Funai and related agencies) and international cooperation — and will be structured around three main programmatic axes:

1. Demarcation of Indigenous Territories
2. Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Territories
3. Strengthening of Indigenous Political Organisations and Financial Mechanisms

The official announcement of the PPTI will be made at COP30. Follow our programme and social media to stay up to date with the next steps related to the launch and implementation of the PPTI.

In addition to the climate crisis, we face a coordinated dismantling of our rights. The Conciliation Chamber of the Supreme Court, conducted without the participation of APIB, set a precedent for rewriting the chapter on indigenous rights in the 1988 Constitution without a new Constituent Assembly. Instead of recognising the unconstitutionality of Law 14.701/2023 (known as the Indigenous Genocide Law), a bill was proposed allowing predatory activities in our territories, weakens the right to free, prior and informed consultation, criminalises our repossessions and modifies the demarcation process, and favours agribusiness, mining and private interests over our lands and our lives.

In Injunction 7490, the Supreme Court also set a 24-month deadline for the National Congress to regulate mining on Indigenous Lands. By diverting the debate to negotiations without our presence, the government attempts to transform our living territories into economic assets, erasing the collective, spiritual and ancestral dimensions that sustain our existence as indigenous peoples.

In this scenario, a Working Group led by Senator Tereza Cristina was created in the Senate to present a bill allowing for mineral prospecting and mining on Indigenous Lands, building on bills that proposed legalising small-scale mining, such as Bills 1331/2022 and 6050/2023. Under the rhetoric of neo-developmentalism, attempts are being made to normalise the violation of our rights, increasing conflicts, invasions and violence against our peoples and territories.

In the National Congress, this offensive also takes the form of proposals to amend the Constitution and bills on the Marco Temporal (PEC 48/2023), compensation for trespassers on indigenous lands (PEC 132/2015), as well as attempts to expand congressional power in the recognition of indigenous territories and the regulation of demarcation procedures (PL 6093/2023). In addition to the dismantling of environmental licensing (Law 15.190/2025), the criminalisation of repossessions (PL 4039/2024), we also saw the suspending of indigenous land demarcations already approved by President Lula (PDL 717/2023). 

All of this is part of the same power project: dismantling constitutional protection for Indigenous Lands in order to open up our lands to mineral, agro-export and financial capital. But these setbacks do not only concern Indigenous peoples — they threaten the future of the planet. Without demarcated and protected Indigenous territories, environmental collapse will accelerate, and its effects will affect not only our communities, but all of humanity. Future generations will inherit a world that is warmer, more unequal, and more hostile to life.

Therefore, defending indigenous territories means defending the climate, our ecosystems and the future of the Earth. To protect our peoples, our territories and all life on the planet, we demand:

• Immediate demarcation
  Demarcating of all indigenous territories pending certification, with immediate priority given to the 107 Indigenous Lands awaiting a declaratory decree or homologation.

• Continuous and comprehensive protection
  Establishing a permanent protection policy for our territories, with continuous monitoring and removal of intruders — and not one-off actions alone.

   

• Consultation and rights
  Complying with ILO Convention 169, guaranteeing Free, Prior and Informed Consultation before any decision that may affect indigenous territories and rights, including the recognition and respect for the right of veto by indigenous peoples.

   

• Revoke now
  Repealing Law 14.701/23, which attempts to legitimise the Marco Temporal and violates constitutional rights (learn more about the Marco Temporal here).

COP30 represents an opportunity to transform promises into concrete policies with real benefits for the entire population and future generations of the planet. We demand full respect of indigenous rights and immediate action.

The “The Answer Is Us” campaign is a global call for climate justice and the defence of life, born out of a proposal from indigenous movements and numerous social movements ahead of COP30. Created by COIAB in June 2024, the campaign has gradually become global, uniting indigenous peoples, traditional communities, social movements and global allies around common agendas against the climate crisis. The campaign presents six common and collective demands and responses from social movements at the global level, which are based on the demands of the territories:

1. TERRITORIAL RIGHTS = CLIMATE ACTION: territory is life, climate and future. Without agrarian reform, demarcation, titling, land regularisation, immediate removal of intruders and comprehensive protection, there will be no forests or ecosystems, which are essential to halting climate collapse. Protecting territories means protecting all life on the planet.

    

2. ZERO DEFORESTATION: deforestation is one of the world’s largest sources of carbon emissions. It destroys the ecosystems that regulate the global climate and threatens the peoples who live off and for the land. Halting this destruction is an urgent priority for all those who fight for climate justice – wherever they may be.

    

3. NO TO FOSSIL FUELS! NO TO MINING IN OUR TERRITORIES!: fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal – are the main cause of the global climate crisis. This billion-dollar industry must be dismantled. We reject mining and energy transition projects that violate territories and lives. We demand a just, sovereign transition that puts life above profit.

    

4. PROTECT DEFENDERS! PROTECT OUR WAYS OF LIFE!: enough with the violence, silencing and impunity. Those who protect the land, water, forests and climate need full protection – and now. No climate policy will be fair as long as there is violence against those who protect biomes. We need justice and accountability now!

    

5. DIRECT ACCESS TO CLIMATE FUNDING: resources to tackle the climate crisis must go directly to those on the front line: forest, water, rural and urban communities. No to colonial bureaucracy or intermediaries who are unfamiliar with the territories. Climate transfers must go directly to the territorial funds of the Peoples.

    

6. PARTICIPATION WITH REAL POWER: COP30 will be held in the Amazon. We demand a dignified, permanent presence with real power in decision-making. We will not accept being extras in a play that decides the fate of the climate — and of our lives — far away from us. Climate justice is built with real participation, not behind closed doors.

Learn more about the campaign “The Answer is Us!” here.