Caravan towards COP30 advances with the listening and protagonism of indigenous peoples
SEPI coordinates stage in Altamira with representatives from nine peoples and reinforces the State's commitment to climate justice and ancestral knowledge
Focusing on active listening and valuing ancestral knowledge, the Government of Pará, through the State Secretariat for Indigenous Peoples (SEPI), held another stage of the Indigenous Peoples Caravan Towards COP30. The meeting took place in the auditorium of FUNAI in Altamira and brought together representatives from nine peoples of the Médio Xingu region: Xipaya, Curuaya, Juruna, Kayapó, Araweté, Arara, Parakanã, Assurini, and Xikrin.
The activity is part of the preparatory cycle for the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), which will be held in November this year in Belém. The initiative aims to provide information about the global event and ensure the qualified participation of indigenous peoples through the collective construction of proposals and discussions on topics that directly impact their territories.
Climate justice with indigenous protagonism
During the program, leaders discussed topics such as climate justice, protection of traditional knowledge, environmental financing, and the effects of deforestation and the climate crisis on indigenous ways of life. Ways to ensure effective access for peoples to the official spaces of COP30 were also addressed.
“Today we have the opportunity to have a conversation with SEPI, which is responsible for uniting the indigenous people of Pará, where they bring us the context of how COP30 will be. It is important for us to understand how it will be, so that we can prepare and put on the agenda what will be taken. The Amazon is a victim of global warming,” said Kawtyrei Assirini, a leader and teacher of the Assurini people of Médio Xingu.
The diversity of profiles present - among women, youth, and elders - strengthens plural representation in the construction of proposals for global decision-making spaces.
Pará as a reference in climate policy based on ancestry
The Caravan is one of the strategies adopted by the Government of Pará to consolidate a climate policy that recognizes indigenous peoples as protagonists. The listening sessions are being held in the eight ethnoregions of the state, including Altamira, which hosts one of the greatest ethnic diversities in Pará.
“The world needs to hear indigenous peoples. We are not just demanding presence, but offering pathways. Pará is demonstrating that it is possible to build a climate policy based on listening, ancestry, and justice. The Caravan is our way of bringing information to our peoples and affirming that the living forest has a voice and needs to occupy decision-making spaces about the future of the planet,” highlighted Puyr Tembé, Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará.
COP30 will bring together more than 190 countries to discuss the directions of global climate policy. The expectation is that the presence of indigenous peoples from the Amazon will contribute concrete proposals based on their knowledge and millennia of experience to save the planet.
