For the first time in the history of UN climate conferences, COP30 will take place in a rainforest. President Lula da Silva has described this symbolic venue as a clear political message: the world should listen to the Amazon and its people. His Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, adds that the forest can “show us the way.”
It is a welcome and long-overdue step to bring Indigenous peoples and local communities closer to climate negotiations. Traditionally organized societies and their institutions, across the Amazon and worldwide, play a crucial role in climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and environmental protection. Western delegates in Belém would do well to listen to them.
