By Cecilia Amorim 

At a COP30 panel, Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, shared a landmark update on renewed land demarcation policies and highlighted the central role of Indigenous territories in confronting the climate crisis. She described the Lula administration’s advances after years of stalled demarcations under former president Bolsonaro, and noted that COP30 marks the highest level of Indigenous participation ever seen at a climate summit.

The minister recalled that since Brazil hosted Eco-92, Indigenous peoples’ crucial contributions to environmental protection have been internationally recognized. Eco-92 was when the climate debate went global and attention turned to safeguarding Indigenous lands and protecting the Amazon. Now, 30 years later, she said, this comes full circle with the first COP on Amazon soil.

Sonia noted that COP30 already stands out for record Indigenous participation—both in official negotiations and side events—and for putting Indigenous concerns at the heart of international climate negotiations.

According to the minister, Indigenous voices permeated every space of COP30: the Blue Zone, Green Zone, People’s Summit, COP Village, and numerous parallel debates, reinforcing Indigenous peoples’ essential role in confronting climate change. She noted that both President Lula and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres have cited, in official speeches, Indigenous territories as a proven climate solution, pointing to scientific evidence that these areas remain the best preserved in Brazil, despite ongoing incursions and conflict.

During the panel, Sonia Guajajara also announced a historic intergovernmental commitment signed by Brazil during COP30: protecting 63 million hectares of land by 2030. Of this, four million hectares are managed by the Ministry of Racial Equality and 59 million by the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, and the Ministry of Justice.

She stressed the government’s commitment to turning rhetoric into results, pointing to a new territorial package that includes new technical groups for demarcation studies, creation of new Indigenous reserves, publication of identification and boundary reports, declaratory ordinances, and new official land ratifications signed by the president.

Demarcation of Indigenous lands in COP30’s final text

Guajajara emphasized that these actions already extend to the 59 million hectares slated for protection, and noted that negotiations are at a critical point: only a few hours remain for Brazil and Indigenous organizations to secure inclusion of Indigenous land demarcation in COP30’s final text as official climate policy. For her, this is critical: “The demarcation of Indigenous lands is an essential condition for climate justice,” she said.

The minister also highlighted growing international cooperation—especially among the Coalition of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the Brazilian government, and Germany—aimed at establishing a new tripartite organization to bolster land protection policies and revive tools like the TPFF. These efforts now benefit from new financial support, including a US$5.5 billion fund and recent agreements with FUBIL to support the National Policy for Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (PENEGAT).

Concluding her remarks, Sonia Guajajara said that every achievement at COP30 deepens Indigenous leadership, responsibility, and commitment to facing the climate crisis. “We continue to move forward, step by step. We Indigenous peoples remain the greatest stewards of biodiversity, the forest, our lands, and life itself,” she said.

Demarcations resumed: 20 Indigenous lands ratified since 2023

After four years of total paralysis under Bolsonaro with no new Indigenous lands ratified, the Lula administration has revived demarcation efforts with tangible results. From 2023 to 2025, 20 Indigenous lands were ratified: six in the early months of 2023, 10 in 2024—a year focused on restarting stalled processes—and four in November 2025, announced during COP30. By comparison, Lula’s first two administrations (2003–2010) saw the demarcation of 78 Indigenous lands.

At the panel, Guajajara stressed that restarting demarcation marks political progress and historical redress. From 2019 to 2022, under Bolsonaro, all demarcation was halted while invasions, illegal mining, and attacks on Indigenous leaders reached record highs.

“We reached zero demarcations. Zero,” said the minister. “Today, we are rebuilding public policies destroyed by an explicit project to dismantle territorial protections.”

These gains have come amid intense political battles—especially over the attempt to approve the so-called Temporal Framework, a doctrine backed by the ruralist caucus that would restrict demarcations to lands occupied by Indigenous people as of Oct. 5, 1988. This proposal disregards forced expulsions, displacements, and decades of violence as well as encouraging new invasions, land grabbing, and assaults on Indigenous leadership.

This is why opposing the Temporal Framework has become a powerful symbol of defending Indigenous territory and fighting land violence. For the Indigenous movement, its recent defeat in the Supreme Court and renewed demarcations by the current government are not just legal victories, but vital steps to protect life, forests, and the climate. “Demarcation is protection,” the minister reaffirmed.

These latest ratifications are the final stage in the demarcation process, ensuring lasting protection for territories claimed by Indigenous peoples for decades.

Ongoing progress: New ordinances and studies announced at COP30

Beyond the ratifications, the government has restarted earlier phases of the demarcation process, set new environmental targets, and announced funding partnerships:

• Eleven declaratory ordinances issued in 2024, officially recognizing exclusive Indigenous rights to these lands and advancing cases stalled since 2016.
• More than 30 technical groups (GTs), created by FUNAI, are conducting anthropological, land, and environmental evaluations required to formally identify new territories.
• A pledge to protect 63 million hectares by 2030;
• Four million hectares of quilombola land (rural Afro-Brazilian settlements often founded by former slaves), under the Ministry of Racial Equality;
• Fifty-nine million hectares of Indigenous land, managed by the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, FUNAI, and the Ministry of Justice.
• A US$5.5 billion fund dedicated to protecting these territories;
• Support for the implementation of PENEGAT;
• Strengthening the Territorial Protection Plan (PPT).

After decades of struggle, the Indigenous movement has succeeded in making demarcation a centerpiece of the global climate agenda. As the minister put it, “The demarcation of Indigenous lands is climate policy. It is essential for climate justice and safeguarding biodiversity.”

Brazil’s government is now working to ensure this perspective is formally enshrined in the COP30 outcome document. Guajajara concluded her statement by noting every victory at COP30 is the fruit of decades of Indigenous resistance:

“We are taking firm steps forward. Each demarcated land is a standing forest, a protected climate. And it is we, the Indigenous peoples, who continue to guard life, biodiversity and the future.”

This report was produced by Carta Amazônia as part of the Collaborative Socio-Environmental Coverage of COP30. Read the original Portuguese article here.