Dubai, United Arab Emirates – As over 70,000 people convene in Dubai for the 28th UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP 28), the Amazon rainforest is on fire and in a severe drought due to deforestation, extractive industries, industrial agriculture, climate change, and other threats. Indigenous Amazonian leaders have declared that ”The Amazon Emergency Is a Climate Emergency” and call for urgent action to respect Indigenous land rights to protect the Amazon and climate on the path to COP 30 in 2025 in Brazil. 

At COP 28, Amazon Watch will accompany and support Indigenous peoples’ delegations – including the largest Indigenous delegation to COP to date – to amplify their calls for the permanent protection of Indigenous territories to protect the Amazon and climate. The delegation includes the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), who plan to launch an Indigenous-led climate fund, the National Association of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA), and the Union of Indigenous Women from the Brazilian Amazon (UMIAB). We will also join Indigenous and climate justice allies from the Amazon and worldwide in continuing the global call to phase out fossil fuels and support a just energy transition without industrial mining.

Brazilian Indigenous women leaders, including Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara; Federal Deputy Celia Xakriabá; and Secretary of Indigenous Peoples of Para, Puyr Tembé plan to launch innovative initiatives – including “Indigenous Women Lead” and “The Planet Caucus” – to unite global policymakers, Indigenous leaders and allies on the path towards COP 30 in Brazil to ensure the full participation and leadership of Indigenous peoples and women in climate negotiations. 

Featured spokespeople for in-person interviews in Dubai:

• Paula Vargas, Brazil Program Director at Amazon Watch 
• Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil 
• Celia Xakriaba, Federal Deputy from Minas Gerais State, Brazil
• Puyr Tembe, Secretary of Indigenous Peoples from Para State, Brazil
• Dinamam Tuxá and Kleber Karapiuna, APIB Executive Coordinators
• Toya Manchineri, COIAB general coordinator
• Braulina Baniwa, Executive Coordinator of ANMIGA
• Mariazinha Baré, APIAM coordinator (Association of Amazonas State Indigenous Peoples)
• Beka Saw Munduruku, Munduruku Indigenous Youth Leader

Featured public events at COP 28 (GMT+4) 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2

5:00 – 5:30 PM | WECAN Press Conference: Indigenous Women from the Amazon: Calls for Urgent Actions

Featured speakers include: Célia Xakriabá, Indigenous Activist and Member of the Chamber of Deputies from Minas Gerais, Brazil; Fany Kuiru Castro, General Coordinator of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), Colombia; and Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) and Executive Committee, Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, USA

LOCATION: Press Conference Room 2, Blue Zone COP 28

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3

10:30 – 11:30 AM | International Launch Event of The Planet Caucus

A global campaign of parliamentarians in defense of the climate, the biodiversity and the rights of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities led by Federal Deputy Celia Xakriabá from Brazil. Featured speakers include Celia Xakriabá and Brazilian legislators (invited). 

Co-hosted by Amazon Watch and Globe International

LOCATION: Globe Parliamentarians Pavilion, TA3-365 Thematic Arena Blue Zone COP 28

Featuring a Q&A with Indigenous director Edivan Guajajara and protagonist Puyr Tembé, Secretary of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Pará.

LOCATION: Brazil Pavilion, Blue Zone COP 28

7:30 – 9:30 PM | Indigenous Women Leading Climate Action, Evening Reception at the Hope House

Join Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, and ANMIGA (Association of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors) in an evening reception to honor and celebrate Indigenous women’s leadership in climate action from COP 28-30. Considering that Brazil will host COP 30 in 2025, Indigenous women are preparing now to ensure that women’s voices and solutions are equally considered, funded and implemented to ensure a just climate future for all. 

Co-hosted by: Time for Better,  Amazon Watch, and Avaaz

LOCATION: HOPE HOUSE Alserkal Arts District in Dubai (20 min from Expo City) 

RSVP required for all events at HOPE HOUSE. See full program here. 

MONDAY, DECEMBER 4

9:00 – 9:45 AM | Debt Forgiveness and other financial mechanisms to protect 80% by 2025

Co-hosted by the 80×2025 Initiative and the Colombian government, this panel will highlight the urgency of protecting 80% of the Amazon by 2025. 

Featured speakers include: Susana Muhamad, Ministry, Environment – Colombia, Fany Kuiru, COICA General Coordinator, Darío Mejía, President UNPFII, Alicia Guzmán León, Co-Coordinator of the 80×2025 Initiative, Natalia Calderon Angeleri, Executive Director, Friends of Nature Foundation, Bolivia and RAISG; and Jorge Pérez, AIDESEP President, Peru.

LOCATION: Colombia Pavilion, Blue Zone COP 28

2:00 – 3:00 PM | How Artists & Culturemakers are Amplifying the Amazon, Indigenous Rights and Climate Justice

Since 2019, Artists for Amazonia (AFA) – an initiative led by Amazon Watch – has convened artists, culturemakers, and influencers to amplify the threats facing the Amazon rainforest and its peoples. AFA has expressed solidarity and amplified campaigns led by Indigenous peoples and allies across the Amazon calling for the permanent protection of the Amazon by 2025, Indigenous land demarcation not “Marco Temporal,” and keeping oil in the ground in Yasuni National Park, among many efforts. AFA partners with and amplifies Indigenous films including The Territory, We Are Guardians, and Mãri Hi- A Tree of Dream. 

Featured speakers include: Paula Vargas (Amazon Watch), Puyr Tembe and Edivan Guajajara (We Are Guardians- TBC), Alice Aedy (Earthrise) moderator.

LOCATION: Arts and Culture Pavilion, Blue Zone COP 28

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5

4:30 – 5:45 PM | National Launch of The Planet Caucus with Celia Xakriaba, Federal Deputy from Brazil

Join the national launch for the global campaign of parliamentarians in defense of the climate, the biodiversity and the rights of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities led by Federal Deputy Celia Xakriabá from Brazil. Featured speakers include Celia Xakriabá, Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, and Brazilian legislators (invited). Co-hosted with Amazon Watch.

LOCATION: Brazil Pavilion, Blue Zone COP 28

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6

4:40 – 7:15 PM | Empowering change on the frontline of Amazon deforestation: We Are Guardians film screening, panel and reception

Mighty Earth hosts a screening, panel discussion featuring Puyr Tembé (film protagonist and Secretary of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Para) and reception for We Are Guardians, a powerful film capturing Indigenous communities’ fight for their ancestral lands, which are being lost to the meat industry. Drinks and canapes will be served.

LOCATION: Food4Climate Pavilion, Blue Zone COP 28

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8

5:00 – 6:30 PM | CALLS FOR CLIMATE ACTION FROM INDIGENOUS WOMEN LEADERS FROM BRAZIL, Co-hosted by WECAN and Amazon Watch

Indigenous women leaders from the Amazon and all of the biomes of Brazil will share calls for climate action from COP 28 to COP 30. Following years of attacks on Indigenous land rights and widespread deforestation, Indigenous women organized at the grassroots level to national level resulting in recognition and demarcation of Indigenous lands to stop destruction from extractive industries and agribusiness. Now, they are organizing at the international level to ensure women’s participation and leadership at all levels to bring forth solutions to the climate crisis on the route to COP 30 and beyond.

Featuring Indigenous women leaders and co-founders of ANMIGA (National Association of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors): Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil;  Celia Xakriaba, Federal Deputy from Minas Gerais State; Puyr Tembe, Secretary of Indigenous Peoples from Para State; Braulina Baniwa, Executive Coordinator of ANMIGA

Location: WGC Pavilion, Blue Zone COP 28

A full list of recommended public events can be found here.