Mutirao: Brazil's Indigenous answer to the climate crisis DW 11/16/2025

"When organizers of this year's international climate conference adopted mutirao' a Portuguese word of Indigenous origin meaning collective effort' as the event's official slogan, they were reinforcing a message first conveyed by the choice of location for COP30. The Amazonian city of Belem was selected for the talks to showcase the role of the region's 1.7 million Indigenous peoples as skilled stewards of the world's largest rainforest. These gestures are a departure for talks in which Indigenous communities who safeguard much of the world's biodiversity have long felt unheard."

"The more than 5,000 distinct groups of Indigenous peoples living across 90 countries represent just 6% of the global population but are vital to protecting nature and climate. As guardians of their lands, one of their main demands is a greater say in how that land is managed. Many of their territories face encroachment from oil and gas drilling, mining, and logging."

"For many communities, land rights are an ongoing issue. Though legal recognition of an estimated 100 million hectares (247 million acres) was granted to Indigenous, Afro-descendant and other local communities between 2015 and 2020 worldwide, claims to a further 1.4 billion hectares are yet to be resolved. Granting land rights to Indigenous peoples is seen as way of preventing deforestationImage: Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images"

Organizers adopted mutirao, a Portuguese word of Indigenous origin meaning 'collective effort', as the conference slogan and chose Belem as COP30's location to foreground Amazonian Indigenous stewardship. The region's 1.7 million Indigenous peoples are presented as skilled stewards of the world's largest rainforest. Indigenous communities seek greater control over land management to protect territories from oil and gas drilling, mining and logging. Protestors and climate activists forced entry to the COP30 venue on its second day. Legal recognition secured roughly 100 million hectares for Indigenous and local communities between 2015 and 2020, while claims to about 1.4 billion hectares remain unresolved. Granting land rights is seen as a way to prevent deforestation.

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