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Summary:
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In line with the First Nations-in-Assembly Resolution 36/2023, Urgent and Transformative Climate Action through the AFN National Climate Strategy, and Resolution 05/2019, Declaring a First Nations Climate Emergency, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) sent a delegation to the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP 30) for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The session took place in Belem, Brazil, from November 10-21, 2025. The AFN has been participating in international climate negotiations for several years, including all recent COP events.
The AFN at COP 30 was led by Regional Chief Wendall LaBobe, supported by AFN staff members Nikita Kahpeaysewat and Graeme Reed.
Issues
Over thirty years ago, world leaders at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Rio ‘Earth Summit,’ signed the original UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), setting the groundwork for international climate action for decades to come. In preparation for the Summit, the First Nations-in-Assembly passed Resolution 22/1991, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil, June 1992, calling for First Nations to attend and highlight “…the obligated responsibility of First Nations to protect Mother Earth for future generations by exercising our role and purpose as caretakers of the Earth”. Although no AFN delegation attended, the messages from the resolution still resonate today: “…[the Summit] is a historic opportunity for First Nations to address the world community on our value systems, spiritual knowledge, and advance issues of concern that affect our people.”
For the three decades that followed the Summit, First Nations have actively participated, calling for urgent climate action and for an end to the environmental destruction of their homelands. The AFN, for example, has received numerous mandates from the First Nations-in-Assembly to participate and advocate for the direct inclusion and protection of First Nations rights, knowledge systems, and governance in all discussions at the UNFCCC. This includes participating in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (Resolution 09/1997, Climate Change and Canada’s International Obligations, and Resolution 11/2005, Climate Change), the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement (Resolution 51/2015, Inclusion of Indigenous Rights in Paris Agreement and Resulting Strategies), and its implementation (Resolution 97/2016, First Nations Full and Meaningful Inclusion in Climate Action and Resolution 101/2017, Supporting First Nations’ Participation in International Climate Action).
The thirtieth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 30) was hosted in Belem, Brazil, over two weeks of November, marking 20 years since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and 10 years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. The success to date, unfortunately, has been minimal. The 2024 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Synthesis Report confirms that current national pledges will only reduce emissions by 2.6% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels – nowhere near the 43% cut needed to limit warming to 1.5% of the Paris Agreement[1]. 2024 was also the warmest year on record globally, being the first calendar year that the average global temperature exceeded 1.5°C above its pre-industrial level. The State of the Global Climate Report, produced by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), confirmed 2024 as the warmest year on record, and the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has reached its highest level in the last 800,000 years. A similar story exists in Canada, where northern regions have been experiencing record high temperature increases of ~2.3 °C since 1948, warming at roughly three times the global average[2].
COP 30 Priorities:
Considering these urgent issues, the AFN drafted a position paper, “Centering First Nations Self-Determination in Transformative Climate Action at COP 30.” The position paper outlines several priorities:
- Leverage the First Nations Climate Lens to create space for Indigenous Peoples’ governance, rights, and knowledge systems within all areas of the UNFCCC;
- Create concrete opportunities for the ethical and equitable engagement of First Nations, including First Nations youth, to demonstrate climate leadership; and
- Take urgent and transformative climate action in line with the AFN National Climate Strategy.
Other Priorities:
- Climate Finance: Ensure that First Nations and other Indigenous Peoples in the Global North are provided direct access to funds through their representative institutions.
- Just Transition: Ensure strong safeguards for human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including those re-affirmed in the UN Declaration, are embedded in the operative text.
- Ending the Conflation: Cease combining Indigenous Peoples with the term ‘local communities’ and reaffirm the distinct status and rights of First Nations in all UNFCCC documents and decisions.
In addition to these substantive priorities, AFN identified a vital communication priority to amplify First Nations’ voices and climate leadership on the international stage. First Nations are uniquely positioned to lead efforts to protect, conserve and sustainably manage the environment due to their reciprocal relationship with all of Creation.
Highlights
The AFN delegation played an important role in participating in and supporting the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), also known as the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. A key objective of the IIPFCC was to express solidarity with the leadership of Indigenous Peoples within Brazil, including their political protests against the Government’s contradictory relationship to climate action: hosting the COP, while simultaneously approving more oil and gas development in the Amazon.
The AFN Delegation also participated in activities organized by the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP), including the Annual Knowledge Holders Gathering and the Seventh Generation Roundtable.
The AFN also contributed to key negotiations, including climate finance (the Baku to Belem Roadmap), adaptation (the Global Goal on Adaptation), Just Transition, Mitigation Work Programme, Article 6 (principles for international cooperation on carbon markets), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration), and a last minute effort from Brazil to add ‘local community’ representatives to the Facilitative Working Group, in contradiction with the AFN Position Paper on the terminology of “Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities,”
At the Canadian Pavilion, the AFN worked with the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the Métis National Council to organize an Indigenous Climate Leadership Day (November 12), which included an opening session on First Nations Climate Leadership, and a co-organized session between AFN and BCAFN entitled First Nations Climate Action: Learning from our Past to Support Future Generations. On November 13, Regional Chief LaBobe participated in an event at the Canadian Pavilion, Catalyzing innovative partnerships that deliver big climate, nature and economic gains, organized by Nature Canada.
The AFN also participated in other side events, including an event on Indigenous Peoples inclusion in Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs), an event hosted at the Indigenous Peoples Pavilion on climate action by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in Canada, a COP Presidency Dialogue between Indigenous Peoples and the COP 30 President, and a focused dialogue between the UN Secretary General and international Indigenous Peoples representatives. The delegation held bilateral meetings with Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Julie Debrusin.
Outcomes
COP 30 was heralded as an ‘Indigenous COP’ by the Brazilian Presidency; however, progress on the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples within the COP as well as within COP decisions was limited. Following protests from Indigenous Peoples and local activists, the COP became increasingly militarized, with military, federal police, and state police becoming regular features on the daily commute into the venue.
Despite mandated events and sessions with the COP Presidency, references to Indigenous Peoples were reduced or omitted from the final decision texts. The one exception was in the Just Transition negotiation, where a historic standalone paragraph recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the right to Self-Determination and to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, and the protection of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation.
COP 30 concluded on Saturday, November 22, in Belem, Brazil, with the approval of the Belem Package by 195 countries. During the event, 29 decisions were adopted on essential topics such as a just transition, adaptation financing, trade, gender, and technology. A total of 59 voluntary indicators were approved to monitor progress on adaptation, covering sectors such as water, food, health, ecosystems and infrastructure.
Among the main achievements of the conference is the commitment to triple adaptation funding by 2035 and submissions from 122 countries on their Nationally-Determined Contributions, establishing emission reduction targets for 2035.
The next conference, COP 31, is scheduled to convene in November 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye. A pre-COP will be hosted in partnership between Australia and Pacific Island Countries.
For more information, please contact:
Ayman Hammamieh
Communications Officer
Assembly of First Nations
[email protected]
[1] UNFCCC. 2024 NDC Synthesis Report: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs/2024-ndc-synthesis-report.
[2] Government of Canada. Canada’s Changing Climate Report, Chapter 4: Temperature and Precipitation Across Canada: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/energy/Climate-change/pdf/CCCR-Chapter4-TemperatureAndPrecipitationAcrossCanada.pdf?.