The Indigenous World 2025: Indigenous Peoples’ Advocacy at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 to tackle climate change. In 2015, the Parties to the UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement, a universal agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of the Paris Agreement is to hold “...the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C...” (Art. 2a).[1]
The UNFCCC has progressively recognized that achieving sustainable development requires the active participation of all sectors of society. Nine “constituencies” are therefore recognized as the main channels through which non-state actors’ participation is facilitated in UN activities related to climate change and sustainable development.
Indigenous Peoples constitute one of these major groups and thereby exercise an influential role in global climate negotiations. The Indigenous Peoples’ constituency is organized in the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), which serves as a mechanism for identifying priorities and developing common positions and statements of Indigenous Peoples. The IIPFCC also facilitates effective lobbying and advocacy work by Indigenous Peoples at UNFCCC meetings and sessions.
The Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (“the Platform”) under the UNFCCC has been gradually operationalized over the last eight years since its establishment in 2015. Beginning with an agreement on the Platform’s functions and purpose in 2018, progress advanced with the creation of a Facilitative Working Group (FWG) – the first constituted body under the UNFCCC with equal representation between Indigenous Peoples and Member States that allows Indigenous Peoples to self-select their representatives. The FWG underwent a review in 2024, adopting a third, three-year Workplan at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP 29).[2]
The Platform has raised expectations of Indigenous Peoples, who, given the non-recognition of their nationhood – predominantly by Member States – are trapped between the convention state/non-state binary and, therefore, not fully accommodated within the legal framework of this mechanism. Indigenous Peoples’ inherent, collective right to self-determination as Peoples, reaffirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), necessitates a space at the negotiation table alongside Member States. As it is still early days for the Platform, at least in UN terms, it remains to be seen whether the influence and direct participation of Indigenous Peoples at the UNFCCC will be elevated above that of civil society.
This article is part of the 39th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here
Introduction
From 11 to 23 November, Azerbaijan hosted and presided over the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP 29) in Baku. As the first COP in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijani Presidency saw the COP as an opportunity to “Enhance Ambition, Enable Action”, delivering the means of implementation (i.e. climate finance) required to keep the 1.5°C temperature rise target in reach: a target that is no longer achievable.[3] In particular, the session was heralded as a “Finance COP”, as Parties were set to finalize a new international climate finance target, called the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), to build on the USD 100 billion dollar fund agreed at COP 15 in 2009.
Despite these outward commitments, the choice of Azerbaijan raised significant concerns amidst new calls for boycotting. The third petrostate in a row to hold the Presidency (following Egypt and the United Arab Emirates) and, perhaps, the first authoritarian government, concerned participants both with regard to the silencing of human rights defenders as well as the continued role of the fossil fuel industry in muzzling ambition. Separate reports highlighted the Chief Executive Officer leveraging his position to sign oil and gas deals,[4] while a growing number of fossil fuel executives, more than 1,750 in total, participated in the event.[5] This support, regrettably, reinforces the global trend toward fossil fuel development. The previous year’s Production Gap Report (2023) demonstrated how the world’s existing production of fossil fuels, not even future projects, far exceeds safe production levels for maintaining global warming under 1.5°C.[6]
To cap it all, the impacts of climate change continue to accelerate, affecting all corners of the globe. Such impacts, unfortunately, are only set to continue as the action committed by States in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – the mechanism under the Paris Agreement to develop medium-term, country-driven climate action – is far from sufficient. The 2024 NDC Synthesis Report, produced by the UNFCCC Secretariat, confirmed that the full implementation of current NDCs, including their conditional elements, will increase emissions by 5.9% by 2030, rather than decrease them.[7] The implications of these findings are outlined in the UN Environment Program’s (UNEP) 2024 Emissions Gap Report, indicating that we are on track for global warming of up to 2.6°C by the end of the century.[8] Indigenous Peoples from all seven socio-cultural regions showed up in Baku to highlight the implications of this trajectory and to push for just, equitable, and decolonial responses to address the intersecting causes and repercussions of this crisis.
COP 29: “Solidarity for a Green World”?
COP 29 was markedly smaller than COP 28 in Dubai, yet was still the second largest COP in history, with over 56,000 Indigenous Peoples’ representatives, Party representatives, government leaders, media, and civil society in attendance.[9] Reports showed that preparations for the session involved peculiar steps to reduce congestion and ensure a smooth event: moving parliamentary elections, closing schools and universities for the duration of the COP, and mandating the majority of workers to work from home.[10] However, eyebrows were raised when President Ilham Aliyev used the tradition of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit, which kicked off the COP, to describe oil and gas as “a gift from God” and to criticize Western media for fake news when they chose to focus on the country’s emissions profile (hint, it involves a lot of oil and gas) and not its new climate plan.
While the over 1,750 fossil fuels lobbyists and executives likely celebrated this statement, Indigenous Peoples were largely skeptical about it. Despite a slight reduction compared to COP 28, this delegation represented eight times the number of Indigenous Peoples’ delegates. Accordingly, although the representation and presence of Indigenous Peoples remains powerful, we continue to struggle to translate this advocacy into widespread adoption of COP decision texts.
The second-fastest decision in COP history happened during the opening plenary of COP 29 when the Parties, much to their own surprise, found themselves adopting the rules governing Party carbon trading under Article 6.2, as well as the recommendations from the Supervisory Body on methodologies and removals and a sustainable development tool under Article 6.4, which includes a reference to respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and considering their knowledge, sciences and practices in its operation.[11] Indigenous Peoples were disappointed with the speed of adoption of these decisions, largely due to the institutional barriers to participating meaningfully in the Supervisory Body meetings, as well as the potential impacts that carbon markets pose for Indigenous Peoples’ Lands, Waters, and territories. Commonly, carbon markets have led to evictions, dispossession of lands, and other rights violations, as well as environmental degradation.[12] When Indigenous Peoples have used a rights-based approach, they have been able to derive some benefit from these schemes. The concept of carbon markets is concerning for many, as they question whether a fictive commodity undermines the climate ambition of the Paris Agreement by allowing large emitters to “offset” rather than reducing emissions. The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) has joined others in calling carbon markets a “false solution” for this reason.[13] Despite the adoption at COP 29, the Supervisory Body will continue its work, offering additional opportunities for Indigenous Peoples to influence the direction of the carbon market mechanism. Attention will be equally directed towards leveraging the independent grievance mechanism and the sustainable development tool to assist in the protection of Indigenous rights.
In contrast to the rapid conclusion of Article 6.2, and after nearly two years of technical negotiations, negotiations on the NCQG were fraught with disagreements. Nations in the Global South were adamant that, in order to adapt to the impacts of climate change, address loss and damage, and transition to low-carbon economies, they needed USD 1.3 trillion a year, drawn exclusively from the Global North. The Global North, unfortunately, was uncomfortable with this framing and flexed its geopolitical muscles to push for a wider contribution pool, to include other countries such as China. The final stages of the NCQG were concluded in back rooms and presented to the Plenary as a take it or leave it deal: “$300 billion annually by 2035 (Paragraph 8), and secure efforts of all actors to scale up finance to developing countries from public and private sources to the amount of US$1.3 trillion per year by 2035 (Paragraph 7)”. The deal also erased all references to human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, leaving one small reference to the inclusion and extension of benefits to Indigenous Peoples – as part of “vulnerable groups”. The decision was eventually gaveled, despite objections by India and Nigeria (which were conveniently ignored by the Presidency).[14]
Negotiations on the continuation of the Global Goal on Adaptation experienced similar challenges, with disagreements on scope and ambition, but were eventually adopted to launch the Baku Adaptation Roadmap, including references to the importance of including Indigenous Peoples' knowledge. The rest of the negotiations, however, were not as successful, as a surprising number of negotiations were punted until SB 63 in June 2025. The disagreement on the placement of “means of implementation” within the Global Stocktake (GST) text at COP 28, and an unwillingness to discuss language on “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner” pushed the negotiations to June 2025 on the UAE Dialogue and follow-up on the GST. Negotiations on the Just Transition Work Programme, the second review of the Standing Committee on Finance, and review of the Adaptation Committee were also pushed until 2025.
Indigenous Peoples: growing representation in the UNFCCC
Amongst challenging negotiations at Baku, the year offered steps forward for Indigenous Peoples. The continued mandate of the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) and the third three-year Workplan of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (“the Platform”) were adopted at COP 29, alongside the continued presence of Indigenous Peoples in COP discussions. While not to the extent of COP 28, the COP 29 Presidency was receptive to the realities of Indigenous Peoples, creating space to continue relationship development with the new High-Level Champion, Nigar Arpadarai, and maintaining the longstanding practice of the COP President Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples from the seven UN socio-cultural regions.
In this line, the Presidency provided limited support for the Indigenous Peoples Pavilion. Located in the Blue Zone, the Pavilion (funded with support from a wide variety of allies) returned to a central location of the exhibition hall. It was slightly smaller than in previous years but continued to operate as a home base for Indigenous Peoples. Throughout the 11 days of programming, the Pavilion held 65 events organized by Indigenous organizations and representatives from the seven socio-cultural regions of the UN, representing hundreds of Indigenous Nations and tens of thousands of Indigenous citizens.[15]
Following the official launch at COP 28, the International Indigenous Youth Forum on Climate Change (“Indigenous Youth Forum”), a working group of the IIPFCC dedicated to creating space and supporting Indigenous youth from the seven regions, hosted their General Assembly at COP 29. The Assembly was designed to identify their yearly objectives. Approximately 70 Indigenous youth from all seven regions gathered, marking a key milestone in consolidating the structure, defining key priorities ahead of COP 30, and reiterating the Forum’s connection to the Indigenous Caucus. The Indigenous Youth Forum also identified several key priorities for COP 30, including: specialized training to support youth in understanding negotiation topics; intergenerational and intersectoral dialogue to support the exchange of knowledge and experiences between generations; the creation of safe and accessible spaces to work and meet; and an urgent need for dedicated funding to support Indigenous youth’s meaningful participation from each region in negotiations.
Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform
2024 marked the conclusion of the second Workplan of the Platform, requiring the FWG to prepare a report with recommendations and a draft third three-year Workplan. This report represented the main input to the negotiations on the review of the FWG and the adoption of the updated Workplan. In preparation for each FWG meeting, the UNFCCC Secretariat continued the tradition of hosting “Informal Dialogues with Contributors”, supporting the participation of Indigenous delegates.
Over four days from 29 May to 1 June in Bonn, Germany, the 11th meeting of the FWG (FWG 11) was held. Members were required to elect new Co-Chairs and Vice-Chairs (two Indigenous representatives and two state representatives, respectively) for a one-year term.[16] Following this election, the meeting opened with a review of each activity and small group discussions to finalize their implementation and prepare for the draft third Workplan. The outcome of the meeting was summarized in the Co-Chairs Summary,[17] committing to the development of common messages for the FWG’s work, ongoing collaboration with bodies outside the convention, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and exploring additional participatory and innovative approaches in order to provide more time for contributors to input to the various agenda items.
Following the conclusion of FWG 11, the negotiations began. The major controversial item for Indigenous Peoples was the potential addition of three seats for local community representatives, and three corresponding seats for Party representatives, relegating Indigenous Peoples to a minority on the body. The negotiations ended by closing the consideration of their addition, much to the satisfaction of Indigenous Peoples. The rest of the negotiations went relatively smoothly, but much to our surprise, a cadre of new Parties (Saudi Arabia and Indonesia) joined during the final hours to challenge a proposal made by the USA to have the FWG also report to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) by raising concerns with the anticipated budget. Once the USA had retracted its proposal, the FWG decision was concluded and forwarded to COP 29 for final adoption. At COP 29, the decision was officially adopted, supporting the implementation of the third three-year Workplan (now called the Baku Workplan), beginning in earnest during June 2025.[18]
FWG 12 took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 5-8 November. Following a ceremonial opening, the meeting was launched by the COP President, Mukhtar Babayev, and transitioned into a discussion about the conclusion of the Workplan. The meeting followed a similar approach to that of FWG 11 but was slow due to the transition period between the second and third Workplan. The Co-Chairs prepared a summary of decisions based on the discussions.[19] At COP 29, the final activities of the second Workplan took place. The fourth annual gathering of Indigenous knowledge keepers carried momentum from previous gatherings, and 20 from all regions travelled to Baku to discuss their experiences, teachings, and reflections.[20] The session included a full-day preparatory meeting followed by a second meeting with Party, constituted bodies, and NGO delegates. A similar approach was taken with the Indigenous youth roundtable,[21] moderated by Asami Segundo (Asia), Faith Nataya (Africa), and Samuel Womiswor (Pacific), creating a safe space for Indigenous youth, through regional roundtables, to share what is happening in their territories and communicate their experience to other Indigenous youth, as well as to focus on creating recommendations to improve Indigenous youth engagement in climate policies and actions. Two days later, participants presented these recommendations to Parties and relevant constituted bodies. Other activities of the Platform, including a multi-stakeholder open dialogue and an event on Indigenous curriculum, were also held.
COP 30: moving back to Brazil
Without a doubt, Indigenous Peoples continue to make progress, increasing their presence and creating unique spaces in colonial institutions that were built on their exclusion, despite frustration at decisions not adequately reflecting their advocacy. The Platform continues to be one such space. Looking forward, Indigenous Peoples will bring these perspectives to Brazil, COP 30, where a supportive government has committed to amplifying the role of Indigenous Peoples within the event and negotiations.[22] Although this support is key to strengthening Indigenous Peoples' international advocacy, it is abundantly clear that the leadership of Indigenous Peoples occurs on our territories in partnership with our knowledge keepers, women, youth, and gender-diverse relatives, rather than at the COP. Through these vital partnerships and collective action, as well as additional regional-based funding, Indigenous Peoples can continue pushing for transformative, decolonial, and just change in the face of status quo incrementalism at the UNFCCC.
Graeme Reed has mixed Anishinaabe (Great Lakes-Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory), English, German, and Scottish ancestry. He works at the Assembly of First Nations leading their involvement in federal and international climate policy, including as outgoing Indigenous North American Representative of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP). He holds a PhD from the University of Guelph.
Maria José Andrade Cerda is from the Kichwa community of Serena, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. She was one of the founders of the International Indigenous Youth Forum on Climate Change, having majored in International Relations with a minor in Anthropology. She is strongly engaged in women's empowerment projects, as well as youth groups, belonging to the first Indigenous women-led guard in the Napo Province, and Runa Yachay: a community school led by Indigenous youth. She is currently leading the Economic and Community Development file as a Council Member of CONFENIAE.
Onel Inanadinia Masardule Herrera is from the Guna Nation in Panama. He was one of the founders of the International Indigenous Youth Forum on Climate Change, having majored in administration with a minor in maritime and ports. He is deeply committed to projects related to the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous youth, and the conservation of Mother Earth. He belongs to the organization Foundation for the Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge and the International Indian Treaty Council.
Stefan Thorsell is Climate Advisor at the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). In partnership with Indigenous Peoples’ representatives, he engages in international climate advocacy at the UNFCCC. In addition to co-authoring articles on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, he has published research on the peace process in Colombia.
Rosario Carmona is a Programme Consultant on Climate at the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). She is also a painter and anthropologist, holds a PhD from the University of Bonn, and has diplomas in Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Political Ecology.
This article is part of the 39th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here
Notes and references
[1] UNFCCC. “The Paris Agreement.” Accessed 19 January 2024. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
[2] IWGIA made a submission to the review which was based on this analysis: https://iwgia.org/en/resources/publications/5309-consolidating-rights-indigenous-peoples-climate-governance-local-communities-indigenous-peoples-platform.html
[3] It is worth noting that a couple of months after COP 29, the Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed that 2024 became the first year that the average global temperature exceeded 1.5°C. More here: https://climate.copernicus.eu/global-climate-highlights-2024
[4] Arasu, Sibi. “Azerbaijan names a former oil exec to lead climate talks. Activists have concerns.” AP News, 5 January 2024. https://apnews.com/article/cop29-climate-change-azerbaijan-babayev-db087ba247d7c2e3b1ae9bf23cf9926c
[5] Kicking Polluters Out. “More than 1,770 fossil fuel lobbyists flooding U.N. climate talks in Baku.” 15 November 2024. https://kickbigpollutersout.org/COP29FossilFuelLobbyists
[6] The Production Report (2023) can be found here: https://productiongap.org/
[7] The 2024 NDC Synthesis Report can be found here: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs/2024-ndc-synthesis-report
[8] For more information, see here: Emissions Gap Report 2024 | UNEP - UN Environment Programme
[9] Analysis: Which countries have sent the most delegates to COP29? - Carbon Brief
[10] Bloomberg News. “COP29 Climate Summit Upends Daily Life in Baku.” 16 November 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-16/cop29-un-climate-summit-makes-life-harder-for-some-in-baku
[11] Here is a useful overview of the COP’s decisions on Article 6: https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/COP29%20outcomes_A6.2_6.4_6.8.pdf
[12] See Explainer 3: https://www.forestpeoples.org/en/report/2023/carbon-markets-forests-rights-explainer
[13] See, for instance, the IIPFCC opening statement at COP 29. Accessed 10 February 2025. https://www.iipfcc.org/blog/2024/11/12/international-indigenous-peoples-forum-on-climate-change-cop-29-opening-statement
[14] For the full decision on the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, see here: https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/CMA_11%28a%29_NCQG.pdf
[15] Information and description of each event was promoted on a dedicated website: https://www.iipfccpavilion.org/cop29-programme.
[16] Cathryn Eatock (representing the United Nations Indigenous sociocultural region of Pacific) and Walter Gutierrez (representing the United Nations regional group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC)) were elected as Co-Chairs, and Graeme Reed (representing the United Nations Indigenous sociocultural region of North America) and Agrafena Kotova (representing the United Nations regional group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC)) were elected as Vice Co-Chairs.
[17] A full set of outcomes from FWG 11 can be found here: https://lcipp.unfccc.int/sites/default/files/2024-08/Co-Chairs%20Summary%20Note%20of%20Decisions%20from%20the%20FWG_11_Final_.pdf
[18] LCIPP Decision: and Baku Workplan: https://lcipp.unfccc.int/sites/default/files/2024-12/Baku_Workplan_of_the_Local_Communities_and_Indigenous_Peoples_Platform.pdf
[19] A full set of outcomes from FWG 12 can be found in the Co-Chairs’ note: https://lcipp.unfccc.int/sites/default/files/2024-11/Co-Chairs%E2%80%99_Summary_Note_of_Decisions_from_the%20FWG_12_Clean.pdf
[20] For more about the organization of the Annual Knowledge Holders Gathering, see here: https://lcipp.unfccc.int/events/lcipp-annual-gathering-knowledge-holders-part-i-exchange-amongst-knowledge-holders-coordination. Several days in advance of the gathering, the Co-Leads, Ms. Cathy Eatock and Dr. Graeme Reed, released a summary of the Third Annual Gathering hosted in Dubai: https://lcipp.unfccc.int/sites/default/files/2024-11/Third%20Annual%20Gathering%20of%20Knowledge%20Holders%20at%20COP%2028-Co-Leads%20Summary%20Report.pdf
[21] For more about the organization of the Youth Roundtable, see here: https://lcipp.unfccc.int/events/lcipp-annual-youth-round-table-part-i-exchange-amongst-indigenous-youth-and-youth-local-communities-0. Several days in advance of the roundtable, the Co-Leads released a summary of the Annual Roundtable hosted in Dubai: https://lcipp.unfccc.int/sites/default/files/2024-11/Annual%20Youth%20Round%20Table%20at%20COP%2028_Co-Leads%20Summary.pdf
[22] Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, Sonia Guajajara, provided closing remarks at the 12th Facilitative Working Group Meeting in Baku. Her remarks can be found here: https://unfccc.int/event/12th-meeting-of-the-facilitative-working-group-of-the-local-communities-and-indigenous-peoples-0
Tags: Youth, Global governance, Climate
