Global Trends in Climate Justice and Conservation Action

Global Trends in Climate Justice and Conservation Action

RITURAJ PHUKAN

Efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and related challenges increasingly recognise the importance of traditional knowledge and indigenous wisdom. Indigenous peoples and local communities are playing a greater role in global negotiations, with recent events strengthening opportunities for climate justice, equity, and human rights.

Global Indigenous Alliance for Climate Justice

In April, a powerful alliance of Indigenous peoples took shape to coordinate the demand for climate justice at the pivotal 30^thConference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, in November 2025. The coalition was formally announced at Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL), Brazil’s largest Indigenous gathering, held annually in the capital, Brasília. The 2025 edition was the largest ever, and the joint declaration for climate justice was unveiled, marking a turning point in climate diplomacy.

More than 180 Indigenous, youth, and environmental organizations from around the world, including civil society groups from Nigeria, the Pacific Islands, and Colombia, signed a letter addressed to the COP30 Presidency. Delivered on April 10, the letter demands an urgent and just energy transition, a halt to fossil fuel expansion, and direct climate financing for Indigenous communities.

This united front insisted that COP30 must not be another platform for hollow speeches. Instead, it should become a defining moment where Indigenous people are not just participants but protagonists with equal voice, decision-making power, and funding. The message of the coalition to world leaders is urgent, unified, and unignorable: Climate justice cannot wait, and Indigenous leadership must be at the heart of global solutions.

Opportunity for Global South

For thousands of years, Indigenous communities have developed rich, adaptable, and ever-evolving food systems deeply intertwined with their land, water, and surrounding ecosystems. Traditional knowledge embodies core agroecological principles favoring harmony with nature, circular resource use, and ensuring fairness across generations.

In addition to safeguarding some of the world’s most vital ecosystems, Indigenous peoples serve as stewards of countless traditional crop varieties and ancient species, such as finger millet in the Himalayas, each seasonal crop symbolic of nutrition, climate resilience, and environmental sustainability for the local community.

The Indigenous alliance offers a compelling model for countries of the global south for adoption of a people-centered, justice-driven climate action. The declaration has demanded that biodiversity hotspots receive integral protection, and that climate finance be directly allocated to Indigenous communities. For the northeast, grappling with deforestation and biodiversity loss, the call to center Indigenous knowledge is particularly relevant.

The Cali Fund: A Milestone for Indigenous-Led Biodiversity Conservation

Earlier in March, the Cali Fund was launched at the resumed session of the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rome. This initiative marks a turning point in global biodiversity governance, aiming to compensate Indigenous communities and biodiversity-rich countries for their role in preserving genetic resources.

According to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), at least a quarter of the world’s land area is traditionally owned, managed, or occupied by Indigenous Peoples, with additional regions cared for by local communities. The 2023 report of the World Economic Forum, “Embedding Indigenous Knowledge in the Conservation and Restoration of Landscapes”, underscores the fact that while Indigenous peoples make up only 5% of the global population, they protect 80% of the Earth’s remaining biodiversity.

The Cali fund is designed to secure long-term biodiversity financing from industries that profit from digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources, while also supporting conservation efforts and global biodiversity targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). At least 50% of its resources will be dedicated to Indigenous peoples and local communities, including women and youth, ensuring that those at the heart of conservation efforts have the resources they need.

The Need for Equitable Benefit-Sharing

Indigenous communities have always protected, cultivated, and sustained biodiversity, yet they have rarely benefited from the commercial applications of genetic resources. DSI—digital representations of genetic material used in scientific research and industry—has become a multi­billion-dollar sector, driving advancements in medicine, agriculture, biotechnology, and conservation. However, Indigenous communities and biodiversity-rich nations have often been excluded from the economic gains of these innovations.

The Cali Fund seeks to change this by ensuring that benefits derived from DSI are fairly shared. Through contributions from private-sector entities profiting from DSI—including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, plant and animal breeding, agricultural and industrial biotechnology, and AI-driven genomic research—this fund will generate new revenue streams for biodiversity conservation. These contributions will directly support biodiversity-rich countries and Indigenous communities, ensuring that those responsible for safeguarding ecosystems are no longer left behind.

Aligning Traditional Knowledge with Scientific Innovation

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted in 2022, serves as a global blueprint for halting and reversing biodiversity loss. The Cali Fund will be instrumental in implementing this framework by providing critical financial support for National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) in developing countries.

Besides financial assistance, the fund will also strengthen scientific research on biodiversity, bridging gaps in how countries generate, access, use, analyze, and store DSI. This ensures that nations with rich biodiversity are equipped to participate on equal footing in the rapidly evolving field of genetic research and biotechnological innovation.

From the Amazon rainforest to the African savannas and the Eastern Himalayan region encompassing northeast India, Indigenous governance systems have preserved ecosystems for millennia, safeguarding forests, wetlands, and wildlife. Studies show that deforestation rates on Indigenous-managed lands are up to 25% lower than the global average, with biodiversity levels comparable to or even exceeding those of officially protected nature reserves.

By integrating traditional knowledge with modern scientific advancements, the fund creates a model for future conservation initiatives—one where economic benefits are equitably shared, and the people who protect biodiversity are finally recognized as key partners in global sustainability efforts.

The fund’s objectives align with the three core principles of the CBD, which are the conserving biological diversity, the sustainable use of biodiversity resources and ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources. This initiative also reinforces global efforts to protect and restore ecosystems, while acknowledging that biodiversity conservation cannot succeed without the active participation of Indigenous communities.

The Northeast is Central to Climate Justice

The northeast of India ranks among the most vulnerable and early climate change impacted regions of the world. Perhaps the first study to shine light on warming impacts in northeast India was the 2019 “Climate Vulnerability Assessment for the Indian Himalayan Region Using a Common Framework,” which placed four northeast states among the top five most vulnerable to climate change in the Himalayan region.

Recent trends indicate the increasing manifestations of warming in the region. Most of the northeastern states have experienced unusual heatwaves with temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius and some places reporting anomalies of up to 10 degrees above normal for the time of the year. Compounded by extremely humid conditions, many places in the region were close to experiencing “heat-dome” conditions with temperatures that felt like 50 degrees Celsius.

Some of the intertwined issues need more research and policy focus in the region, including the impact of climate change on the long-term health and wellbeing of the people at the frontlines. Studies have shown that such natural disasters have long-lasting effects on mental health and consequences including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and general anxiety. The floods inevitably bring along a plethora of health and sanitation challenges, disease outbreak and food scarcity, but the long-term impacts on children’s mental health, due to the disruption of educational and occupational opportunities, and increased stigma, discrimination, and social marginalization are hardly understood.

The prevailing worldview is that the global biodiversity and climate crises are interlinked, and the role of indigenous people in conservation of the remaining natural places on earth are now acknowledged. The Eastern Himalayas are blessed with natural largesse, and in the northeast, we have an abundance of indigenous traditions and knowledge systems that could contribute to resilience and capacity enhancement, making the region indispensable to the evolution of global climate justice jurisprudence.

The Landmark Legal Advisory

Last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a comprehensive advisory opinion affirming that every person has the human right to a “clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.” This ruling practically elevates the environment to the legal status of a fundamental human right, empowering marginalized groups and regions, while compelling nations to act decisively or face potential legal consequences.

The court reaffirmed that climate change is a “serious threat to peace, security, and human rights,” reiterating that states have a duty to prevent, mitigate, and adapt to environmental harm resulting from greenhouse gas emissions. Most notably, it emphasized that environmental rights are human rights and provides a foundation for legal actions, such as lawsuits against governments or corporations that violate their climate obligations.

The global climate movement, including indigenous communities, youth activists and NGOs, are increasingly leveraging legal avenues to demand accountability. The UN’s Indigenous Peoples’ Forum highlights how indigenous knowledge systems can inform climate resilience and adaptation strategies aligning with the ICJ’s recognition of the environment’s human rights significance.

The heightened helplessness of indigenous people in the northeast mirrors the plight of other frontline communities around the world. One is compelled to question whether the continued loss of lives and properties evoke any feelings of empathy and solidarity among world leaders. My understanding is that any conversation about climate justice should inevitably include the northeast of India, as the development aspirations of people in the region have been undermined by the interlinked crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The ICJ advisory opinion opens up the door for concerted legal action for ensuring a “clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.”

(From Indigenous 2025, published by Indigenous Forum Assam and Powershift)

Rituraj Phukan: Founder, Indigenous People’s Climate Justice Forum; Co-Founder, Smily Academy ;National Coordinator for Biodiversity, The Climate Reality Project India; Member, IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group; Commission Member – IUCN WCPA Climate Change, IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation, IUCN WCPA Indigenous People and Protected Areas Specialist Groups, IUCN WCPA South Asia Region and IUCN WCPA-SSC Invasive Alien Species Task Force; Member, International Antarctic Expedition 2013; Climate Force Arctic 2019 ; Ambassador, Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. Rituraj Phukan is the Climate Editor, Mahabahu and Convenor, Mahabahu Climate Forum

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