Climate resilience at COP30

The IDA attended COP30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, listening up good ways about the global climate change story and meeting many delegates from all over the world to share our desert climate story.

Climate change is impacting First Nations mob everywhere. The team have heard many stories this week about the strong impact climate change has on Indigenous communities caring for country, culture and community all over the world.

Indigenous delegates are consistently speaking up strong ways to explain why it is important that they are supported to continue looking after country – cultural resilience is climate resilience, and letting mob lead in the fight against climate change is the best chance for country to survive.

The IDA team were part of many yarns and presentations to amplify the voices of Indigenous rangers and ensure that global climate action recognises and supports rangers to continue leading the way in the fight against climate change.

First up was an Australian Pavilion panel discussion led by the IDA team on Cultural Resilience = Climate Resilience. The team yarned up about climate change in the desert, how it has impacted culture, community and country, and why cultural resilience is the key to climate resilience. You can watch the full panel here:

Sam and Jade then presented in the Indigenous Peoples' Pavilion about strong Indigenous women’s leadership going hand in hand with climate resilience. They talked up strong ways about the importance of cultural mentoring, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and culturally safe workplaces, sharing anecdotes from their own leadership journeys. 

Back in the Australian Pavilion Sam was asked to co-facilitate ‘Listening to Country: A Yarning Circle on First Nations Leadership in Climate Action’ at the Australian Pavilion alongside Pastor Ray Minnicon and Amba-Rose Atkinson. The purpose of the yarning circle was to bring Indigenous leaders together to talk about how future COPs can ensure that their leadership and traditional knowledge is strong at the forefront of global climate negotiations. Watch the full yarning circle here: 

Sam also spoke on a panel hosted by International Funders for Indigenous Peoples ‘Centring First Nations Leadership: Unlocking Climate Finance for First Nations-led Climate Solutions’.

Sam was also interviewed for articles by NITV and the National Indigenous Times.

With thanks to the Australian Government for providing travel support to the IDA to attend COP30.