{"id":57771,"date":"2022-12-21T18:10:05","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T17:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=57771"},"modified":"2025-07-02T09:36:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:36:43","slug":"people-power-cop15-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/57771\/people-power-cop15-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"People Power: COP15 highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>From Canada, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia, Indigenous Leaders came to Montreal to make their voices heard and to ensure that their rights were recognised and enshrined in the Nature COP15 final deal. And they made it happen!<\/p>\n\n<p>The final text, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/57694\/bandage-biodiversity-protection\/\">known as the Kunming-Montreal agreement,<\/a> officially recognises Indigenous Peoples\u2019 work, knowledge, innovations and practices as the most effective tool for biodiversity protection. This achievement is the result of the tremendous work from Indigenous Peoples and solidarity from civil society over many years, and their presence in Tiohti:\u00e1ke (Montreal) during the negotiations.<\/p>\n\n<p>That&#8217;s what makes this agreement historic. While it is only the beginning of the much needed work to end mass extinction, it has shown the impact people power can have to influence decision makers.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>These are some highlights of the people power on display at this Nature COP:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/65de4ba5-dsc_3154-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/65de4ba5-dsc_3154-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/65de4ba5-dsc_3154-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/65de4ba5-dsc_3154-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/65de4ba5-dsc_3154-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/65de4ba5-dsc_3154-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/65de4ba5-dsc_3154-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Indigenous leaders send a clear message to governments at the COP15 UN biodiversity talks (CBD Kunming &#8211; Montreal COP), telling them that Indigenous Rights is a red line as ministers begin final negotiation in a text that needs to include explicit recognition for Indigenous Peoples.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Marie-Jos\u00e9e B\u00e9liveau\/Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Indigenous Youth protest during Trudeau&#8217;s opening speech<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udce3 BREAKING: Indigenous youth from across Turtle Island disrupt <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JustinTrudeau?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JustinTrudeau<\/a> opening speech at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/COP15?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#COP15<\/a> to remind him that colonial Canada is the greatest threat to their livelihood, land, and biodiversity in general <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NatureCOP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NatureCOP<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ProtectNature?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ProtectNature<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oSvoUnGEWM\">pic.twitter.com\/oSvoUnGEWM<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Greenpeace Canada (@GreenpeaceCA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GreenpeaceCA\/status\/1600254471233077250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 6, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>During the opening ceremony of COP15, on 6 December, Indigenous youth from Canada&#8217;s west coast interrupted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s speech to remind him that colonial Canada is the greatest threat to their livelihood, land, and biodiversity in general and advocated&nbsp; to include language that protects Indigenous Rights in the final agreement.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-1821x1366.jpg 1821w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/49decf49-img_1890-453x340.jpg 453w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Indigenous youth from Canada at COP15 opening ceremony<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9Louis Couillard\/Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Indigenous Leaders-led press conference<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/a723277e-gp1t8va0-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/a723277e-gp1t8va0-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/a723277e-gp1t8va0-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/a723277e-gp1t8va0-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/a723277e-gp1t8va0-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/a723277e-gp1t8va0-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/a723277e-gp1t8va0-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At a press conference in Montreal\u2019s Hotel10 during COP15, global Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Indonesia gathered to call for nature protection that centres Indigenous rights and shifts power from industry to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Toma Iczkovits \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Orpha Novita Yoshua, an Indigenous Namblong woman from West Papua, was one of many Indigenous delegates in Montreal calling on world leaders to incorporate the rights of Indigenous peoples in the final Global Biodiversity Framework negotiated at COP15.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e5722b7d-gp1t8vai_pressmedia-1024x683.jpg\" title=\"Press conference: Global Indigenous Leaders Gather in Montreal during COP15\" alt=\"Press conference: Global Indigenous Leaders Gather in Montreal during COP15\" class=\"wp-image-57627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e5722b7d-gp1t8vai_pressmedia-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e5722b7d-gp1t8vai_pressmedia-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e5722b7d-gp1t8vai_pressmedia-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e5722b7d-gp1t8vai_pressmedia-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e5722b7d-gp1t8vai_pressmedia-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e5722b7d-gp1t8vai_pressmedia-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At a press conference in Montreal\u2019s Hotel10 during COP15, global Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Indonesia gathered to call for nature protection that centres Indigenous rights and shifts power from industry to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Toma Iczkovits \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>On 9 December, Orpha delivered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/CmJ-g0HgqXb\/\">a poignant testimony<\/a> during the press conference organised in the first days of negotiations. Along with Indigenous Leaders from the Brazil, Canada, and the Congo Basin, the panel denounced their exclusion from UN negotiating rooms and reminded&nbsp; leaders about the importance of centering Indigenous rights in all discussions surrounding land use.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The first ever Nature COP march was Indigenous-led<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e985051c-gp1t909h_pressmedia-1024x682.jpg\" title=\"Great March led by Indigenous leaders for Biodiversity and Human Rights during COP15 in Montreal\" alt=\"Great March led by Indigenous leaders for Biodiversity and Human Rights during COP15 in Montreal\" class=\"wp-image-57633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e985051c-gp1t909h_pressmedia-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e985051c-gp1t909h_pressmedia-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e985051c-gp1t909h_pressmedia-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e985051c-gp1t909h_pressmedia-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e985051c-gp1t909h_pressmedia-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/e985051c-gp1t909h_pressmedia-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">On December 10th, hundreds of Quebec and international civil society organizations led by Indigenous delegations sent a powerful signal to countries that are currently gathered in Montreal for COP15 to negotiate the next Global Biodiversity Framework.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Toma Iczkovits<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>On 10 December, over 3500 people took to the streets of Montreal in defense of Indigenous Rights and nature protection at the FIRST EVER biodiversity COP march.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Leading the march? Indigenous Peoples\u2014and especially Indigenous women.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cNo one knows better than us the value of our forest and no one knows better how to protect it,\u201d said Orpha Novita Yoshua, who helped lead the march.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/1c6b1897-tomaiczkovits-10122022-icz_2936-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57775\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/1c6b1897-tomaiczkovits-10122022-icz_2936-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/1c6b1897-tomaiczkovits-10122022-icz_2936-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/1c6b1897-tomaiczkovits-10122022-icz_2936-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/1c6b1897-tomaiczkovits-10122022-icz_2936-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/1c6b1897-tomaiczkovits-10122022-icz_2936-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/1c6b1897-tomaiczkovits-10122022-icz_2936-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jo\u00e0o Victor Pankararu, representing Indigenous Youth and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB)<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Toma Iczkovits \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Jo\u00e0o Victor Pankararu, representing Indigenous Youth and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), took part in the march where he gave a vibrant address to the crowd: \u201c<strong>We do fight for a planet in which we all can live. And not only us, but also future generations.<\/strong> We want all governments, all global leaders to support and join efforts to sustain human life. It\u2019s not only technology that can save the planet, but also our traditional knowledge, which is the foundation of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Both on the ground and from far away, Indigenous Leaders made their voices heard<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/9159e49d-dsc_3058-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57777\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/9159e49d-dsc_3058-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/9159e49d-dsc_3058-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/9159e49d-dsc_3058-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/9159e49d-dsc_3058-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/9159e49d-dsc_3058-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2022\/12\/9159e49d-dsc_3058-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Valentin Engobo, leader of the Congolese Lokolama community \u00a9 Marie-Jos\u00e9e B\u00e9liveau\/Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Delegate Valentin Engobo, leader of the Congolese Lokolama community who protects the world&#8217;s largest peatland, had to miss nine of the 13 days of COP15 due to delays in obtaining his visa, leaving very little time to express the views of his People on how to protect biodiversity in person.<\/p>\n\n<p>Despite his physical absence from COP15 the first week, he was able to participate in the Indigenous Leaders press conference virtually, in addition to doing interviews with journalists from a distance: \u201cThe organizers have taken our rights into account and I thank them, but we are concerned that afterwards they will slip away and continue with business as usual.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>No nature protection without Indigenous Peoples<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>Now the hard work begins to ensure that the new commitments become a reality. This COP15 must be a turning point toward a healthier relationship of reciprocity and respect for the people who are best able to protect biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Agn\u00e8s Le Rouzic is a Digital Consultant with Greenpeace Canada<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At COP15, Indigenous Peoples made their voices heard and showed the impact people power can have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":57747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[84],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-57771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-forests","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57771"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76633,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57771\/revisions\/76633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57771"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=57771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}