‘COP30 is coming. It’s on our doorstep. We need to be there’
Interview with indigenous Brazilian leader and activist Alessandra Korap Munduruku
Earlier this year two indigenous leaders from Brazil and one from Malaysia visited London to urge the UK government to intensify its efforts to combat global deforestation in the run-up to the next United Nations climate change conference, “COP30”, to be held in the city of Belém in the Brazilian Amazon this November. After interviewing one of the Brazilians, Dinamam Tuxá, just before his meeting with UK politicians from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global Deforestation, I was also able to talk briefly with the other Brazilian, Alessandra Korap Munduruku.
In 2023 Alessandra won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her successful campaign leading to the British company Anglo American cancelling a number of mining applications on Munduruku territory in the Brazilian Amazon. According to Goldman, that decision represented a “significant shift in private sector accountability around destructive mining in Brazil amid an intense government push for extraction in the Amazon.” Although my conversation with Alessandra was extremely short, several things in particular stood out:
On the impacts of climate change:
“We’re really suffering. Last year is an example. Our river disappeared - it just dried up. It was like a road. The fish were dying. There was also lots of fires.”
On the impacts of mercury:
“Mercury [used by gold-miners] is an enormous issue for us. We had hair samples done for everybody and 79% had mercury in them. When we’re feeding our young, our babies, we’re feeding them mercury.”
On their dependence on the land:
“We live from agriculture, so last year we were having trouble growing our crops. There wasn’t any water. If we don’t have water, we can’t grow our crops and we’ll have nothing to eat.”
On the impacts of the soy industry:
“People are always invading our territories to plant more soy - soy that is being sold in the EU. They’re cutting down the forest, spreading pesticides everywhere and poisoning the land.”
On climate finance:
“There are countries who want to fight against climate change and deforestation and so they’re sending money to the Brazilian government, but the government is in favour of deforestation and against protecting indigenous land, and it is supporting agribusiness and helping them to encroach further and further on our territories. This is a huge concern. What we need is for that money to go to protecting indigenous land and preventing deforestation.”
On COP30 and the importance of indigenous people participating:
“It’s on our doorstep, it’s in our home. The COP is coming. We’ve had 30 years and what have they managed to do for the climate? We need to be there.”