Extractive Industries and the Just Transition: Why No-Go Zones Should Be Established to Uphold Justice for Indigenous Peoples and Ecological Integrity in the Global Transition (COP30)

The global rush for transition minerals like lithium, nickel and copper risks repeating extractive patterns that have long dispossessed Indigenous Peoples and damaged ecosystems. Many of these resources are found on or near Indigenous territories, where rights violations and environmental degradation are already occurring.

This COP30 side event will explore why establishing No-Go Zones for extractive industries, in Indigenous Peoples’ lands, waters and key biodiversity areas, is critical to ensuring the energy transition upholds human rights and ecological integrity. Speakers will discuss legal and policy foundations for No-Go Zones and how they can be integrated into the Just Transition Work Programme and national transition strategies.

Speakers

• Bryan Bixcul (Maya-Tz’utujil) – Global Coordinator, SIRGE Coalition

• Fany Kuiro-COICA (Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin)

• Angela Kaxuyana – COIAB, Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon and Indigenous representative to the Amazon Mechanism of Indigenous Peoples under the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).

• Blanche Piponiot – Representative of GTI PIACI (International Working Group for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact).

• Helena Gualinga – From Sarayaku (Kichwa community). Helena comes from a long line of strong women activists and continues her family’s legacy of defending nature and Indigenous rights in the Amazon. She is co-founder of Polluters Out and leads a global coalition of youth demanding the removal of fossil fuels from Indigenous lands, governments, and international policy spaces.

• Auriga – Works with the MapBiomass network on geospatial advocacy. They collaborate with local NGOs and communities on the ground, particularly in Indonesia, while maintaining a global perspective.

• Moderator: Camilo León, Ford Foundation.