When Indigenous groups converged at the entrance of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) summit in Belém, Brazil, halting the flow of delegates, it became clear that this was not just a brief interruption.
It was a stark reminder that the global climate agenda cannot progress without addressing the political and ecological struggles endured by frontline communities already living through climate shocks.
Their calls for secure territories, an end to destructive extraction, forest protection and a fair energy transition underscored a truth often missing from scientific briefings and diplomatic statements: The climate crisis is rooted not only in emissions, but in long-standing injustices over land, decision-making power and resource control.
That powerful scene in Brazil found a strong echo far beyond the Amazon, reaching Sri Lanka, where earlier this year, the third Nyéléni Global Forum for Food Sovereignty (Nyéléni 2025) brought together more than a thousand farmers, Indigenous people, fisherfolk, pastoralists, agricultural workers and climate‑justice activists from across the globe.
Though not as high‑profile as a UN climate summit, the forum produced one of the most comprehensive grassroots declarations on food and climate sovereignty in recent times, articulating many of the same demands voiced by Indigenous protesters outside the COP30 fence.
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To us, the land is not a commodity. We were born to it; this is my people’s land. We consider ourselves as traditional custodians of forests, biodiversity, medicinal plants and wildlife; far better stewards than external authorities who treat the jungle as a commodity and violate the ecosystems and natural resources.
Suda Wannila Aththo, chief, Indigenous Vedda community
An alternate gathering
At Nyéléni in Sri Lanka, Chintaka Rajapakse of the Movement for the Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) described how small‑scale farmers and rural communities are increasingly pushed into vulnerability by rising production costs, insecure land tenure and unfair market pressures. He cautioned that large‑scale, export‑oriented and corporate‑driven agricultural projects, including developments on farmland and reservoir areas, are dispossessing farmers, eroding ecological balance and undermining food sovereignty.
Rajapakse highlighted the plight of marginalised groups such as Indigenous communities, hill‑country farmers loaded with debt or facing displacement. He called for a shift toward agroecology, people-centred land rights and global discourse that values community control over resources rather than corporate or state dominance.
The Nyéléni Forum draws its name from a legendary Malian woman, celebrated for her devotion to feeding her community, that symbolises the forum’s core mission of defending food sovereignty, land rights and the fundamental human right to culturally appropriate, healthy food. Unlike high-level climate conferences dominated by governments and corporate interests, Nyéléni places in front and centre those who live directly from the land, forests, coasts and seas — the people whose very survival depends on ecosystems.
Overlapping crises
This third edition of the Nyéléni Forum was convened at a critical time as the world faces overlapping crises, climate breakdown, ecological destruction, corporate land-grabs and deepening inequality. According to the forum’s official plan, delegates came to chart a global, bottom-up alternative to the prevailing model of industrial agriculture, extractivism and commodification of nature, Rajapakse said.
For many Sri Lankan participants, the climate crisis is now not a looming threat. It is already reshaping lives, as evidenced by the devastating effects of Cyclone Ditwah that caused unprecedented havoc across the island, converting 22 out of 25 districts into disaster zones.
But it goes beyond extreme weather events as small‑scale rice farmers in drought-prone dry zones frequently struggle with erratic rains; coastal fishing communities confront dwindling fish stocks and increasingly violent seas; and estate and rural women bear rising burdens of food insecurity.
Herman Kumara, a longtime activist, national convenor of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) and representative of small-scale fishers and coastal communities, utilised the global gathering in central Sri Lanka to highlight the pressing challenges faced by fisherfolk and small-scale food producers under current global and national economic and “blue economy” policies.
Attendees emphasised the need for an alternate pathway for the world and called for a new program action, resulting in an ambitious and collective way forward, the “Kandy Declaration.”
Kandy Declaration
The declaration has denounced corporate‑driven mining, monoculture, extractive operations and large-scale land, ocean and resource grabs facilitated by complicit governments and global funding institutions — practices that displace communities, degrade ecosystems and fuel pollution.
The Kandy Declaration also called for full respect and implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Declaration on peasant and rural workers’ rights, UNDROP, which are little-known frameworks still unfamiliar to many, including Sri Lanka.
Suda Wannila Aththo, chief of the island’s Indigenous Vedda community from the Danigala and Rathugala communities, echoed the demands and called for urgent action to restore land and cultural rights of Indigenous communities as a global priority.
The tribal chief stressed that their ancestors lived in the forests, sustainably hunting and gathering food but were displaced when forests became “protected areas.” “We lost our rights to use forest resources,” he said, warning that outside actors now exploit and degrade the forests, destroying resources that had sustained the people for generations.
“To us, the land is not a commodity. We were born to it; this is my people’s land. We consider ourselves as traditional custodians of forests, biodiversity, medicinal plants and wildlife; far better stewards than external authorities who treat the jungle as a commodity and violate the ecosystems and natural resources,” the Vedda chief noted.
Land not a commodity
Central to the forum’s vision is agroecology, an approach to farming that applies ecological principles like biodiversity, healthy soils and natural resource cycling, while valuing local knowledge and farmer-led innovation, according to the Kandy Declaration.
Agroecology is able to reduce dependence on costly external inputs and build resilience against climate change. It can empower communities to control their own seeds, land and markets, preserve traditional food cultures and support environmentally sustainable, community-rooted food systems.
“By shifting power from corporations to people and restoring ecological balance, agroecology provides the foundation for truly democratic, resilient food production,” Rajapakse explained.
In Sri Lanka, many traditional practices continue to exist but are rarely recognised by national climate strategies that privilege export-oriented agriculture and large-scale development. Hosting the forum was therefore a powerful moment for Sri Lanka to emerge as a regional hub for climate justice, agroecology, biodiversity protection and rights-based food systems, he added.
The alignment between COP30 protesters in Brazil and delegates at Nyéléni in Kandy highlights a shared global demand: a shift away from top-down climate governance, market-driven “solutions” and greenwashing, toward community-led transitions rooted in territorial rights, food sovereignty, ecological stewardship and social justice.
From Belém to Kandy, frontline voices are now demanding a climate and food future shaped by those who live on the land, defend it and understand it intimately — not by policymakers, corporations or distant institutions.
This story was published with permission from Mongabay.com.
