by Instituto Alana & Geledés –Instituto da Mulher Negra
At COP16 in Cali, Decision 16/6 recognized people of African descent in connection with the Article 8(j), alongside Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Its meaning now depends on what follows: territorial protection, direct funding and real influence over decisions affecting their ways of life and the intergenerational knowledge that keeps nature standing.(1)
This agenda requires environmental justice that addresses the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, territory and age. Children, especially girls and Indigenous, Afro-descendant, Quilombola and peripheral children, are among the most exposed to environmental risks and unequal access to nature yet are rarely recognized as rights-holders in biodiversity decisions.(2)
At COP17, recognition must become access, resources and rights. Implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework requires meaningful intergenerational participation, confronting environmental racism and bringing to the table those whose solutions sustain biodiversity today and those who will inherit the future we shape. Decision 16/6 must be defended within Article 8(j), embracing, in all their diversity, the more than 200 million people of African descent worldwide.
Conserving biodiversity with justice means protecting territories, valuing those who care for them, investing in ancestral knowledge and nature-based education, and guaranteeing the right to live and learn with nature.
Sources:
(1) Sushma Shrestha Sangat et al., "Afro-descendant lands in South America contribute to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation", Communications Earth & Environment 6, 458 (2025)
(2) INSTITUTO ALANA. COP for Children. [s.d.]. DisponÃvel em: https://linktr.ee/copforchildren