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Brazilian Indigenous Minister Sônia Guajajara on Fossil Fuel Phaseout, Bolsonaro's Conviction & More
Democracy Now • Nov 20, 2025

Brazilian Indigenous Minister Sônia Guajajara on Fossil Fuel Phaseout, Bolsonaro's Conviction & More

In a wide-ranging conversation, Brazil’s first minister of Indigenous peoples, Sônia Guajajara, spoke with Democracy Now! at the COP30 climate summit in Belém. She addressed criticisms of the Lula government in Brazil, which has championed climate action even while boosting some oil and gas exploration in the country; celebrated the strong presence of Indigenous representatives at this year’s climate talks; and stressed the need to phase out fossil fuels. Guajajara also criticized the Trump administration for pressuring Brazil to release former President Jair Bolsonaro after he was convicted of involvement in a coup attempt. Bolsonaro was an opponent of Indigenous rights, and if he is sent to prison, “we expect he will be paying for all his crimes,” including “everything he has done against us,” says Guajajara.

Climate Crisis Displaces 250 Million Over a Decade While U.S. & Other Polluting Nations Close Borders
Democracy Now • Nov 20, 2025

Climate Crisis Displaces 250 Million Over a Decade While U.S. & Other Polluting Nations Close Borders

As we broadcast from the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, calls are growing for stronger protections for refugees and migrants forcibly displaced by climate disasters. The United Nations estimates about 250 million people have been forced from their homes in the last decade due to deadly drought, storms, floods and extreme heat — mainly in the Global South, where many populations have also faced repeated displacement due to war and extreme poverty. Meanwhile, wealthier Global North nations disproportionately responsible for greenhouse emissions that fuel global warming are intensifying their crackdowns on migrants and climate refugees fleeing compounding humanitarian crises. “The main issue is always poverty, lack of opportunity, and climate change is basically exacerbating this problem,” Guatemala’s vice minister of natural resources and climate change, Edwin Josué Castellanos López, told Democracy Now! “This is not abstract,” Nikki Reisch, director of climate and energy at the Center for International Environmental Law, says of climate-induced migration. “This is about real lives. It’s about survival. It’s about human rights and dignity, and, ultimately, about justice.” Reisch also gives an update on the state of the COP30 negotiations, noting the “big-ticket items” on the agenda are providing financing for transition and adaptation, phasing out fossil fuels and preserving forests. “The big polluters need to phase out and pay up,” says Reisch.

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