Young Indigenous leaders from six continents gathered at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to confront climate change, land rights violations, and government inaction.
Taylar Dawn Stagner reports for Grist.
In short:
- Indigenous youth from Greenland to Ghana highlighted the urgent threats facing their communities, including climate change, deforestation, and political disenfranchisement, at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
- Several participants, including leaders from Ukraine, Bangladesh, and Canada, described how systemic racism, armed conflict, and state-sponsored discrimination continue to endanger Indigenous rights and survival.
- Despite facing reduced international support, especially from the United States under the Trump administration, these young activists remain committed to advocating for their cultures, lands, and futures.
Key quote:
“No matter what happens we will stand, and we will fight, and we will keep pushing for solutions.”
— Joshua Amponsem, founder of Green Africa Youth Organization
Why this matters:
Indigenous peoples protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, but they often have the least political power to defend their lands and ways of life. As climate change accelerates and industrial pressures grow, Indigenous youth are stepping forward to protect not just their communities but ecosystems critical to global health. Their activism exposes a growing gap between international promises and on-the-ground realities: Many governments, while endorsing Indigenous rights at the UN, undermine them at home through land grabs, resource extraction, and discriminatory laws. In the Amazon, Greenland, Ukraine, and beyond, Indigenous youth are living through twin crises of climate change and political marginalization, often risking personal safety to demand basic rights.
