Cambodian Indigenous Leaders to Challenge Disinformation at COP30 Climate Summit

Indigenous communities from Cambodia’s forested regions will make a powerful statement at the upcoming COP30 climate conference in Brazil, where they plan to challenge widespread disinformation and advocate for their rights as forest guardians.

Leading this important delegation is Sros Uorn, an indigenous woman from Mondulkiri province who serves as the president of the Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Alliance (CIPA). The group represents approximately 24 indigenous communities across Cambodia who have maintained deep, generational connections to the country’s forests.

“We’re going to COP30 to ensure indigenous voices are heard,” Uorn said in a recent interview. “For generations, our communities have protected these forests, but now we face unprecedented threats from industrial development and climate change itself.”

The delegation aims to counter what they describe as dangerous misconceptions about indigenous land management practices. Government officials and development agencies have occasionally characterized traditional rotational farming methods as harmful to forests, despite growing scientific evidence supporting the sustainability of these ancestral approaches.

Cambodia’s indigenous communities, representing roughly 1.5 percent of the national population, have historically lived in harmony with some of the country’s most biodiverse regions. Their traditional knowledge systems include sophisticated forest management techniques that have maintained ecological balance for centuries.

However, these communities now face multiple challenges. Large-scale economic land concessions have resulted in significant forest loss throughout Cambodia’s northern and northeastern provinces. According to Global Forest Watch data, Cambodia lost approximately 557,000 hectares of primary forest between 2002 and 2022, representing a staggering 30 percent reduction.

“When they take our forests, they take our identity,” explained Phalla Chhin, an indigenous rights advocate joining the delegation. “Our spiritual practices, our food systems, our entire way of life depends on these ecosystems.”

The COP30 delegation will specifically highlight how indigenous communities function as essential climate defenders. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that indigenous-managed territories typically show lower deforestation rates than government-protected areas across Southeast Asia.

“We’re not opposed to development,” Uorn clarified. “But development must respect indigenous rights and traditional knowledge. Any climate solution that excludes indigenous communities is bound to fail.”

The delegation’s participation comes at a critical moment for Cambodia’s environmental governance. The country has recently strengthened its climate commitments, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Indigenous leaders argue that recognizing and supporting their land rights must be central to these climate strategies.

“You cannot separate forest protection from indigenous rights,” said Chanthy Soum, another member of the delegation. “When our communities receive legal land titles and support for traditional practices, the forests thrive.”

The Cambodian government has made some progress in recognizing indigenous land claims through communal land titling processes, but implementation has been slow and complex. Only 33 indigenous communities have received official titles since the process began in 2009, while hundreds remain in bureaucratic limbo.

At COP30, the delegation will join indigenous representatives from across the Global South to advocate for the implementation of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform established under the Paris Agreement. They will also demand direct access to climate finance mechanisms that can support community-led forest protection initiatives.

“We don’t want to just be consulted – we want to lead these conservation efforts,” Uorn emphasized. “Our communities have the knowledge and commitment to protect these ecosystems, but we need secure land rights and resources to continue this work.”

The delegation faces an uphill battle at COP30, where indigenous perspectives have historically been marginalized in formal negotiations. However, growing recognition of indigenous contributions to biodiversity conservation may provide new opportunities for their voices to influence global climate policies.

“We’re not going to Brazil simply to share our problems,” Uorn concluded. “We’re going to share solutions that have worked for generations and could help address the climate crisis if properly supported and scaled.”