Indigenous peoples win a UN agreement to negotiate a global protocol against environmental crime

At the UN biodiversity conference, governments agreed to negotiate a new global protocol against environmental crime — a historic win championed by Brazil and presented alongside Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Mauritania, Panama, Peru, São Tomé and Príncipe and Uruguay, with Indigenous delegations pressing the case in the room. Illegal gold mining, logging and trafficking networks are tearing at the Amazon and other ecosystems; a dedicated protocol would give the world a shared legal tool against them. Indigenous Inga leader Brayan Mojanasinsoy of Colombia put the condition plainly: 'Without us, there can be no security in the Amazon.'

SDG 16 · Peace, justice and strong institutions — Mechanism: policy reform