Governments and corporations often present new oil fields as promises of development and improved quality of life for local populations — even as a means to fund energy transitions.
But as the planet faces a growing climate crisis, scientists, the United Nations (UN), and traditional knowledge holders continue to warn about the impacts of fossil fuel use. Yet in some areas, the industry continues to expand, including in the Amazon region, which is now considered a new frontier for oil exploration.
Since 2022, 25% of the world’s new oil reserves have been identified in the Amazon — equivalent to 5.3 billion barrels. Many are located within Indigenous or traditional territories, threatening both their ways of life and the planet’s future.
Risk Versus Reward
Oil and gas extraction zones have the potential to cause incredible damage to the surrounding environment, especially when they are located in sensitive areas like the Amazon rainforest — one of our last, best natural defenses in the fight against the climate crisis.
In March, a leaking pipeline in Ecuador contaminated five rivers, affecting water for half a million people. In 2019, an oil tanker leaking along Brazil’s northeast coast caused irreversible damage to mangrove ecosystems, which are rich in biodiversity and among the most efficient carbon sinks in the tropics. Oil exploration at the Amazon River mouth now poses a similar threat to a megabiodiverse region filled with mangroves, alongside the Indigenous Peoples and communities who live in and protect these ecosystems.
In Brazil, the staggering sums generated by oil are scarcely directed toward meaningful societal or environmental progress. In 2024, only 0.16% of national oil revenue was allocated to climate and environmental initiatives. What’s more, oil wealth remains highly concentrated in just a handful of municipalities, deepening regional inequalities. Due to an ongoing legal dispute over the distribution of royalties, a significant portion of this revenue cannot be invested in critical public services like health and education, exposing how this supposedly transformative income fails to support genuine, inclusive development.
In June 2025, 172 oil and gas blocks went up for auction in Brazil, the host country of the UN’s 2025 climate conference, COP30. Forty-seven of those were in the Amazon River mouth basin, an area half the size of Belgium and home to Belém, the host city for COP30. Nineteen blocks were sold.
Rejecting the auction, which failed to obtain free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous Peoples, the Council of Chiefs of Oiapoque — representing 36 villages and over 5,000 Indigenous people — sent a letter to federal and state governments saying no to oil. FPIC is a consultation protocol required before any major development project can take place in Indigenous or local community territories, and is mandatory for countries that are signatories to ILO Convention 169 — which includes Brazil.
In Silves, in the state of Amazonas, the Mura people also protested during the auction at the Azulão field, operated by Eneva, standing in solidarity with the Oiapoque. Since 2020, they’ve resisted gas extraction in the Azulão Complex and, in May 2025, a federal court ordered the immediate suspension of extraction activities in wells overlapping their Indigenous lands. As Chief Jonas Mura said in an interview after the protest: “Bringing that rotten, polluting mass from the depths is bringing everything bad into our territories. The Amazon must be free of oil and gas!”
Indigenous Resistance Against Oil
But this scenario is not new — nor should it disempower us. Resistance to the oil industry has been happening for decades and Indigenous Peoples have won key victories.
At this year’s Free Earth Camp (ATL), Brazil’s largest annual Indigenous mobilization, the manifesto “We Are the Answer” was launched. Indigenous leaders made it clear: “Fossil fuel exploitation directly impacts our Indigenous peoples, Quilombola communities, traditional populations, and Mother Earth herself. The answer to the climate crisis requires a just and sustainable energy transition.”
Organized by the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the ATL takes place every April and has now reached its 20th edition, gathering hundreds of Peoples from Brazil and across the Pan-Amazon region. There, forest guardians brought their territorial demands to the Brazilian government, the COP30 presidency, and the international community.
In Ecuador, the Waorani people are actively mobilizing to protect their territory and end oil extraction in Yasuní National Park. In August 2024, they held an International Summit demanding that the results of the national referendum be respected — where 58.95% of Ecuadorians voted to stop oil drilling in Yasuní, home to the Waorani, Tagaeri, and Taromenane peoples, the latter living in voluntary isolation. They also demand full reparations for the environmental, territorial, and spiritual damages suffered. They created the Wao Yasuní platform to directly fund their protection efforts and have taken their proposals to the UN Biodiversity Convention and other global governance forums.
Territorial Resistance Is Global Climate Action
Long before occupying seats in climate governance, Indigenous peoples were already warning about the dangers of extractivism. Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa leader of Sarayaku land in Ecuador, told Global Citizen:
“The vision of Indigenous peoples was to maintain balance and preserve. In that context, we decided that there would be no extractive activity in our territory: oil companies will never enter, mining companies will never enter, and they will not destroy our space. It’s not madness that Indigenous peoples have opposed extraction; they opposed it because it meant destruction. And not just destruction of territory, but destruction of the planet, destruction of life.”
In the 2000s, the Sarayaku blocked the installation of the Argentine oil company CGC, which had received a concession covering 65% of their territory. In 2012, they won a landmark case against the Ecuadorian state, who were found to have not followed the free, prior, and informed consent rule.
What we can learn from these peoples is a powerful call to action. Patricia Gualinga further reminds us: “I say: my people are 1,350 strong. If one [group of] people could make a difference and managed to inspire, what can’t you all do? It’s just a matter of daring, if not staying in your comfort zone, of not saying 'what could I do? I’m just an ordinary person.' I believe we all can. And it’s everyone’s responsibility.” Her words are a powerful reminder that local and community-led actions — rooted in care for the Earth and life — can scale up to drive global transformation.
Fossil-Free Blueprints for the Future
In Ecuador, the Waorani people offer a concrete alternative to fossil fuel extraction through their Action Plan for Yasuní. It includes dismantling oil infrastructure, restoring damaged ecosystems, training youth, and managing the Wao Yasuní platform — a direct funding mechanism for territorial protection, free of intermediaries. The plan reflects a post-extractive model rooted in Indigenous governance, biodiversity conservation, and climate justice.
Likewise, the Kichwa people of Sarayaku have put forward ”Kawsak Sacha”, the Living Forest, a visionary proposal that calls for national and international recognition of their territory as a sacred zone, free from oil, mining, and logging. It reimagines development through ancestral wisdom, where the forest is a living being and source of life.
In Brazil, initiatives like the Podálli Fund show that Indigenous-led, self-managed financing is already strengthening territorial protection. Together, these strategies point to viable, climate-resilient alternatives led by those who have always defended the forest.
Predatory development, like oil extraction, comes cloaked in false promises that are rarely fulfilled. It also carries the risk of accidents that can cause immense damage to fragile ecosystems and impair livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Amazonian Indigenous peoples, grounded in ancestral wisdom, have stood as forest guardians and planetary defenders by resisting these destructive activities and proposing real alternatives. In protecting their territories and ways of life, these leaders are also safeguarding our collective future.
How You Can Help
You can help protect the Amazon and support the forest guardians who are courageously defending their ancestral lands against oil and gas exploitation. Join Global Citizen’s Protect the Amazon campaign as we build momentum ahead of COP30 in Brazil, and stand in solidarity with Amazonian communities on the frontlines. Take action today and download the Global Citizen app to raise your voice, stay informed, and join a global movement demanding climate justice and Indigenous rights.