As COP17 Opens, Daria and Natalia Are Missing from the Conversation

The UN Biodiversity Conference opens in Yerevan on 19 October. In November, the world will gather again for the COP31 climate talks in Antalya. Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt, whose work helped Indigenous voices reach international forums, remain in detention in Russia.

Their contribution went beyond attending conferences. As Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change, Daria helped coordinate Indigenous participation in climate negotiations, including at COP30. She also contributed to the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Natalia helped make participation possible through the practical arrangements that enabled Indigenous rights defenders to join multilateral processes.

This work matters to the conferences themselves. Climate and biodiversity negotiations need the knowledge and experience of peoples whose lands, livelihoods and cultures are directly affected by their decisions. Meaningful participation depends both on those who speak and on those who help them reach the negotiating table.

This year, Daria and Natalia cannot be there. Their absence is a loss to their communities and to the international conversations they helped sustain.

Behind every intervention at a COP are months of preparation: discussions with communities, coordination of shared positions, and arrangements for travel and meetings. Daria and Natalia were part of this everyday, often unseen work. They helped turn the right to participate into a real opportunity to be heard.

Today, their colleagues continue that work without them. Their absence cannot be treated as simply two missing delegates. While international conferences discuss the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, people who helped make that participation possible are deprived of their freedom.

As delegates gather in Yerevan and prepare for COP31, we call on them to remember both women and support their immediate and unconditional release. Protecting nature must also mean protecting the people who defend it.

Their voices must be heard at these meetings. Their names must be spoken. Daria and Natalia must be free.