On 30 September, the United Nations held a summit calling for 'urgent action on biodiversity for sustainable development'. The forum, which was convened by the President of the General Assembly, brought together heads of state and other leaders to discuss the global biodiversity framework after 2020, which is expected to be adopted at the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2021.
One of the speakers addressing the opening of this summit was Archana Soreng, an indigenous activist and researcher from the Khadia adivasi community in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. She is one of the seven members of the UN Secretary General's Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.
The importance of indigenous knowledge for the protection of biodiversity has long been recognised in international reports and academic articles. According to data from 2011, indigenous communities from India, known as adivasis (literally translated from Hindi as the first or original inhabitants), are the world's largest population of indigenous people, constituting 8.6% of the country's total population (more than 100 million people). Despite this, Soreng was the only voice representing indigenous communities from India at the summit.
