This month, the United Nations published a landmark report that I had the honour of co-authoring: The Indigenous Knowledge and Local Knowledge Dialogues, part of the Global Environment Outlook 7 (GEO-7). More than a report, it carries a powerful new document: the 2025 Statement of Indigenous Peoples, born out of rigorous and passionate negotiation on the UN floor.
The Global Environment Outlook 7 (GEO-7) report marks a historic shift in global environmental governance by formally recognising the leadership, knowledge systems, and rights of First Nations peoples worldwide.
For the first time, Indigenous peoples co-authored a dedicated chapter—Indigenous and Local Knowledge and the Statement of Indigenous Peoples (2025)—signalling an institutional breakthrough at the United Nations. This inclusion affirms that Indigenous knowledge is not supplementary but essential to achieving global sustainability and justice. It empowers First Nations communities to shape environmental policy on their terms, grounded in land-based ethics, sovereignty, and custodianship.
GEO-7 sets a precedent for embedding Indigenous worldviews in international decision-making and accountability frameworks, challenging dominant colonial models of development and offering a pathway toward co-determined futures.
As the elected Co-Chair of the Indigenous caucus, I led the development of this Statement across three intense and beautiful days. It was the result of collective debate, shared purpose, and deep trust among delegates representing First Nations from around the world. There were disagreements—yes, strong ones. There were different perspectives on critical issues. And yet, what drove every conversation was joy. Joy in purpose. Joy in responsibility. Joy in the sheer privilege of being entrusted to write something for all our peoples.
I saw it as my responsibility to ensure the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not just present but heard clearly. I made sure the Uluru Statement from the Heart (2017) and its vision for a Makarrata Commission were given international endorsement. We achieved that. And in doing so, I also listened—deeply—to statements of truth and justice from every corner of the globe. I realised our stories are different but not separate. We are united not only in the wrongs we've suffered but in the values we carry forward.
Our Statement contains nine articles. Each one charts a path toward healing from centuries of injustice. But rather than only recount what was done to us, we asked ourselves: What do we want to stand for, together?
I offered three words to guide us: Lands, Peoples, and Cultures. I insisted land must come first. For many of us, land is our first law, our only creator. It existed before us. It will outlast us—unless we destroy it. Overusing land is not an act of survival; it is an act of betrayal. And to live in disharmony with the land is to live in violation of the very welcome it offers us. Our very sodality as Indigenous communities relies on the land and its resources.
The Statement affirms that we must lead not just with political will but with purpose and love. Love for the land, for our ancestors, for future generations. For me, that love is expressed through Voice, Treaty, and Truth—principles struggled for at home in Australia and now shared with the world.
This Statement is not a conclusion. It is an invitation. To listen. To act. To imagine a world governed not by domination or extraction, but by kinship and care. The task ahead is not just diplomatic; it is existential. And I intend to keep defending this Statement until its words become lived reality.
Jesse J. Fleay is a Noongar writer and research specialist across major policy areas. His doctoral thesis explores a model for an Australian republic, along with calls to enact a Voice to Parliament for First Nations Australians.
