Facing Up to 20 Years in Prison: Russia Persecutes Indigenous Human Rights Activist and Receives Anti-Award at UN Climate Conference

While delegates in Antalya discuss the future of the world's climate, a woman who wants to protect her homeland from its destruction sits in a Moscow pretrial detention center. Russia received the "Fossil of the Day" anti-award at the UN COP31 climate conference. The international environmental network Climate Action Network used the award to recognize, in its own way, a country that imprisons people for trying to protect the land their communities depend on. Daria Egereva, 49, belongs to the Selkup people, an Indigenous community in Western Siberia. As co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on Climate Change, she represented their interests at the United Nations. In November 2025, she attended the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil. In December, after returning to Russia, she was arrested by officers of Russia's domestic intelligence agency, the FSB. At the same time, security forces searched the homes of other human rights defenders across several Russian regions.

On September 10, 2026, Moscow's Basmanny District Court extended the pretrial detention of Daria Egereva and her co-defendant Natalia Leonhardt through December 9, 2026, in a hearing closed to the public. Egereva has been detained since December 17, 2025, and no trial on the actual charges has taken place so far.

In Antalya, her colleagues read a letter she had sent from detention. Egereva wrote: "I don't see my arrest as something directed at me alone. It is my voice at the United Nations that has been put on trial, but that is our collective voice, our appeal to the 'people in suits.' Even in handcuffs, I feel your presence so strongly, as though you were standing behind me, just as you always have. I know that whatever happens next, I am not alone."

Together with human rights activist Natalia Leonhardt, Egereva is accused of participating in a terrorist organization. Both women were associated with the Aborigen Forum, an association of independent experts from Indigenous communities in northern Russia and Siberia, including the Russian Far East. They face between 10 and 20 years in prison. In June 2024, Moscow declared the association part of an alleged anti-Russian separatist movement and designated it an extremist organization. In November, it was also designated a terrorist subdivision of the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia. The defense maintains that the association dissolved after the ban and that neither woman continued participating in its activities.

Her place at the negotiating table is still hers, and it is being kept open.

Memorial recognizes Egereva as a political prisoner. Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights are demanding the release of both women. Independent UN experts fear that their cooperation with the United Nations may be the reason they are being prosecuted. Since 1999, the anti-award has been given to countries that obstruct progress in climate negotiations. Russia also received it for militarization, human rights violations, and undermining international climate goals. COP31 runs from November 9 through 20. In Antalya, people are talking about protecting the planet. In Moscow, a woman is behind bars for doing exactly that.

Lots of Talk, Little Progress: Oil-Producing Nations Protect Their Business While the Planet Keeps Getting Hotter

COP31-Cat Through the Eyes of a Turkish Cat… She had all the time in the world. The politicians were still debating whether they wanted to leave the world any time at all.

With a camera strapped to her back, a cat wandered around the COP31 venue in Antalya, Turkey, filming delegates from her perspective just above the ground as world leaders went about their summit meetings.

In Antalya, the COP31 climate summit is heading into its second and final week. Talks have been constructive so far, UN climate chief Simon Stiell insists. But there's still no agreement on the central question: How is the world supposed to end its dependence on fossil fuels? While diplomats negotiate over every word, global warming moves forward without paying the slightest attention to the rules of procedure.

On Saturday, Stiell urged negotiators to avoid tactical delays and finally tackle the toughest issues. Every country has its own point of view, and reaching an agreement requires compromise from everyone involved. Australia's president of negotiations, Chris Bowen, expects a first draft of an agreement early next week. Host country Turkey is pushing for a deal to expand electrification worldwide. Cars and heating systems are supposed to increasingly run on electricity. The catch is that the proposal doesn't require that electricity to come from renewable sources. The fossil-fuel past could end up running on electricity.

Saudi Arabia and Russia have traditionally resisted binding restrictions on fossil fuels. India opposes requirements that could limit its economic development and its freedom to choose its energy sources. Major fossil fuel producers and consumers are once again pushing back against firm new targets. The United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, is skipping the talks for the second year in a row under Donald Trump. The president calls global warming a hoax and continues to promote fossil fuels.

Saudi Arabia and Russia have traditionally resisted binding restrictions on fossil fuels. India opposes requirements that could limit its economic development and its freedom to choose its energy sources. Major fossil fuel producers and consumers are once again pushing back against firm new targets. The United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, is skipping the talks for the second year in a row under Donald Trump. The president calls global warming a hoax and continues to promote fossil fuels.