Belem, Brazil: Thousands of people filled the streets of Belem, demanding that Indigenous voices and environmental defenders take centre stage at the COP30 climate summit.
The colourful march, the first major protest outside this year’s conference, blended traditional chants with drumbeats as demonstrators carried a giant Earth-shaped beach ball and a Brazilian flag marked with the words Protected Amazon.
Indigenous groups marched alongside youth activists and environmental organisations, forming the Great People’s March. The rally unfolded at a critical moment, marking the halfway point of negotiations that have been tense and slow-moving since the summit opened earlier this week.
The call for stronger action has intensified after Indigenous activists briefly disrupted the conference days earlier, urging President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to deliver concrete measures to protect their territories. Their concerns echo a recent warning from Amnesty International, which said billions of people worldwide are at risk from expanding fossil fuel projects such as pipelines, drilling, and coal mining. Indigenous communities, the rights group noted, remain on the front lines of these developments.
The demonstrations come against the backdrop of stark findings from the United Nations. A recent UN report warned that the world is on track to surpass the 1.5 °C threshold of global warming within the next decade, even if countries meet their existing climate pledges.
Current commitments put the planet on a path toward 2.3 to 2.5 °C of warming by the end of the century. UNEP chief Inger Andersen cautioned that progress so far remains far too slow and that unprecedented emissions cuts are needed within an increasingly narrow window.
Despite the urgency, analysts and many participants say they do not expect major breakthroughs at COP30, which concludes on November 21. Still, there is hope that negotiators can advance long-standing promises, including support to help vulnerable countries adapt to intensifying climate impacts.
