Thousands march in Brazil town hosting COP30 for climate justice

"Tens of thousands of people have thronged the streets of an Amazonian city hosting the COP30 talks, dancing to pounding speakers in the first large-scale protest at a United Nations climate summit in years. As the first week of climate negotiations limped to a close with nations deadlocked, Indigenous people and activists sang, chanted, and rolled a giant beach ball of Earth through Belem under a searing sun."

"Others held a mock funeral procession for fossil fuels, dressed in black and posing as grieving widows as they carried three coffins marked with the words coal, oil and gas. It was the first major protest outside the annual climate talks since COP26 four years ago in Glasgow, as the last three gatherings had been held in locations with little tolerance for demonstrations Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan."

"Called the Great People's March by the organisers, the Belem rally came at the halfway point of difficult negotiations and followed two Indigenous-led protests that disrupted proceedings earlier in the week. Today we are witnessing a massacre as our forest is being destroyed, said Benedito Huni Kuin, a 50-year-old member of the Huni Kuin Indigenous group from western Brazil. We want to make our voices heard from the Amazon and demand results, he added. We need more Indigenous representatives at COP to defend our rights."

Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of Belem in the first large-scale protest at a United Nations climate summit in years. Indigenous people and activists sang, chanted, rolled a giant Earth beach ball and staged a mock funeral for coal, oil and gas. The Great People's March followed earlier Indigenous-led disruptions and marched 4.5km before stopping near the COP30 venue, where soldiers secured the site. Protesters demanded fossil fuel phase-out, reparations for damages to marginalised communities, and increased Indigenous representation at COP. COP30 leadership admitted stalled negotiations and urged diplomats against time-wasting manoeuvres.

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