Climate summit sees its first major protest
BELEM: Thousands of people marched through the streets of Belem on Saturday to press for action from negotiators holding tough talks at the UN’s COP30 climate conference in the Amazonian city.
Under a baking sun, Indigenous people and activists gathered in a festive atmosphere, blasting music from speakers, carrying a giant Earth ball, and holding a flag of Brazil emblazoned with the words “Protected Amazon”.
It was the first major protest outside the annual climate talks since COP26 four years ago in Glasgow, as the last three gatherings were held in locations with little tolerance for demonstrations — Egypt, Dubai, and Azerbaijan.
Branded the “Great People’s March” by organisers, the Belem rally comes at the halfway point of contentious negotiations and follows two Indigenous-led protests that disrupted proceedings earlier in the week.
“Today we are witnessing a massacre as our forest is being destroyed,” Benedito Huni Kuin, a 50-year-old member of the Huni Kuin Indigenous group from western Brazil, said.
“We want to make our voices heard from the Amazon and demand results,” he said. “We need more Indigenous representatives at COP to defend our rights.” Tyrone Scott, a 31-year-old Briton from the anti-poverty group War on Want, said it was an “Indigenous-led, movement-led, people-powered march”.
“It’s just really exciting and a little bit of a nice antidote to the staleness and sterileness of the inside of the COP,” Scott said.
Their demands include “reparations” for damage caused by corporations and governments, especially to marginalised communities.
Some also held a giant Palestinian flag and a “free Palestine” banner. One protester on stilts dressed as Uncle Sam denounced “imperialism”. After a 4.5-kilometre (2.8-mile) march through the city, the demonstration was due to stop a few blocks from the COP30 venue, where authorities have deployed soldiers to protect the site.
On Tuesday, Indigenous protesters forced their way into the Parque da Cidade — the COP30 compound built on the site of a former airport — clashing with security personnel, some of whom sustained minor injuries.
Then on Friday, dozens of Indigenous protesters blocked the entrance for roughly two hours to spotlight their struggles in the Amazon, prompting high-level interventions to defuse the situation.
Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2025
