While international governments and negotiators meet eight kilometers away at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), the official venue for COP30, thousands of indigenous peoples, quilomboras, riverine peoples and other traditional communities have come together in the so-called People’s Summit, bringing the voices of the excluded to the climate crisis. These people are both victims of extreme events and advocates for solutions to combat climate change. The event, which will run parallel to the United Nations conference, will be held again after three forced absences due to bans in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, the headquarters of the previous conference.
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The opening ceremony, held late Wednesday afternoon (12th), included a show, book launch, debate and the official announcement of the summit on stage, as campaigners shouted slogans. For the indigenous peoples, who accounted for the most weight, the main issue was land demarcation.
— We are here to defend our territory. The answer is us. Only ancestral knowledge can stop the climate crisis, said indigenous leader Takak Sikrin.
Another attraction at the opening was an artistic procession organized by Auto do Scilio, UFPA and Alianza Potencia Energetica, with a rendition of the passing of the Boina, a giant snake emerging from the riverbed. Boina is a popular Amazonian legend, representing the opening of roads and good energy. Up ahead came people dressed as jaguars, the guardians of the forest.
The People’s Summit was created in 1992 during Rio 92 and became the basis of the COP. In the Belem version, at least 7,000 people are expected to occupy UFPA’s Guama campus, where several tents, stages and spaces have been set up for debates, conferences and art shows, as well as temporary accommodation.
The UFPA campus was thus occupied by a collection of social and cultural movements, demands, proposals, and meetings. It was possible to find indigenous people speaking to quilombolas, watch discussions among people affected by the dam, observe student protests, and consume products sold by the Landless People’s Movement. A harvest of people united in a common purpose: to defend their territory and contribute to the salvation of the planet.
About 5,000 people arrived at UFPA on Wednesday morning in a group of 200 boats in Guajara Bay. Among this movement were, for example, ships that came from Mato Grosso.
The People’s Summit brings together specific topics from various groups, but selects a number of priority demands, including global climate justice, human rights protection, energy transition, and valorization of agroecology.
In addition to social movements, there are also federal agencies. One is Fiocruz, who is participating in COP30 and the People’s Summit mainly from the perspective of the impact of climate change on health. The Foundation has, for example, engaged in discussions and programs on biodiversity loss, pollution, pesticide use and mercury exposure.
— This agenda has fundamental value because there is no longer a way to deliver health care and organize SUS without considering climate change. The dialogue we built had a strong impact on the organization of social movements in neighborhoods, on the outskirts of cities, in fields, forests, and waters. Everything affects your health. Global warming, extreme events, food shortages, and lack of public policy lead to a decline in quality of life. said Guilherme Franco Netto, Health and Environment Coordinator at Fiocruz Deputy Director for Environment, Care and Health Promotion.
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The Brazilian Indigenous Council (Apib) estimates that more than 2,500 indigenous and other leaders in Belém are demanding greater representation in negotiations and the inclusion of land demarcation in climate policy.
More than 300 people, including Kayapo, Panara, Tupinamba, Arapiun, Munduruku, Borari, Mula, representatives of other ethnic groups from the Cerrado and the Amazon, family farmers, quilombolas, and popular messengers, arrived in Belém on a boat called the Caravan of Response, which departed from Baixo Tapajós, a region surrounded by ports and waterways.
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