COP30 already has the second highest number of participants, with a total of 56,100 participants, which has a lot to do with the mobilization of organized civil society. The past three UN conferences were held in countries under authoritarian regimes: Egypt (2022), the United Arab Emirates (2023), and Azerbaijan (2024). The meeting in the middle of Brazil’s Amazon River is therefore also a sign of the importance of democracy. Belém is carried on by the activities of organizations and social movements. Not just in official settings. Across the capital of Pará, at least 80 locations are committed to hosting initiatives related to the dramatic impacts of the climate crisis. A series of powerful investigations, reports, investigations, accusations, initiatives, demands, and demonstrations constituted a repertoire to which the diplomatic mission seemed unaccustomed.
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Hyperbole aside, even someone like me, who has followed the NGO world for many years, is impressed by the quantity and quality of events. Amnesty International has released a report on the risks of the oil production chain to the health and livelihoods of two billion people, a quarter of the world’s population. This publication, in partnership with the Better Planet Institute at the University of Colorado (USA), describes communities and ecosystems degraded by the activities of the oil, coal and fossil gas industries as ‘sacrificial zones’.
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The Smauma Institute revealed that six out of every 10 areas in the Quilombola region face land development, encroachment or illegal mining. Roughly the same proportion reported suffering from extreme drought (55%) and crop loss (43%). It’s the combination of climate and crime crises. The People’s Summit began with a powerful speech by indigenous leader Raoni Metukutile, who opposes oil exploration in Foz do Amazonas (AP), an area recently granted to Petrobras by Ibama.
The Climate Observatory gathered hundreds of people for a conversation about COP30 at the Cultural Center in Belém. Tomorrow, women will march for climate justice in a reenactment of the Planeta Feméa law of Rio 92 30 years ago. Médecins Sans Frontières organized the walk to remind authorities that this crisis is also about health. Lucia Xavier from the NGO Criola presented a report at the official commission containing scientific evidence and public policy recommendations to build resilient health systems.
Fossil fuels, deforestation and conservation, and energy transition are central to the COP30 agenda, but demands for adequate housing, basic sanitation, and access to water are increasing. This theme also appeared in discussions about climate finance, the science of proposing and procuring resources to finance adaptation, mitigation, and resilience. Economist Rogelio Studato, former executive director of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), was the curator of a training program on the subject, a partnership between the Museum of Tomorrow and the Institute for Climate and Society (ICS). The ICS plays an important role in meeting with financial authorities seeking resources to address climate change issues. Studart cited a CNI study that estimates Brazil’s infrastructure investment this year at 2.21% of GDP, half of what is needed.
— There is an urgent need to triple investment in basic infrastructure, especially housing and sanitation, to avoid an exponential increase in climate risks, especially for people living on stilts and slums. We’re not just talking about justice, we’re also talking about climate compensation.
The Vozes dos Biomass project, whose ambassadors are First Lady Janja (for women), Denise Dora (human rights and just transition), and Julema Werneck (racial equality), has developed six diagnoses and proposals for the Amazon, Cerrado, Pantanal, Caainga, Atlantic Forest, and Pampas biomes based on visits to local communities. The document was delivered to the President of the Republic and the COP30 Summit. The president of the conference, Andre Correa de Lago, published nine letters to the world on climate that generated countless responses from civil society. Brazil is certainly a region where the exchange of correspondence is possible, as director Walter Salles shows in his film Central do Brasil, starring Fernanda Montenegro as Dora, a retired teacher who writes letters to illiterate people at a train station.
At a summit held just days before the conference, 19 heads of state, including Lula, signed the Belém Declaration on Combating Environmental Racism, which states “policies and practices that result in disproportionate exposure of people and communities, including those of African descent, indigenous peoples and local communities, to environmental damage and climate risks.” It is a concept formed in civil society and endorsed by diplomacy. Yesterday, negotiators from African countries on a Citafro (African Union for Latin America and the Caribbean) and Ford Foundation panel announced their support for recognition of people of African descent in a final declaration. It is Brazil’s responsibility to submit proposals.
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