‘People’s COP’ Marked By Civil Society Protests and Direct Action Events

Months ago, as Brazil was preparing to host the world’s biggest climate event, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for COP30 to be a “global mutirão” – a collective effort rooted in the country’s Indigenous concept of community action. In practice, this has led to an event marked by both small- and large-scale protests and direct action events throughout the two weeks of meetings.

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“We haven’t seen protests like this in years,” Astrid Puentes Riaño, UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and a COP veteran of many years, told Earth.Org. “It’s important to note that the Brazil presidency has tried to incorporate people’s voices, with the Global Ethical Stocktake, Children’s Day, special envoys – all these initiatives are from the Brazilian presidency. But it’s not finished. The process still has a long way to go.”

The protests are a stark contrast from the past several years in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Dubai, UAE, where tight security cracked down on demonstrations.

The first week of the Belém summit was disrupted by several large-scale, peaceful protests blocking the main entrance gates to the Blue Zone where the high-level meetings are held. 

“On 15 November, the Peoples’ Summit mobilized 70,000 people on the streets of Belém to send a clear message to world leaders: from the Amazon to the world – end inequality and environmental racism now. Over the previous week, the Summit brought together 25,000 grassroots communities and movements, including Indigenous peoples, frontline communities, climate justice movements, queer and trans people, youth groups, fisherfolk, peasants, workers and feminists,” the organizers said in a statement.

While these were the most prominent protests, other direct action events have been taking place several times per day both in the Blue Zone and in the Green Zone, which is freely accessible to the public. 

During the second week, protests in the Blue Zone included a call for “Adaptation Finance Now”, a demonstration against the “Debt Swaps Scam”, and a call to deliver climate finance to the Global South and pay reparations for climate debt. Other groups from countries with mineral resources demanded an “end to extractivism”, with banners stating, “The Global North energy transition is soaked with our blood!”, “End the Cobalt Plunder!”, and “No Murder for Minerals”. Yet another group seeking to pivot away from natural gas shouted “Don’t gas the south!” 

On a daily basis, Climate Action Network Europe has granted an ironic “Fossil of the Day” award to various countries who are “doing the most to achieve the least” and “doing their best to be the worst” in terms of the progress in the climate negotiations and climate action. So far, “winners” have included Canada, New Zealand, Japan, UK, the United States (in absentia), and the European Union. 

On Wednesday, Greenpeace created an exhibition displaying a giant Climate Polluters Bill linked to the fossil fuel industry. It also provided visitors the opportunity to stamp their experience on a large world map, indicating where they were confronted with climate impacts.

Meanwhile, in the freewheeling Green Zone, where members of the public mix with commercial pavilions, artisanal merchants, and itinerant climate activists, a group dressed in flamboyant goth costumes representing the “Villains of COP30”. “Who benefits from the devastation of our territories?” their banner read.

While the official agenda concludes on Friday, it is unclear when official negotiations at the event will conclude, as previous COP events have extended well beyond the scheduled end date.

Featured image: UN Climate Change/Diego Herculano via Flickr.