Indigenous people want to be more than just appearance at the UN climate summit

With a face painted in the battle colors of black and red and a decorated headdress, Cotia Guarani dances, clapping and humming, with a group of Guarani indigenous people on a large ship in Guajará Bay in Belém. „Resistencia! Resistance!”, it sounds loudly on the boat with a few hundred environmental activists, members of social organizations and indigenous people on board.

“We will soon sail up the river with dozens of other ships to draw attention to the fight against the destruction of nature. Our communities are suffering from drought and extreme heat,” says Cotia. He is one of the leaders on the ship and has traveled with his group to Belém from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a region where the impact of soy cultivation is clearly felt.

It is the second and final week of the UN climate summit COP30, where, in addition to delegations from around two hundred countries, environmental organizations and NGOs, more than three thousand indigenous people from the Amazon basin have come. A large part came by ship, sailing in a native flotilla. From countries such as Ecuador and Colombia, a journey that can sometimes take a few weeks.

For Emilia Souza from Manaus, Brazil, it was ‘only’ five days of sailing. On the ship she sells homemade jewelry made from seeds and feathers, and her own products such as cassava cookies, honey and medicinal teas from the Amazon. “Everyone brought their own stuff and sold it on board and in the city to earn some extra money. We sleep in hammocks on the ship, because accommodations are very expensive in Belém,” she says. Souza shows a green ribbon on her wrist. “This entitles me to three meals a day and there is enough water on board.”

Indigenous protest

Before the climate summit, Brazilian President Lula da Silva – deliberately organized in the Amazon – also called for the “top of the indigenous population”. Yet there is dissatisfaction among natives. Although they are present in such large numbers for the first time, their criticism is that they are not involved enough in decision-making.

The first week was therefore characterized by indigenous resistance. Indigenous demonstrators stormed the entrance to the blue zone, the meeting center that was built especially for the COP30 and is exclusively accessible to delegation members, some invited indigenous organizations and accredited press. Members of the Munduruku people, led by well-known activist Alessandra Munduruku, then blocked the entrance, demanding that the indigenous people be listened to better.

Cotia Guarani agrees. “It cannot be that we have only been invited here for appearance’s sake. We want to participate in discussions and participate in decision-making. We live from nature and have been warning for so long about the dangers if humanity does not change radically. Moreover, lobbyists from the oil industry are also present in the blue zone. We must have free access to it,” he says.

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Dozens of ships with environmental activists and indigenous people on board sail through Guajará Bay in Belém to draw attention to “the fight against the destruction of nature” during a ‘population summit’.

Dozens of ships sail in a caravan through the bay. There is now cheerful carimba music on board and there is dancing. The flotilla is part of ‘the top of the population’, a parallel program to the COP30. “This is where the people who experience the problems of climate change come together every day,” says Iremar Ferreira, environmental activist and one of the organizers of the flotilla. “Rivers are drying up and there are intense forest fires every year, partly as a result of extreme drought. If you live in the Amazon, you cannot escape the consequences of climate change.”

I have only one message for all people, no matter how famous and powerful they are: stop destroying the Amazon immediately

The guest of honor on the ship is the well-known leader of the Kayapo people, one of the most influential indigenous voices in the world, 95-year-old Raoni Metuktire. He received visits from world leaders such as Lula da Silva, French President Emmanuel Macron and British King Charles, and stars such as Sting and Leonardo di Caprio who were committed to the Amazon. “I have only one message for all people, no matter how famous and powerful they are: stop destroying the Amazon immediately. If we don’t save the Amazon, we can’t save ourselves,” exclaims the old leader.

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Ambitious forest plan

At the University of Belém, surrounded by forests, groups are discussing President Lula da Silva’s ambitious plan during the ‘population summit’ to reward countries that preserve their forests by compensating them with money. Although there is still a lot of uncertainty about this Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) and its feasibility and effect, Lula hopes to be able to conclude an international agreement on this at the summit.

There are doubts at the university, and here and there also criticism of the forest plan. “Why does nature have to come with a price tag? And does this address the root causes of the problems, such as deforestation and corruption?” asks an environmental activist from Indonesia.

The group also discusses access that the fund provides to indigenous communities. Is it a donation or a loan? On the flotilla, Chief Raoni is somewhat positive, but also critical of the “capitalization of nature”. “Land rights for indigenous people are ultimately the best protection for nature, because we do not destroy and we are not concerned with profiteering,” he says.

According to the leader, it is not the intention that the fight for nature becomes dependent on money. “Then we become entangled in a colonial model. As an indigenous leader I say: we have to get rid of that.” When he then tells those on the ship that he has been invited to discuss the last days of the COP30 in the blue zone, applause and cheers erupt.

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