In parallel with COP30, the People’s Summit brings together thousands in Belém against climate change and in defense of territory

As governments and international negotiators meet at the official venue of the COP30, eight kilometers away, at the Federal University of Pará, thousands of indigenous, quilombola and riverine peoples, among other traditional communities, gather for the so-called Peoples’ Summit, which brings the voice of the excluded to the climate agenda. These are populations who have been victims of extreme events and, at the same time, supporters of solutions to combat climate change. The event parallel to the United Nations conference will be held again after three versions of forced absence due to prohibitive legislation in the headquarters of the last conferences: Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan.

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The opening ceremony, late Wednesday afternoon (12), included performances, book launches, discussions and the official launch of the summit on stage, where movements chanted slogans. On the indigenous side, which carried the greatest weight, the main issue was the demarcation of land.

-We are here to defend our lands. The answer is us; Only ancestral knowledge will stop the climate crisis, said indigenous leader Takak Shikren.

Another attraction at the opening was an artistic procession organized by Auto do Círio, UFPA and Aliança Potência Energética, with a display of the passage of Boiúna, the giant serpent from the bottom of the river, a popular legend from the Amazon region that represents the opening of the route and good energy. In front of them came people dressed as tigers, protectors of the forest.

Representation of Puyona, the giant serpent from the bottom of the river from Amazon mythology – Photography: Lucas Altino

The People’s Summit was established in 1992, during the 1992 Rio Conference, and served as the cornerstone of the COPs. In Belém’s version, at least seven thousand people are expected to occupy the UFPA campus in Guama, where several tents, stages and spaces for discussions, meetings and artistic performances have been installed, as well as temporary accommodation.

Thus, the UFPA campus has been taken over by a confluence of social and cultural movements, demands, proposals, and meetings. It was possible to find indigenous people speaking to quilombolas, witness discussions among those affected by the dams, follow student protests, and consume products sold by the landless people’s movement. A harvest of people uniting around a common goal: protecting their lands and contributing to saving the planet.

About 5,000 people arrived at the UFPA on Wednesday morning on a boatload of 200 boats in Guajara Bay. In motion, there was a ship that came from Mato Grosso, for example.

The People’s Summit brings together specific agendas from different groups, but selects a few priority demands: global climate justice, human rights protection, energy transition, and valuing agroecology.

In addition to social movements, there are federal government institutions. One is Fiocruz, which is participating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) and the People’s Summit, especially regarding the impact of climate change on health. The Foundation works, for example, on discussions and programs related to biodiversity loss, pollution, pesticide use, and mercury exposure.

— This agenda has fundamental value, because there is no longer any way to provide health care and organize the integrated unified system without taking climate change into account. The dialogue we built had powerful repercussions on the organization of social movements in the regions, on the outskirts of cities, and in the fields, forests and waters. Everything affects health: global warming, extreme events, food shortages, and the absence of public policies lead to a loss of quality of life, said Guilherme Franco Neto, Coordinator of Health and Environment at the Vice President for Environment, Care and Health Promotion at Fiocruz.

Students spoke with indigenous people, quilombolas and consumer products sold by the landless movement - Photo: Lucas Altino — Students spoke with indigenous people, quilombolas and consumer products sold by the landless movement – Photo: Lucas Altino

Indigenous Expression in Brazil (APIB) estimates that more than 2,500 indigenous people in Belém, among other leaders, are demanding greater representation in negotiations and the inclusion of land demarcation as climate policy.

More than 300 representatives of the Kayapo, Panara, Tupinamba, Arabians, Munduruku, Burari, Mura, and other ethnic groups from the Cerrado and Amazon, as well as family farmers, quilombolas and grassroots communicators, arrived in Belém on a ship called the “Response Caravan,” departing from Baixo Tapajós, a region characterized by ports and waterways.