Indigenous peoples, riparian peoples, quilombolas and social movements from around the world marked the date of the United Nations climate conference on Wednesday (12). In an unprecedented boat protest, with 200 boats on the Guama River, they condemned a COP that does not reflect the demands of the most vulnerable populations, on the front line of climate change.
Indigenous peoples, riparian peoples, quilombolas and social movements from around the world marked the date of the United Nations climate conference on Wednesday (12). In an unprecedented boat protest, with 200 boats on the Guama River, they condemned a COP that does not reflect the demands of the most vulnerable populations, on the front line of climate change.
Lucia Musil,Specially sent by Radio frequency To Belem
The demonstration on the river marked the beginning of the People’s Summit: for five days, the approximately 5,000 participants will put forward to discuss their own solutions to combat global warming, such as agroecology and family farming. Many observers question one of the themes of the conference’s diplomatic negotiations: the energy transition to a low-carbon economy.
Eileen da Silva Barros, of the Movement for Popular Sovereignty in Mining (MAM), comes from Maranhão and fears that the search for minerals important for electricity, such as aluminium, cobalt and lithium, will increase pressure on Amazon lands.
“The energy transition is not in our favour. Brazil already supplies itself and has a renewable energy matrix,” he explains. “It does not make sense for Brazil to have to change its energy matrix so that European countries and the United States can move away from fossil fuels,” he says. “It does not make sense to increase mining on our lands and further expel our people from them.”
Jessica Kumarwara, an indigenous woman, was also one of the passengers on board the response convoy, a boat that sailed more than 3,000 kilometers to reach the capital, Pará, to participate in the protest. The ship traveled along the so-called soybean corridor, from Sinope, in Mato Grosso, to Belém do Pará, bringing about 40 social or indigenous movements.
“Who is the COP? They talk a lot about the energy transition, clean energy, but this is their way,” he points out. “They don’t consult with us, they don’t meet with us to talk about it. We want them to be honest, to talk about the benefits, but also about the impacts.”
Social and environmental impacts of hydroelectric power plants
The Dams Affected People’s Movement exists to address the long-felt environmental and social impacts of the country’s electricity production, through hydroelectric power plants. “Unfortunately, what they say about clean energy, for us, is not clean at all,” says Fred Vieira, Pará’s entity coordinator. “The energy transition is only possible if there is a radical change in the structures and energy model in Brazil, which exploits, invades, floods and violates human rights.”
For Jessica, her biggest concern is protecting the Tapajós River from the federal government’s waterway project. The work includes dredging to facilitate navigation of the grain and mineral production flow between Itaituba and Santarem in Pará.
“President Lula has privatized our river, and wants to turn our river into an agricultural trade route, and we will not accept that. We want the river to be free,” he said. “It’s already polluted by illegal mining and mercury. And when they destroy and pollute our river, they kill us too.”
Fisherman Benedito de Souza Ribeiro, 62, has depended his whole life on another river, the Amazon. He sees the federal government as a “hostage” to a Congress dominated by agribusiness and mining.
He accused, saying: “Large industries are settling in our lands and expelling our fishermen from the region, and the inhabitants of the river banks, who live by fishing. These companies, dams, and mining companies are what are causing global warming.”
Record of indigenous participation, however, remains insufficient
For indigenous peoples, combating global warming involves more land demarcation. We need governments, especially from other countries, to hear that from us. “Demarcating the border is the most important thing because we will live there in peace, according to our culture,” highlights Pipmurui Metuktere, grandson of Chief Raoni and Kayapo Youth member. “We are the guardians of the forest. She is everything to us,” he stresses.
Never before has the Conference of the Parties included so many indigenous people registered – there are 300 people in the Brazilian delegation alone. But this is not enough for them: they are demanding a special seat in the official negotiations.
They also demand to be consulted on any project related to their lands, notes Raquel Mora, an indigenous person from Mora Otazis, in Amazonas. “Our presence here is to show the Amazon to the world and say: listen to our voice, don’t destroy the forest because we are here. There are people here,” he highlights.
He adds: “Our proposal is that our president looks more towards indigenous people, because as much as he has helped reduce deforestation, he has simply allowed oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River. This is absolutely shameful because it will affect the entire Amazon region – not just the Amazon, but the world.”
The People’s Summit will bring together about 1,200 entities from 62 countries in Belem until Sunday. At COP30, the main space for civil society is the Green Zone. In the blue zone designated for formal negotiations, members of organizations can be registered as observers of the process.
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