Thousands march for climate action at COP30; some carry giant Palestinian flag

BELEM, Brazil — Thousands of people march through the streets of Belem to press for action from negotiators holding tough talks at the UN’s COP30 climate conference in the Amazonian city.

Under a baking sun, Indigenous people mixed with activists gather in a festive atmosphere, blasting music from speakers, carrying a giant beach ball of Earth, and holding a flag of Brazil emblazoned with the words “Protected Amazon.”

It is the first major protest outside the annual climate talks since COP26 four years ago in Glasgow, as the last three gatherings were held in locations with little tolerance for demonstrations — Egypt, Dubai, and Azerbaijan.

Branded the “Great People’s March” by organizers, the Belem rally comes at the halfway point of contentious negotiations and follows two Indigenous-led protests that disrupted proceedings earlier in the week.

“Today we are witnessing a massacre as our forest is being destroyed,” Benedito Huni Kuin, a 50-year-old member of the Huni Kuin Indigenous group from western Brazil, tells AFP.

“We want to make our voices heard from the Amazon and demand results,” he says. “We need more Indigenous representatives at COP to defend our rights.”

Tyrone Scott, a 31-year-old Briton from the anti-poverty group War on Want, says it was an “Indigenous-led, movement-led, people-powered march.”

“It’s just really exciting and a little bit of a nice antidote to the staleness and sterileness of the inside of the COP,” Scott tells AFP.

Their demands include “reparations” for damage caused by corporations and governments, especially to marginalized communities.

Some also hold a giant Palestinian flag and a “free Palestine” banner. One protester on stilts dressed as Uncle Sam denounces “imperialism.”