Protesters take to Belém streets to urge action

The streets of Belém echoed with indigenous chants, classical Brazilian songs and calls for environmental justice last Saturday as tens of thousands of people marched to demand urgent action on the climate and nature crisis.

- Jonathan Watts and Dharna Noor

Activists from around the world converged on the Amazonian host city of Cop30, urging negotiators to ramp up ambition. The joyous demonstration was 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.

The “Great People’s March” came at the halfway point of contentious negotiations and followed two protests last week that were led by indigenous activists from the Tapajós region.

Early in the day, below a huge inflatable globe, a large group of indigenous protesters, many with face paint and feathered headdresses, were chanting as they waited for the march to begin.

Raquel Wapichana travelled nine hours from Roraima to attend. She carried a sign saying: “Let’s struggle.”