Activists spoke about climate impacts in their home countries and called for youth representation in UN negotiations.
Thousands of protesters returned to the gates of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, blocking access to the venue in a peaceful standoff.
Brazilian youth groups, Indigenous communities, and climate activists marched together to demand decisive action during the crucial UN climate conference.
Rachelle Junsay from Climate Action Philippines criticized negotiators for ignoring actual victims. She said youth inherit a damaged planet while decision-makers sit comfortably in air-conditioned rooms.
Protests Resume After Three-Year Pause
Protesters demonstrated outside UN climate talks for the first time since 2021. Organizers promoted the event as empowering Indigenous peoples and local communities.
Earlier in the week, activists twice surrounded the venue, and two security guards sustained minor injuries on Tuesday. Saturday’s march ended short of the conference, where full-day sessions continued.
Protesters said they appreciated the freedom to demonstrate more openly in Belem than at recent summits in Azerbaijan, the UAE, and Egypt.
Youth leader Ana Heloisa Alves, 27, called it the largest climate march she had joined. She said the turnout was impossible to ignore.
Alves highlighted the Tapajos River, which the Brazilian government plans to develop commercially. Protesters carried signs declaring, “The river is for the people.”
Calls for Broader Participation and Real Action
Pablo Neri, coordinator for the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra in Pará, urged organizers to involve more voices to match the climate movement’s growing public participation.
The conference runs through Friday, 21 November. Analysts and participants said they do not expect major new agreements but hope for progress on past commitments, including funding to help poorer countries adapt.
The United States is skipping the talks. President Donald Trump has mocked climate change as a hoax and withdrew the country from the 2015 Paris Agreement.
