Politics Indigenous people block access to the UN climate summit in Brazil
Dozens of indigenous people and other climate activists blocked the main entrance to the World Climate Conference in Brazil for hours this morning. Armed and partially masked police officers in protective gear positioned themselves in front of the entrance to the tent city in Belém.
14.11.2025, 15:33
14.11.2025, 15:34
SDA
In order to defuse the situation, the president of the COP30 climate summit, André Corrêa do Lago, approached the protesters in front of the closed gate and persuaded them to withdraw to talk to him about their concerns. Hundreds of delegates, journalists and observers had to wait a long time in a huge crowd of people to gain entry and arrived late to the site.
According to a report by the news portal G1, the indigenous Munduruku people demanded a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better protection of their settlement areas against the destructive activities of large companies and a repeal of the national waterways plan. According to them, the latter will lead to new dredging, the destruction of sacred rocks and the expansion of private ports in the region - with lasting ecological and social consequences.
It was not the first protest action
Dozens of indigenous activists had already stormed the secured tent city of the UN Climate Change Conference on Tuesday evening. They broke down doors and engaged in a scuffle with security forces.
Thousands of indigenous activists are also represented at the World Climate Conference in the city of Belém. They are campaigning against the destruction of their ancestral homeland, for example through the deforestation of the rainforest.
At the port of Belém in the morning, several dozen activists - including from Fridays for Future Germany and Brazil - drew attention to themselves with chants and posters. "Climate crisis escalates - Merz ignores" was one of the messages. Two participants from the Philippines also reported on how badly their country had recently been hit by another typhoon. "We want climate justice - and we want it now," shouted the group.
