Selfie of an Indigenous person wearing a feather headdress on the left, with four people behind him in front of rainforest vegetation — At our last stop before Belém, Indigenous leader Miriam Tembé (second from right) and her son Italo Tembé (left) gave us a warm welcome to the rainforest of the state of Pará (© Comunidade Indigena I'Ixing)

Rainforest Rescue at the Peoples’ Summit

Nov 10, 2025Brazil: Today, the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) began in the Amazon region of Brazil. Rainforest Rescue activists Guadalupe Rodríguez, Felipe Duran, and Klaus Schenck will be in Belém until November 17.

At the conclusion of our visits to partner organizations in the Brazilian states of Bahia, Maranhão and Pará, we – Guadalupe Rodríguez, Felipe Duran, and Klaus Schenck – have now arrived in the city of Belém, where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic.

Together with our Brazilian partners and Indigenous communities, we will take part in the Peoples’ Summit and the Peoples’ COP. Thousands of representatives of 1,200 environmental, social, and human rights movements, organizations, and networks from Brazil and around the world are gathering in Belém for this occasion.

Both events are organized by Brazilian civil society and take place in parallel with – and as an alternative to – the COP30 climate conference. COP30 is dominated by the narrow interests of governments and corporations, while civil society is largely excluded from the climate negotiations. As a result, it has few real opportunities to engage meaningfully in the debates and decisions at COP30.

We will accompany our partner organizations to the many meetings and seminars in Belém, united in our opposition to the commodification of climate, nature, and environmental protection that is being advanced at COP30. The Brazilian organizations are also drawing attention to the continuing impacts of colonialism and demanding that the countries of the Global North be held accountable for the climate crisis.

The highlights of the program

On Wednesday (November 12, 2025), a parade of 200 boats will take place in the bay of Belém to protest against false climate solutions. On board will be renowned Indigenous leaders Raoni Metuktire and Davi Kopenawa Yanomami.

The people living along the coasts, rivers, and in the rainforests of South America aim to show the world that through their traditional, adaptive, and collective forms of land use and ways of life, they have long held the knowledge of how to live in harmony with nature.

Another key event will be a large demonstration on Saturday (November 15, 2025). The Peoples’ March in Belém will highlight that solving the global climate crisis means putting life – not profit – at the center of our decisions.

Finally, on Sunday, November 16, a public hearing will present the joint declaration of the Peoples’ Summit to the president of COP30, who has been appointed by the Brazilian government as the official organizer of the climate conference in the Amazon rainforest.