Indigenous people from Brazil protest on the streets — Indigenous people have long practiced ways of living that maintain balance with the natural world. (© Rettet den Regenwald/Guadalupe Rodríguez)

A boat with banners on a river — 200 boats join together in protest in the Guajará Bay in Belém. (© Rettet den Regenwald)

Demonstrators in a street carrying placards with pictures of animals — Indigenous people, environmentalists, and human rights activists at The Great People’s March. (© Rettet den Regenwald)

Klaus Schenck at the Great People’s March in Belém on November 15th, 2025 — Rainforest Rescue marches in protest with the Yes to Life - No to Mining network of environmentalists. (© Rettet den Regenwald)

Panel discussion at the Thematic Social Forum — Rainforest Rescue activist Guadalupe Rodríguez speaks at a seminar for the Social Forum against Mining and Extractive Industries at The People's Summit. (© Rettet den Regenwald)

Around 30 people in a circle sitting on chairs in a meeting room — Environmentalists from the Philippines, Togo, Indonesia, and Bolivia at the People's Summit in discussion about the for-profit TFFF financing model (© RdR/ Klaus Schenck)

Four Indigenous Kaápor hold up a banner with writing on it in a meeting room — At the Peoples' Summit, the Ka'apor Indigenous Council explains how they freed themselves from the control of the Brazilian state and established their own Indigenous government. (© RdR/ Klaus Schenck)

Indigenous women and men dressed in colorful clothing form a line at a demonstration — Many Indigenous people from around the world united at the Great People’s March for Climate Justice in Belém. (© RdR/ Klaus Schenck)

A group of people at a planning meeting in an open wooden hut in the rainforest — The international network Yes to Life No to Mining, of which Rainforest Rescue is an active member, gather in the rainforest for a planning meeting. (© RdR/ Klaus Schenck)

A journalist takes a photo of Rainforest Rescue environmentalist Guadalupe Rodríguez on a boat. — Journalist Olmedo Carrasquillo from our partner organization COVEC takes a photo of Rainforest Rescue environmentalist Guadalupe Rodríguez. (© RdR/ Klaus Schenck)

Indigenous women sit on the ground to block the entrance to COP30 in Belém — The Indigenous Munduruku people block the entrance to COP30 in Belém in protest. (© @samidellah)

Guadalupe Rodríguez takes a photo of Indigenous councilwoman Mariza Ka'apor with her phone — Guadalupe Rodríguez photographs Mariza Ka'apor from the Tuxa Ta Pame Indigenous Council during the Great People’s March for Climate Justice. (© RdR/ Klaus Schenck)

COP30: Indigenous knowledge before profit

Nov 17, 2025Thousands of environmentalists, human rights activists, and Indigenous people gathered in Belém, Brazil for the People’s Summit alongside the COP30 climate conference. Guadalupe Rodríguez, Felipe Duran, and Klaus Schenck were there on behalf of Rainforest Rescue and share some of their impressions.

Together with our Brazilian partner organizations and Indigenous communities, we explored alternative and effective ways to protect the climate, rainforests, and human rights at the People’s Summit and the People’s COP in Belém. Civil society remains largely excluded from the COP30 World Climate Conference and the official climate negotiations, so their voices must be heard.

On Wednesday, November 12, 2025, a flotilla of 200 boats gathered in Guajará Bay in Belém as part of the People’s Summit to protest false climate solutions promoted at the COP30 World Climate Conference. On board were renowned Indigenous leaders Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapo people and Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, shaman and leader of the Yanomami people of the Amazon region.

The following Saturday, November 15, the Great People’s March for Climate Justice demonstrated to the world that life – not profit – must be the center of solutions to the global climate crisis.

According to official statements, Indigenous people were expected to play an important role at COP30 because they are essential to rainforest protection. Nearly all of the world’s best-preserved areas lie within Indigenous territories. However, Indigenous people felt excluded and ignored at COP30. In protest, the Munduruku people of the Amazon organized a sit-in that blocked the conference.

COP30: Indigenous knowledge before profit

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