After three COPs with absolutely no demonstrations allowed, this time in Belem, around 50 peaceful indigenous protesters blocked the main entrance to the Cop30 climate conference for several hours early on Friday morning 13^th November 2025, demanding to speak to Brazil’s president about the plight of the country’s Indigenous peoples but they confronted security guards as they demanded climate action and forest protection.  

They hoped to speak to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to explain their grievances. “We demand the presence of President Lula, but unfortunately we are unable to do so, as always,” said one of the protesters.   “We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers.” “We were always barred; we were never listened to.” Raoni Metuktire, the leader of the Indigenous Kayapó people, replies: “I think the first Cop meeting in the Amazon can help the forest. We haven’t had an opportunity like this before. We can talk about what’s happening, the destruction, the deforestation … For a long time I have been telling the world that if we continue destroying everything on this earth, there will be many consequences, there will be chaos on this earth.”[1] "Indigenous peoples remind us that the health of our lands, waters, and skies is inseparable from the health of our communities, our economies, and our shared future" said the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.

Sonia Guajajara who is the first indigenous woman to become a minister in Brazil, states that Cop30 the rights of traditional communities must be maintained in the face of exploitation by the mining industry. They confront with the impacts of extractive and industrial operations linked to commercial agriculture, mining, energy (including renewables) and infrastructure projects that jeopardize their traditional lifestyles and the environments they safeguard and rely on. Countries must recognize the demarcation of Indigenous lands as a key component of tackling the climate crisis, and civil society must help in the defense of such lands against mining interests, Brazil’s minister for indigenous peoples has said. As the largest indigenous lands in Brazil allocated to industrial mining, listening to them is essential to ensure that the global adaptation framework reflects the specific needs and contributions of indigenous peoples and traditional communities.