Activists Disrupt COP30 Climate Summit, Demand Urgent Action

On November 15, 2025, thousands of climate activists and environmental advocates gathered in Belem, Brazil to protest and disrupt the ongoing COP30 UN climate summit. The protesters, representing a wide range of social and environmental movements, marched through the city in a demonstration that organizers say is the biggest of its kind at the halfway point of the annual climate talks.

The demonstrators used symbolic gestures to convey their message, with some wearing black dresses to signify a "funeral for fossil fuels" and others donning red shirts to represent the "blood of colleagues fighting to protect the environment." Indigenous groups, led by Kichwa activist Marisol Garcia from Peru, were at the forefront of the march, calling for "more humanized decisions" from world leaders.

The protesters planned to walk about 4 kilometers near the main venue of the COP30 talks, though they stopped short of directly surrounding the venue as they had done earlier in the week, when two security guards suffered minor injuries. Organizers used sound systems and raised platforms to direct the large crowd, which included youth leader Ana Heloisa Alves, who said it was the biggest climate march she had ever been a part of.

Many of the demonstrators expressed relief at being able to protest more openly than at recent climate talks held in more authoritarian countries. One protester, Flavio Pinto, even mocked the United States' stance on climate change, wearing an oversized American flag hat and waving fake hundred-dollar bills with President Donald Trump's face on them.

The march highlighted a range of environmental and social issues, including the fight to protect the Tapajos River in Brazil from commercial development. As the protesters made their way through the city, onlookers gathered to watch and take photos, with one passerby describing the scene as "beautiful."