Macron Confronts Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior in Brazil Ahead of COP30

In November 2025, ahead of the 30th Conference of the Parties on climate change (COP30), French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Belem, Brazil. During his visit, Macron toured one of the boats from the "Iaraçu" river caravan, a French-Brazilian scientific project moored on the Rio Guamá south of the city.

Just a short distance away, Greenpeace activists had displayed a banner on their vessel, the Rainbow Warrior, reading "Macron: good cop or bad cop?" The iconic ship's name was emblazoned in large white letters on its stern. However, Macron did not approach the green ship with the long rainbow, as those colors likely brought back bitter memories for French authorities.

Forty years ago, the original Rainbow Warrior - a former North Sea trawler acquired by Greenpeace in 1978 - had just undergone major renovations, including the addition of masts for cleaner sailing. The ship had set off on an activist journey to meet with the peoples of the Marshall Islands and reach the atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa, where France was conducting its own nuclear experiments. But the original Rainbow Warrior was sunk by French intelligence agents in 1985, an event that still resonates today as Macron confronts the legacy of Greenpeace's activism in Brazil.