A Return of Mass Climate Mobilization
Saturday's rally drew an estimated 50,000 people under a searing Amazonian sun. Protesters danced to thumping speakers, pushed a giant inflatable Earth through the crowds, and staged a mock funeral for fossil fuels, carrying three black coffins marked "coal," "oil," and "gas."
The diverse columns of marchers included trade unionists, environmentalists, and community groups, but it was Indigenous leaders who set the tone.
"Today we are witnessing a massacre as our forest is being destroyed," said Benedito Huni Kuin, of the Huni Kuin people of western Brazil. "We want to make our voices heard from the Amazon and demand results. We need more Indigenous representatives at COP to defend our rights."
Organizers framed the march as a direct challenge to stalled negotiations inside the venue and a demand for climate justice, including reparations for communities most affected by warming and extractive industries.
Some marchers waved Palestinian flags, while others carried artwork criticizing imperialism, Big Oil, and U.S. political figures, including Donald Trump. "These are the politics we must move forward to defeat the climate crisis," said activist Giovani Del Prete.
The demonstration ended peacefully near the COP30 perimeter, where soldiers maintained a guarded buffer zone.
Indigenous Actions Disrupt Summit
Saturday's march capped a week of escalating Indigenous pressure.
Tuesday: Dozens of Indigenous protesters forced their way into the COP30 compound at Parque da Cidade - a former airport redeveloped for the summit. They clashed with private security, causing minor injuries and prompting a temporary lockdown.
Friday: Roughly 60 Indigenous activists blocked the main entrance for two hours, forming a human barricade as thousands of delegates queued outside. Some held infants; others chanted beneath a blazing sun while demanding a meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"Come on, Lula, show yourself!" shouted Indigenous leader Alessandra Korap. "We want to be heard. We also want to participate in the negotiations."
COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago skipped scheduled engagements to meet the group, holding the hand of one protester and briefly cradling a baby in a feathered headdress.
"They have strong and very legitimate concerns," he said afterward. "We had a very positive, very constructive dialogue."
The activists - many from the Munduruku community - are pressing for faster demarcation of their traditional territories and opposing the Ferrograo rail megaproject, a 1,000-kilometer grain corridor planned to cut across the Amazon.
"Fighting for our territories is fighting for our lives," read one banner.
Though Lula portrays himself as a defender of Indigenous rights, including creating the first Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and reducing deforestation, many still criticize slow land recognition and new oil exploration approved near the Amazon River mouth. Iconic chief Raoni said this week he would "give Lula a good talking-to" over the issue.
Despite the disruptions, UN officials insisted there was "no danger," though security concerns resurfaced after Tuesday's breach.
Negotiations Stalled as Pressures Mount
Inside the conference zone, negotiators closed the first week without a breakthrough. COP30 president Correa do Lago warned delegations not to waste time on procedural maneuvers.
"The stakes are too high for us to allow stalled discussions to stand in the way of progress," he said.
Brazil plans to release a synthesis "note" to guide ministerial talks beginning Monday. Key battle lines include:
+ Finance: Developing countries insist wealthy nations must triple adaptation and transition funding.
+ Climate ambition: Weak national targets remain a sticking point.
+ Trade barriers: Europe's carbon border tax and similar measures have sparked friction.
Fossil fuel phaseout: Brazil, Denmark, the UK, Kenya and others support a negotiated "roadmap" to advance global phaseout plans. Saudi Arabia and other major petro-states strongly oppose it.
"We would love to see an outcome on that," said UK climate minister Katie White, though negotiators doubt consensus is possible.
Delegations were encouraged to treat internal consultations as "therapy sessions" and even submit confidential written reflections - dubbed "love letters" - detailing their frustrations and hopes.
"These negotiations are like a roller coaster," said Brazil's chief negotiator Liliam Chagas. "Sometimes they are up, sometimes they are down."
An African negotiator warned the summit risked becoming an "empty COP" unless the presidency takes stronger leadership. Others remained more optimistic, insisting parties intend to reach a meaningful agreement before the Nov. 21 deadline.
Australia's opposition ditches commitment to net zero emissions
Sydney (AFP) Nov 13, 2025 -
Australia's conservative opposition said on Thursday it will drop its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 if it wins power and leads a country dependent on fossil fuels but highly vulnerable to climate change.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left government has poured billions into solar power, wind turbines and green manufacturing and pledged to make Australia a renewable energy superpower.
It has also pledged to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70 percent from 2005 levels over the next decade and is campaigning to co-host next year's UN climate summit alongside Pacific Island neighbours -- some of the most climate-threatened nations in the world.
The opposition centre-right Liberal Party has agonised in recent weeks over whether to drop the net zero emissions pledge, introduced in 2021 by former leader Scott Morrison when he was prime minister.
Leader Sussan Ley said on Thursday that her party would drop the goal if it returned to office, capping weeks of internal debate.
She said it remained committed to "responding to climate change in a way that is affordable, responsible and achievable".
"Net zero would be welcome" but the target would have to be achieved without government intervention, Ley said.
"Energy affordability" would instead take precedence over government action to stop climate change, she said.
The Liberals were roundly defeated in this year's federal elections by Albanese's Labor, sparking soul searching on how best to claw back power.
Ley's announcement came just days after the party's conservative coalition partners, the Nationals, voted to ditch its own net zero by 2050 target.
The two parties will meet on Sunday to determine their coalition's formal stance.
- 'Climate wars' redux -
Australia's "climate wars" -- a years-long domestic fight over emissions policy -- stalled progress and the country remains dependent on its fossil fuel economy for growth.
Albanese slammed the opposition on Thursday for "walking away from climate action".
"They're also walking away from reliable and affordable energy," he told reporters in Canberra.
Albanese's green ambitions remain at odds with Australia's deep entanglement with lucrative fossil fuel industries.
It is the world's second-largest coal exporter, holds the third-largest coal reserves and continues to channel billions of dollars in public subsidies into fossil fuels.
Iron ore, extracted through emissions-intensive mining, also remains its most valuable export.
Australia, with its vast flora and fauna, is considered highly vulnerable to climate change.
A landmark climate impact report released by the government in September warned that rising oceans and flooding caused by climate change will threaten the homes and livelihoods of more than a million Australians by 2050, while deaths from heat-related illness will soar.
James Hopeward at the University of South Australia said the Liberals' reversal was "a catastrophic failure to acknowledge both climate science and energy system dynamics".
"Crucially, the Liberal Party's policy retreat ignores a fundamental truth: the transition to renewable energy is inevitable," he said.
Australia already has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world -- almost 19,000 Australians were estimated to be diagnosed with melanoma in 2024, official health data shows.
Environmentalists fear Thursday's move by the Liberals would see them walk back any meaningful progress made in recent years should they get back into office.
Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Climate Council NGO, said ditching net zero would allow "climate change to rip".
"It's deadly negligence that would leave Australians facing more fires, floods and heatwaves," she said.
"You can't win elections by ignoring voters who want meaningful climate action."
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