As the COP30 talks continue in Brazil’s Belem, climate activists held the first mass protest at the UN's COP conference since 2021. They urged participants to emphasise climate action and greater environmental protection.
The protesters demanded action and penalties against the major greenhouse emitters. Thousands marched in the city as the conference marked its halfway point. Organisers of the protest called the event the "Great People's March".
The mass mobilisation comes days after an indigenous-led protest disrupted the climate conference shortly after it convened on November 11. Demonstrators marched 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles) through the city on Saturday.
Environmental activists gathered at the venue, joined by thousands of indigenous supporters holding banners and flags, chanting slogans, and blasting music from speakers. The slogan on one of the banners read, “Stop deceiving us.”
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COP30 in Belem runs until Friday. Activists are hoping some progress can be made on the issue of climate change and its adverse effects, particularly in vulnerable communities. The rally would continue on Sunday with protesters demanding the reparations to be paid against the damages caused by corporations and governments.
Those responsible for the earth's warming must pay to poor and marginalised communities, which have a much smaller effect on the climate.
Some of the climate researchers marched in black dresses, to signify a funeral for fossil fuels, seen as the main culprit for greenhouse emissions around the world.
Demonstrators paraded three coffins marked with the words "coal", "oil", and "gas".
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