Photo Credit: UNFCCC @ COP30 Belém, Brazil
As COP30 wraps its first week, Belém feels wired and weary. Tomorrow’s rest day is more than welcome — it’s necessary.
Today’s Global Climate March brought the city’s climate pulse into full view. Thousands took to the streets — including Indigenous groups, youth leaders, and climate activists — demanding justice, urgency, and genuine commitments. The mood was electric. The message: we’re out of time for polite diplomacy.
The response? Security stepped up hard. Delegates passed through triple checkpoints. Military presence thickened. The vibe outside the gates was one of defiance; inside, one of containment. It wasn’t lost on anyone that the music echoing through the Blue Zone — from samba troupes to K-pop playlists — sounded very different to the chants rising outside.
Still, that tension is the heartbeat of this COP. Earlier in the week, Indigenous protestors stormed the gates. On Thursday, a peaceful blockade led to a face-to-face encounter with COP President André Corrêa do Lago — an interaction that left us with the now-iconic image of him holding a protester’s baby. Today’s march was the crescendo. Not chaos, but clarity.
Meanwhile, the talks churned on. A 23-nation pact to quadruple sustainable fuels by 2035. Brazil is launching a $125 billion forest fund. Ambitious grid upgrades inching closer to reality. It’s the scaffolding of something meaningful — if the momentum holds.
But let’s not sugar-coat it. Week one has laid bare the contradictions: forest defenders are met with surveillance, while oil lobbyists work the rooms; global finance has pledged in press releases, but has yet to trickle down where it’s needed most. And still — there’s hope.
Belém is different. More vibrant. More raw. More real. As the sun sets on a sweaty, musical, confrontational week, there’s a growing sense that the pressure is working. The streets are speaking. The walls are listening.
Week two starts soon. Let’s see who brings more than slogans.
