COP30, the climate summit will come to the Amazon
Published originally by Salva la Salva See original article
In November 2025, the world’s attention will turn to Belém do Pará, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, where the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held. As governments negotiate the future of the climate, civil society will raise its voice for real climate justice at the People’s Cup.
La elección de Belém como sede tiene un enorme valor simbólico: la mayor selva tropical del planeta, vital para el equilibrio climático global, albergará las negociaciones globales en torno al clima.
Simbolism with contradictions
The recent COPs left unfulfilled commitments, blockades by industrialized countries, and a growing presence of large fossil fuel and mining lobbies. The upcoming Belém meeting is poised to be a bridge between international politics and environmental justice, but the outcome will depend on the extent to which the voices of the people who inhabit and defend the rainforest are heard.
Many reasons to protest at COP28 in Dubai: here, against fossil fuels (© COP28 / Anthony Fleyhan)
Climate policy stalled
The United States will officially withdraw from the Paris Agreement in early 2026, a highly significant development given its status as the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, the BRICS countries are seeking to consolidate their own climate finance mechanism, amid a crisis or a reconfiguration of international multilateralism.
At the level of national commitments, the outlook is worrying. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), that is, each state’s official plans to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, are far behind what is needed. The first Global Stocktake on this issue showed that the world is seriously lagging behind in meeting climate goals. Countries should submit a new round of NDCs in 2026, but to date, many are not even providing the minimum information required.
At the same time, the discourse surrounding the “bioeconomy” and the “energy transition” is growing. In many cases, it continues to reproduce an extractive model, necessitating more mining and even greater expansion of agribusiness, without real structural change. This is the issue that concerns us as an environmental organization, and we will write more in-depth about it soon.
La agenda oficial climática en Belém
The most notable negotiation points of COP30 include:
Climate change adaptation: indicators to measure how countries are preparing for droughts, floods, and other impacts.
Global Stocktake (GST): discussion of the consequences, conclusions, and how to apply the results of the first GST held at COP28 in Dubai.
Tropical Forest Fund: a new investment-based mechanism—not donations—funded by countries like Norway to reward those who preserve their forests.
Critical minerals: Brazilian proposal to give greater prominence to the production of lithium, nickel, copper, and other “strategic” minerals for the energy transition. There is controversy surrounding the links between these minerals and the economic agendas of both producing and consuming countries.
Future of fossil fuels: Expectations of concrete commitments to their reduction or progressive elimination, although with strong pressure from producing countries and lobbies, which are increasingly omnipresent at COPs.
Carbon markets: New rules in the international carbon credit market, with criticism for the risk of “greenwashing” without real reductions.
Bioeconomy: Promoted as a path to development, it is questionable because it is actually a business model that replicates the extractive model and primarily benefits large corporations that also monopolize community lands.
Deforestation: The essential objective is to halt the destruction of forests and ecosystems such as the Chaco, the Cerrado, the Atlantic Forest, and the Mesoamerican Corridor. It is urgent but lacks firm commitments.
The “other” summit: the People’s Summit
While the so-called Blue Zone of the COP brings together government delegations and the Green Zone is open to controlled side events, the People’s Summit is emerging as an alternative and open space driven by social movements, Indigenous peoples, and civil society organizations.
More than a complement, the Summit represents a counterweight: proposals will be developed there, and a People’s Declaration will be drafted with contributions that will be compiled over the course of several days of the meeting.
Focus of the People’s Summit
The People’s Summit meetings will be organized around six focus areas of intense work and mass convergence:
Axis 1: Living Territories and Seas, Popular and Food Sovereignty
Axis 2: Historical Reparation, Combating Environmental Racism, False Solutions, and Corporate Power
Axis 3: Just, Popular, and Inclusive Transition
Axis 4: Democracy and Internationalism
Axis 5: Just Cities and Living Urban Peripheries
Axis 6: Popular Feminism and Women’s Resistance in the Territories
Indigenous women during a protest in Brazil (© CC BY 2.0 DEED, Jefferson Rudy/Senate Agency)
It is at the People’s Summit that grassroots activism can exert real influence. The final declaration will feed into the discussions and be submitted to the COP presidency. This will foster networks and coalitions that will foster discussions such as advocating for a just transition, in the face of negotiations that prioritize corporate and geopolitical interests.
Belém as a Stage
Located at the mouth of the Amazon River, Belém is one of the gateways to the Amazon. It is a city marked by profound inequalities. More than half of the population lives in favelas, and around 80% lacks sewage treatment. Born as a port for the export of rubber, timber, and iron, it is now also a destination for soybeans and other agricultural products to China and the rest of the world.
As COP30 approaches, the city’s surroundings reveal the growing pressure of Amazonian deforestation. Where once there was rainforest, industrial and agricultural expansion now predominates. The contradiction is evident: the COP is taking place in a territory that symbolizes what is at stake.
The city of Belém in the background, surrounded by water and tropical rainforest (© Salva la Selva)
What’s at Stake
COP30 could repeat old patterns or open gaps in the way of a true climate commitment. But what is clear is that without environmental justice and without the voice of the communities defending the rainforest, there will be no lasting solution.
Therefore, in Belém, not only is the fate of an agreement at stake: the role of civil society is at stake. The People’s Summit reminds the world that climate change is not negotiated behind closed doors: it is defended from the ground up.
Basic Glossary: COP30 and People’s Summit (Cúpula dos Povos)
COP (Conference of the Parties): Annual meeting of signatory countries to the UN Framework Convention to discuss progress on climate change.
COP30: The 30th meeting, which will take place in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025.
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change): International treaty that serves as the framework for the COPs.
Paris Agreement: 2015 pact to limit global warming to well below 2°C and with efforts to not exceed 1.5°C.
NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions): National climate action plans submitted by each country with emission reduction and adaptation targets.
Global Stocktake (GST): Global review every five years of collective progress toward the Paris Agreement.
Blue Zone: Official negotiation space between governments and accredited delegations.
Green Zone: A wider access area with workshops, exhibitions, and civil society activities approved by the organization.
People’s Summit: A parallel meeting of movements and communities to agree on their own proposals to address the climate crisis.
People’s Declaration: A consolidated document of demands presented by the Summit to the COP presidency.
Mitigation: A set of measures to reduce emissions or increase the capacity to absorb greenhouse gases.
Adaptation: Measures and policies to adjust to the already inevitable impacts of climate change.
References
COP30 – 10th-21st November , 2025, in Belém, Brazil, primarily at the city’s main convention center, the Hangar Centro de Convenções da Amazônia
Cúpula dos Povos – 12th-16th November , 2025, in parallel with COP, will take place primarily on the campus of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), also in Belém