The Peoples’ Summit, a parallel event to the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), ended this Sunday (16), with words of encouragement from chief Raoni Metuktire. In a message to participants, the indigenous leadership recalled that it has been drawing the world’s attention for decades to the destruction of the environment, forests and the ways of life of original and ancestral peoples.
“For a long time, I had been warning about the problems we are experiencing today, climate change, wars,” said Raoni.
“Once again, I ask everyone that we can continue this mission of being able to defend life on Earth, on the planet. I want us to have this continuity of struggle, so that we can fight against those who want evil, who want to destroy our earth”, he added.
Raoni also criticized conflicts and wars around the world and demanded more love and defense of life. “For a long time, I have been saying so that we can have respect for each other and we can live in peace on this earth”, he urged.
Chief Raoni Metuktire during the closing of the peoples’ summit Photo: Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil
After the five days of debates, mobilizations and demonstrations that marked Belém, the summit ends with a “banquetaço”, in Praça da Repúblicain the center of the capital of Pará, with the distribution of food, carried out by community kitchens and a cultural celebration open to the public.
At the closing of the Peoples’ Summit, a final letter was read, criticizing what participants classified as “false solutions” for tackling the climate emergency.
“Our worldview is guided by popular internationalism, with exchanges of knowledge and knowledge, which build bonds of solidarity, struggles and cooperation between our peoples”.
“True solutions are strengthened by this exchange of experiences, developed in our territories and by many hands. We are committed to stimulating, convening and strengthening these constructions”, says the document.
The document was delivered to the president of COP30, ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, who promised to present it at the high-level meetings of the COP, which will be held starting this Monday (17).
“There is no life without nature. There is no life without ethics and care work. Therefore, feminism is a central part of our political project. We place the work of reproducing life at the center, this is what radically differentiates us from those who want to preserve the logic and dynamics of an economic system that prioritizes profit and the private accumulation of wealth”, the document continues.
The president of COP30, ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, speaks during the closing of the people’s summit Photo: Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil
Capitalism and climate crisis
The letter points to the capitalist mode of production as the main cause of the growing climate crisis and highlights that peripheral communities are the most affected by extreme weather events and environmental racism.
The text recalls that transnational companies, such as the mining, energy, weapons, agribusiness and Big Techs, are mainly responsible for the climate catastrophe.
The letter calls for the demarcation of indigenous and other peoples’ lands; agrarian reform and promotion of agroecology; end of use of fossil fuels; public financing for a just transition, with taxation of corporations, agribusiness and the richest; and end of wars. Furthermore, it demands greater participation from the people.
“We demand that there is participation and protagonism of people in the construction of climate solutions, recognizing ancestral knowledge. The multidiversity of cultures and worldviews carries ancestral wisdom and knowledge that States must recognize as references for solutions to the multiple crises that plague humanity and Mother Nature.”
Wars
The document also criticizes the advance of the extreme right, fascism and wars around the world and defends Palestine and its people. The letter cites the bombings carried out by the “Zionist” State of Israel, the forced displacement of millions of people and the tens of thousands of deaths of innocent people, most of them children, women and the elderly.
“Our total repudiation of the genocide committed against Palestine. Our support and solidarity embrace the people who bravely resist, and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement”, says the letter.
The text also criticizes the United States’ military action in the Caribbean Sea, under the pretext of war on drug trafficking.. Summit members claim that actions like this have an imperialist nature and threaten people and countries in the region and Africa.
“Imperialism continues to threaten the sovereignty of the people, criminalizing social movements and legitimizing interventions that have historically served private interests in the region. We stand in solidarity with the resistance of Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Ecuador, Panama, Colombia, El Salvador, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, and with the emancipation projects of the peoples of the Sahel, Nepal and around the world”, says the letter.
Popular participation
The Peoples’ Summit brought together around 70 thousand people from local, national and international social movements, original and traditional peoples, peasants, indigenous people, quilombolas, fishermen, extractivists, shellfish gatherers, city workers, trade unionists, homeless people, babassu coconut breakers, terreiro people, women, the LGBTQIAPN+ community, young people, Afro-descendants, elderly people, people from the forest, the countryside, the peripheries, seas, rivers, lakes and mangroves.
Closing of the peoples’ summit Photo: Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil
The event, considered the largest space for social participation at the climate conference, began on the 12th, in parallel with COP30, criticizing the lack of greater popular participation at COP30. For the approximately 1,300 organizations and movements that participated in the summit, countries and decision-makers, especially from rich countries, have been omitted or presented absolutely inefficient solutions, putting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target at risk.
At the opening, a “barqueata” was held on the edge of the capital of Paráwith hundreds of boats. They sailed through Guajará Bay in defense of the Amazon and traditional peoples.
“We begin our Peoples’ Summit by sailing along the rivers of the Amazon, which, with their waters, nourish the entire body. Like blood, they sustain life and feed a sea of encounters and hopes. We also recognize the presence of the enchanted and other fundamental beings in the worldview of the original and traditional peoples, whose spiritual strength guides paths, protects territories and inspires struggles for life, memory and a world of good living”, says the letter.
Yesterday, around 70,000 people participated in the World Climate Marcha demonstration that took to the streets of Belém with an expressive sample of the cultural and social diversity of the Amazonian people.
