About 9pm on Tuesday night, a group of protesters clashed with security guards as they attempted to force their way into the COP30 conference centre – making headlines and news bulletins around the world.
Videos captured dozens of mostly Indigenous demonstrators pushing through the main entrance, rushing past metal detectors, and demanding entry to the area where climate negotiators were meeting.
As UN security guards scrambled to stop them, scuffles broke out before the protesters were forcibly removed. A UN climate spokesperson said two security guards suffered minor injuries, and there was minor damage to the venue. One guard with a small cut told Reuters he was hit by a thrown drumstick.
Demonstrators, including Indigenous people, take part in a protest as they force their way into the venue hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem, Brazil, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Anderson Coelho
Demonstrators, including Indigenous people, take part in a protest as they force their way into the venue hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem, Brazil, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Anderson Coelho
Demonstrators, including Indigenous people, take part in a protest as they force their way into the venue hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem, Brazil, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Anderson Coelho
Demonstrators, including Indigenous people, take part in a protest as they force their way into the venue hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem, Brazil, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Anderson Coelho
Some of the protesters carried signs saying “our forest is not for sale” or demanding a halt to oil drilling in the Amazon rainforest.
“We can’t eat money,” Nato, an Indigenous leader from the Tupinamba community, told Reuters. “We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers.”
Brazil, the host nation of COP30, has underlined the importance of ensuring Indigenous communities have a voice in this year’s climate negotiations and there has been a record turnout of Indigenous groups in the city of Belém.
But, according to InfoAmazonia, Indigenous people are frustrated that more did not receive accreditation for the COP30 venue. Their analysis suggests 360 received accreditation. The Brazilian government says that’s more than any previous COP. But it’s only a small fraction of the 56,000 people registered to attend this year’s UN climate talks.
Lucas Tupinambá, a young leader from the Tapajós-Arapiuns Indigenous council, attended Tuesday’s plenary session after travelling for two days by boat to reach Belém. In his speech, he denounced the presence of dredgers extracting minerals in his region, but he told InfoAmazonia that “they are not interested in hearing from those who truly need to be heard”.
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the country’s leading Indigenous organisation, wants a strong outcome from COP30 on land demarcation to legally protect their land rights, which are threatened by loggers, agribusinesses and miners.
“Our core message is that demarcation and territorial protection are policies for facing the climate emergency. This needs not just to be acknowledged, but also implemented by global leaders—and in our case, above all, by Brazil,” Kleber Karipuna, APIB’s executive coordinator, told InfoAmazonia.
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