In brief
Thousands gathered outside the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, to voice their demands for immediate climate action. The protest featured unique symbolic elements like giant coffins labeled 'Oil,' 'Coal,' and 'Gas,' as well as performances highlighting the urgency to address fossil fuel dependency. This marks the first time since 2021 that protests have been permitted at the UN climate talks, with participants from indigenous groups, youth activists, and global environmental organizations joining the call for a decisive shift in climate policy.
Marching to the beat of pounding sound systems, thousands of climate protesters have been bringing their message to the gates of the COP30 climate talks in Brazil.
Chanting and singing 'free the Amazon', demonstrators in host city Belém have been carrying three giant coffins reading Oil, Coal, and Gas flanked by two grim reapers.
Indigenous groups displayed signs reading 'the answer is us' as an inflatable elephant and anaconda weaved through the crowd under the hot sun.
It is the first time since 2021 that protesters have been allowed to demonstrate outside the UN climate talks. The last three took place in countries that do not permit public protest.
We are holding a funeral for fossil fuels, Tuga Cíntia told the BBC. She is from the theatre group Hydra Dance from the Federal University of Pará. I'm here because enough is enough with COP meetings and theory. It's time for us to actually act, she said. Indigenous communities, Brazilian youth groups, and activists from across the world joined the march in their thousands.
As the midday sun intensified, some sought shelter in a petrol station forecourt.
Fossil fuels are still being burned. We know all too well what it's like to live on the frontline of climate change, Brianna Fruean, a climate activist from Samoa, a low-lying island extremely vulnerable to climate change, told the BBC.
We are here after so many COPS, marching for justice, for the end of fossil fuels, Ilan, from the non-governmental organisation 350, who lives in Brazil, said.
Some carried signs reading 'demarcation now', calling for indigenous groups to be given legal ownership of their territories. Hundreds of indigenous groups live in the Amazon and are regarded by experts as the best protectors of biodiversity and forests.
Smaller sister protests have taken place around the world including in the UK. Security was tight at the COP30 venue as police with riot shields guarded the entrance.
On Tuesday protesters carrying signs broke through security lines at the summit, causing minor injuries to two security staff and some limited damage to the venue.
Representation of indigenous voices has been a flashpoint in these talks, with many groups feeling their concerns over deforestation and resource extraction are not being heard.
Negotiations continued at the COP30 talks on Saturday. Nearly 200 countries are meeting to try to make progress on tackling climate change. Little progress was made in the first week of the talks, although some delegations say they are pushing for an agreed strategy to deliver on past promises to move away from using planet-warming fossil fuels.
President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva of Brazil is hosting the talks and chose the city of Belém to focus the world's attention on the Amazon. However, shortly before the talks opened, his government granted permission to the Brazilian state oil company to explore for oil at the mouth of the Amazon.
On Friday, analysis of attendee lists suggested a record number of delegates from fossil fuel companies are attending the meeting.
With the US absent from negotiations, progress has been slow, marking the first time the country has sent no delegation to the talks. Earlier in the week, a group of senior climate leaders called on the summit to ensure the facts about climate change were upheld.
The COP30 talks will continue into next week, focusing on the urgent need for action on climate change.
