Amid Indigenous protests, Lula says COP30 will be ‘The Best’
30 de January de 2025
By Ana Pastana – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), stated this Thursday, the 30th, during a press conference at the Planalto Palace, that Brazil will provide “the best” United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30) in history. The event, set to take place in November in Belém, the capital of Pará, is the world’s largest climate conference, bringing together heads of state, environmental experts, and organizations.
His statement comes amid a standoff between Indigenous peoples and the government of Pará, led by Lula’s ally, Governor Helder Barbalho (MDB). For 16 days, Indigenous people from various ethnic groups have occupied the headquarters of the State Secretariat of Education (Seduc-PA), demanding the dismissal of the current Secretary of Education of Pará, Rossieli Soares, and the repeal of Law 10.820/2024. The law, passed by Barbalho in December last year, threatens Indigenous education in Pará.
“We held the most important G20 in the history of the G20, and we are going to repeat the best COP ever held since the first one. We are going to do it in the heart of the Amazon, where no one believed it was possible, where everyone said there was no infrastructure, where people were worried about where attendees would sleep. […] We are going to do it there, in the city of Belém, so people can understand what the Amazon is, see the people who live there, and witness the grandeur of the Amazon’s nature”, Lula stated.
Lula also highlighted the role of the Amazon’s Indigenous peoples as key participants in the discussions at COP30. According to the head of state, the government expects the climate summit to deliver “something very real.” “There [in Belém], Indigenous people will be there to discuss, quilombolas will be there to discuss, heads of state will be there to discuss, experts will be there to discuss, and we want something very real to determine whether we are serious about climate issues”, he declared.
Indigenous Protest
After a meeting on Tuesday, the 28th, between a delegation of 40 Indigenous representatives and the Governor of Pará, which ended without an agreement regarding the repeal of state law 10.820/2024—which abolishes the Modular Indigenous Education System (Somei), part of the broader Modular Education System (Some)—Indigenous leaders declared that “there will be no COP” unless the law is revoked.
“The governor’s statements indicate that he doesn’t even want to discuss repealing the law; his focus is Indigenous education. He has that speech, he is a cold and calculating man, but he is also human, and at one point, he lost his composure. We made it very clear to him: if there is no repeal [of the law], there will be no COP. Airports will be blocked, railways will not operate, and we will shut down Brazil”, said Cristian Arapiun, a spokesperson for the Tapajós and Arapiuns Indigenous Council (Cita).
The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, visited Belém and joined the Indigenous movement occupying the Seduc-PA headquarters on Monday, the 27th, to listen and help coordinate the meeting with the state governor on Tuesday.
After leaving the meeting with Helder Barbalho without reaching an agreement, Indigenous leaders announced on Wednesday, the 29th, that they would start demanding President Lula’s presence at the site.
COP30 Host City
The President of COP30, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, recently stated that Belém “is not a planned city” and that “many improvements are needed.” In a statement to CENARIUM, the Pará government reported investing “R$ 5 billion in COP30 infrastructure projects, with R$ 1.3 billion from the state treasury, R$ 700 million from Itaipu Binacional, and R$ 3 billion in BNDES financing”, totaling R$ 10 billion in infrastructure investments for the event.
According to the state government, around 30 projects are underway, focusing on sanitation, mobility, and urban development. CENARIUM questioned the progress of these projects, as federal government reports from November last year indicated that some constructions were less than 30% complete. In a statement, the Pará government provided updates on two of the 30 projects.
“The City Park, a space being prepared to host COP30, is now over 70% complete. Built on a 500,000-square-meter area, the park represents one of the largest urban interventions in Belém in the past 100 years. Meanwhile, with 65% of construction finished, the five warehouses of Porto Futuro II are being renovated and will be transformed into a leisure and gastronomy complex, creating a new tourist attraction for the city”, the statement read.