BELÉM, Brazil, Nov 15 (IPS) – In the scorching heat and humidity, Canru Pataxo marched with his one-year-old son held tightly in his arms.
Pataxo was among thousands of indigenous people and activists who protested in Belém on Saturday to express their anger and put pressure on world leaders. He attended the protest with his son in the host city of the UN Climate Conference as he fought for his child’s future.
“The importance of having my son here is to show him that I have to protect the future,” he said as he tried to shield his son’s face from the sun. “He is my future; he is the future of my people.”
Pataxo is native to the largest carbon-capturing forest in the world, the Amazon. As world leaders and negotiators decide the future of climate action from the COP30 negotiating rooms, people on the front lines of climate change impacts and activists marched to pressure negotiators to act now.
“I believe that much more needs to be done. The conference is not yet enough to guarantee my son’s future,” Pataxo said. “Its future still depends on what countries do for our environment.”
The climate negotiations are entering their final week. Indigenous communities and climate activists demand climate justice for people, not companies. After COP26 in Glasgow, the host city also saw the largest people’s march. Armed with signs and symbols of a burning earth, they denounced the fossil fuel industry, government inaction and corporate lobbying.
“I think that’s what’s exciting about this COP, that civil disobedience is allowed,” said Timi Moloto, a climate activist from South Africa. “It is vital that we place no limits on how Indigenous peoples achieve our liberation.”
In a recent one Emission Shortfall ReportThe UN Environment Program warned that the world is on track to exceed the 1.5°C temperature limit within a decade and called for urgent action.
This photo essay was published with support from Open Society Foundations.
© Inter Press Service (20251115191921) — All rights reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service
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