Indigenous Protesters Clash With Security at COP30 in Brazil

Dozens of Indigenous protesters clashed with security guards at the COP30 UN climate summit in Brazil on Tuesday, leaving several people with minor injuries in a rare outbreak of violence at the global talks.

In the evening, demonstrators and their supporters broke through security barriers at the main entrance of the conference venue in Belem, sparking scuffles with guards before being pushed back.

A spokesperson for United Nations Climate Change confirmed that the confrontation caused “minor injuries to two security staff and minor damage to the venue.”

“Brazilian and UN security personnel took protective actions to secure the venue, following all established security protocols,” the spokesperson told AFP, adding that calm was quickly restored. Security staff reportedly used tables and chairs to barricade the entrance to the high-level ‘blue zone’, where official negotiations take place.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw a police officer being evacuated in a wheelchair following the clashes. Inside the venue, UN police began asking remaining delegates and staff to evacuate the sprawling site, made up of large air-conditioned tents.

According to João Santiago, a professor at the Federal University of Pará, the confrontation began when Indigenous activists attempted to enter the blue zone to present their demands but were denied entry.

“The Indigenous movement wanted to present its demands inside the blue zone but were not allowed in,” Santiago said.

Maria Clara, a protester with the Rede Sustentabilidade Bahia association, told AFP the group wanted to draw attention to the ongoing destruction of Indigenous lands and ecosystems.

“These voices are ignored,” she said. “They entered the COP30 venue to protest the fact that the COP will end but the destruction continues.”

The March for Health and Climate, which helped organize the larger protest, issued a statement distancing itself from the confrontation.

“The march, which concluded before the COP30 venue, was a legitimate, peaceful, and organized expression of popular mobilization, built through dialogue, responsibility, and collective commitment,” the group said.

A UN spokesperson later confirmed that “the venue is fully secured, and COP negotiations continue as planned.” Brazilian and UN authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

The clash came just days after Brazil’s Minister for Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, said she hoped COP30 would be “the best COP in terms of Indigenous participation.”