Originally published by Friends of the Earth International.
The Peoples’ Summit has officially closed in Belém, Brazil, with the handing of the final declaration to the COP30 presidency. Over 24,000 participants across hundreds of movements are committed to fighting the drivers of the climate crisis, including militarism and capitalism. United, movements advanced the already-existing real solutions to the crisis that are built daily in territories through agroecological practices, community forest management, solidarity economies, Indigenous protection of biodiversity, food sovereignty, and traditional practices of water and forest care.
“The Peoples’ Summit has been a historical convergence of peoples and movements. We are in the thousands, but we represent millions. Here in the Amazon, people came together just as the rivers here do. We’ve made it clear that the answers to the unprecedented environmental crises we are facing today will come from the roots of our peoples. In the face of the destruction wrought by the climate crisis and war, we’re here fighting for life.”
Kirtana Chandrasekaran
Friends of the Earth International
The Peoples’ Summit Final Declaration was announced following a global day of action on 15 November in which participants called for “Climate Justice Now – For the end of false solutions and in defence of the real solutions from the territories.”
“We marched alongside 60,000 people from hundreds of feminist, peasant, Indigenous and environmental movements as part of the Peoples’ Summit to raise the call for transformative change and bring forward the real solutions to the crises we see today. As the UN climate negotiations (COP30) drag on, they are increasingly infested with corporate lobbyists pushing false solutions, and communities are being pushed further to the frontlines of the climate crisis. The People’s March followed a joint path toward climate justice, embracing internationalist solidarity with struggles for liberation, from the Amazon to Palestine.”
Lucia Ortiz
Friends of the Earth Brazil
“Around the world, authoritarian and neoliberal regimes, the far right and fascism are dismantling peoples’ rights, attacking democracy and exacerbating the climate crisis to benefit corporate power. This is an interconnected system of systemic violence and oppression. We are
opposing imperialism and war, occupation and genocide. We mobilise in internationalist solidarity to defend emancipatory political projects, territories and the right to a just future with environmental, social, economic and gender justice.”
Danilo Urrea
Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC)
As in the declaration, Friends of the Earth International and allies have expressly opposed false solutions to the climate crisis that perpetuate harmful practices, create risks for peoples and divert attention from the real solutions brought forward by communities.
“A new economic and energy system must serve life, not profit. We’re demanding a feminist and just energy transition that guarantees land, decent work, and public services for all. And this is part of our broader fight for system change and putting power back in the hands of the peoples. We know that the only path to a just and livable future is built by the peoples, united in internationalist solidarity.”
Nerisha Baldevu
Friends of the Earth Africa
“For decades, corporate power has carved open our lands and territories—stealing resources, poisoning ecosystems, and taking the lives and livelihoods of our people. Yet today, these same corporations are invited to the negotiating table, pushing false solutions that deepen the very crises they created. We reject every scheme that turns forests, rivers, soils, and the climate into commodities for profit. Real climate justice is possible only when communities reclaim full rights over their lands, territories, and food systems- when peoples’ sovereignty replaces corporate capture”
Sarath Cheloor
Friends of the Earth India
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Media contacts
Ghislaine Fandel // ghislaine[at]foei.org // @FoEint // In Belém 8-23 November
