Voices from the Streets of Blem: Thousands Rally for Urgent Climate Action at COP30

To kick off our week of coverage from the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, we play video of a major protest that took place Saturday, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the host city Belém to demand urgent climate action. The Indigenous-led action was the first major climate protest at a United Nations climate conference since 2021; protests were banned by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, the three previous host countries. Demonstrators denounced corporate greed, war and imperialism, while demanding urgent action to reduce use of fossil fuels and to respect Indigenous sovereignty. "The answer is us," said Lucía Ixchíu, a Maya K'iche' environmental defender. "We know that we have the solutions."