Frustration boiled over at the United Nations climate talks in Belém, Brazil, as protesters briefly occupied parts of the negotiating area on Tuesday evening. The incident highlighted deeper tensions in the COP30 process, where bureaucratic rules and inequalities hinder urgent climate action. Talks resumed the next day after minor injuries and temporary closures.
The first week of COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, has been marked by exhaustion and slow progress, as delegates navigate stifling bureaucratic procedures disconnected from the climate crisis. On Tuesday evening, scores of protesters pushed past security guards and occupied sections of the Blue Zone, demanding an end to mining and logging in the Amazon. UNFCCC officials reported two minor injuries, with parts of the venue temporarily closed for cleanup and security checks. The United Nations and local police are investigating, but negotiations resumed on schedule Wednesday morning.
The group Juventude Kokama OJIK shared a video of the occupation on Instagram, framing it as resistance against exclusion. “They created an ‘exclusive’ space within a territory that has ALWAYS been Indigenous, and this violates our dignity,” the group wrote. “The demonstration is to say that we will not accept being separated, limited, or prevented from circulating in our own land. The territory is ancestral, and the right to occupy this space is non-negotiable.”
This disruption contrasted sharply with the conference's routine, where delegates pass through metal detectors amid espresso kiosks, resembling an office expo rather than urgent climate talks. Sociologist Danielle Falzon of Rutgers University, whose research spans COPs since 2016, attributes the lack of progress to the UNFCCC's corporate-like structure. “I’d like to go to the negotiations and see people taking seriously the urgency and the undeniability of the massive changes we’re seeing,” she said. Falzon notes that the process mirrors global inequalities, with well-resourced teams from wealthy nations dominating while smaller delegations from developing countries struggle to keep up.
“Everyone is exhausted, but people from smaller delegations are just trying to keep up,” Falzon added. The system prioritizes consensus and procedure over outcomes, producing new texts and programs rather than emissions reductions. Climate communications researcher Max Boykoff of the University of Colorado Boulder argues that framing climate issues scientifically since the 1980s has sidelined emotional and experiential perspectives, ritualizing negotiations to their detriment. Notifications for events like the “High-Level Ministerial on Multilevel Governance” exemplify this technocratic language. “What we really need,” Boykoff said, “is to shake it up, to create spaces that let people reflect, feel, and engage in new ways.”