From the heart of Brazil to the world: During COP 30, campaign denounces the socio-environmental crisis facing the peoples of the Cerrado
Have you ever imagined a future where water is a luxury item, a memory of a distant past? A scenario where even the water to quench our thirst needs to be rationed?
This is a constant concern for the National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado. That is why we dedicate our efforts to protecting the waters, territories, and lives of the indigenous peoples and traditional communities that inhabit the Brazilian Cerrado.
Known as the “cradle of waters” of Brazil, the Cerrado is crucial to the survival of our society, supplying 8 of the country's 12 river basins and maintaining a deep connection with other ecological regions. Rainfall in the Amazon, for example, is intrinsically linked to the Cerrado's water storage capacity.
However, over the last four decades, 91% of the watersheds in this ecoregion have suffered a decrease in their natural water surface area. This loss directly impacts water availability, intensifying shortages in more than 300 Brazilian municipalities.
It is urgent to recognize that the Cerrado is immersed in a process of ecocide, which not only decimates its socio-biodiversity and exhausts its rivers and springs, but also threatens, expels, and victimizes the traditional peoples and communities that reside there.
In 2024, the region once again topped Brazil's deforestation rankings, losing 652,197 hectares—more than half of the national total. Of this amount, 75% of the devastation was concentrated in Matopiba (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia).
And those who live with their feet on the ground in the Cerrado know that this destruction is directly related to climate change.
The main culprits responsible for this devastation are national and international companies operating in agribusiness, mining, and natural resource exploitation, as well as foreign states and the Brazilian state itself. Paradoxically, all of these actors are present at COP 30, promoting discourses of supposed sustainable development and false “green solutions.”
Amid the climate crisis and the alarming reliance on false market solutions disguised as actions in favor of the climate and the environment, indigenous peoples and traditional communities from the countryside, waters, and forests continue to be the least heard in debates about the future of the planet. Paradoxically, these are the peoples most impacted by large-scale projects and the process of environmental devastation that is advancing on their territories and destroying our socio-biodiversity.
At COP 30, which will take place from November 10 to 21, 2025, in Belém (PA), this scenario of invisibility is likely to repeat itself. To confront this exclusion and compete for space and narratives, the National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado will be present in Pará, promoting an intense program of activities open to the public in various spaces organized by civil society, such as the People's Summit, the People's COP House, and the House of Socio-Environmental Journalism.
Arson, water crisis, deforestation, and violence in rural areas are some of the topics that will be discussed in the conversation circles and debate tables that are part of the list of activities. The spaces will feature the participation of representatives of traditional peoples and communities from the Cerrado and Amazon regions, as well as researchers, pastoral agents, and members of the entities.
Check out the complete schedule:
11/11
→ 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Launch of the fire prevention and fighting manual prepared by the Cerrado community firefighting brigades.
Location: Casa COP do Povo (People's COP House)
Address: Travessa Piedade, 426, 66053-210, Reduto - Belém (PA)
Organized by: Articulação Agro é Fogo (Activity of the COP do Povo program)
→ 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Roundtable discussion “Eco-Genocide on the agenda: In the wake of fire and drought in the Cerrado, Amazon, and Pantanal”
Location: Casa do Jornalismo Socioambiental (House of Socio-Environmental Journalism)
Address: Casa Carmina - Rua Arcipreste Manoel Teodoro, 864, near Praça da República - Belém (PA)
Organized by: Articulação Agro é Fogo + National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado (Activity included in the Casa do Jornalismo Socioambiental program)
12/11
→ 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Presentation of Partial Data on Conflicts in the Countryside 2025
Location: Alternative Culture Center, São Luís Gonzaga Auditorium. 1st floor of the Santo Inácio Center - Building adjacent to the Lourdes Chapel.
Organization: CPT-PA
→ 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Panel discussion: COP 30 in the Amazon: Paths to protecting territories and tackling climate change
Location: Casa COP do Povo - Covered outdoor area (Ground floor)
Address: Travessa Piedade, 426, 66053-210, Reduto - Belém (PA)
Organized by: Articulação Agro é Fogo, Rede MTI, FGVCES, GEMTI/COIAB, and Coalizão Florestas e Finanças (Activity from the People's COP program)
*There will be an online broadcast: bit.ly/cop30-amz
→ 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Workshop and debate on the Cartography of Dead Waters in Western Bahia
Location: People's COP House
Address: Travessa Piedade, 426, 66053-210, Reduto - Belém (PA)
Organized by: National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado (People's COP program activity)
13/11
→ 8am to 6pm
Participation in the People's Tribunal with presentation of a case representing the Karipuna (RO), Barra da Lagoa (PI), and Quilombo Grotão (TO) indigenous communities
Location: Federal Public Prosecutor's Office
Address: Auditorium – Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, R. Domingos Marreiros, 690 – Umarizal, Belém (PA)
Organized by: COP do Povo
Participation: Articulação Agro é Fogo + National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado
14/11
→ 8am to 2:30pm
Participation in the People's Tribunal with presentation of a case representing the communities of TI Karipuna (RO), Barra da Lagoa (PI) and Quilombo Grotão (TO)
Location: Federal Public Prosecutor's Office
Address: Auditorium – Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, R. Domingos Marreiros, 690 – Umarizal, Belém (PA)
Organized by: COP do Povo
Participation: Articulação Agro é Fogo + National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado
November 14 and 15
→ 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Participation in the Cúpula dos Povos (activities in Axis 1)*
Location: Cúpula dos Povos - Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
Address: R. Augusto Corrêa, 01 - Guamá, Belém (PA)
→ Roundtable Discussion “Climate crisis and water injustice: alternatives to tackle deforestation, fires, and the death of waters” (Link 2)
Organized by: Articulação Agro é Fogo + National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado + FASE + MapBiomas + Ibon International
→ Panel “Feeding life: traditional peoples fighting for climate sovereignty and food security” (Link 18)
Organized by: Articulação Agro é Fogo, Rede das Águas de Coari, and MPA
*The activities at the People’s Summit will take place on November 14 and 15, between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. As soon as the exact date and time of the activity are confirmed by the event organizers, we will update this news item.
More information:
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