Martina, you are in Belém to monitor the negotiations with the human rights lens, representing Human Rights International Corner and Women7 Italy. The official narrative has portrayed this Cop30 as the turning point event for the original peoples, the “Amazon Cop.” Is that what you are seeing in the field?
“The truth is that there are jarring contradictions. It has been sold as the indigenous Cop within the Amazon, but new concessions to drill in the Amazon itself have just been granted by Brazil. There is a lot of indigenous washing: the indigenous presence is publicized in the city, but they often remain outside the decision-making tables. It is not just a symbolic issue, but one of democratic access: although more than 500 indigenous experts arrived in Belém, only a fraction were given passes to access the Blue Zone, the area where the actual negotiations take place.”
Yet mobilization outside the buildings has been massive. Has the pressure of the public square succeeded in chipping away at this wall of exclusion?
“Something is moving. After the march of tens of thousands organized by CúpuladosPovos, the civil society counter-summit, institutions had to respond. Environment Minister Marina Silva and Cop President officially met with protest leaders to receive their recommendations. Even historical figures like Chief Raoni have had direct talks with key negotiators, including those from the European Union.”
Let’s move on to another hot and underreported front: gender rights. The renewal of the Gender Action Plan is being discussed, but it seems that the clash between conservative and progressive countries is total.
“Absolutely. The devil is in the details of language. The dispute is over single words that change the substance of protections. For example, there is debate about disaggregated data: conservative countries push for a binary view, collecting data only by biological sex (man/woman), while civil society and progressive blocs call for including gender identity and sex-affective orientation. Our demand as a Constituency is clear: we do not want to be just an item to be mentioned in the text, but we demand an intersectional approach that permeates every climate solution, from adaptation to transition.”
To conclude, there is persistent talk of splitting the final text into two parts to avoid the failure of the negotiations. What can you tell us about that?
“I confirm that the Cop chair has proposed this negotiating solution to break the impasse: divide the text into two packages. A first package for the issues on which there is unanimous agreement and a “B package,” a container for the controversial points where precisely gender issues are likely to end up. But we are used to the twists and turns, everything is decided at the last moment. We will continue lobbying to ensure that rights do not fall into oblivion.”
