_Belém (PA), November 18, 2025_ – In a parallel event echoing the success of the People’s Summit, the voices of frontline communities from Brazil and around the world came together to discuss the Final Declaration of the popular meeting. The panel served to reinforce the message: the solution to the climate crisis is already in the territories, and the role of the COP30 delegates is finally to listen and act.
The People’s Summit, which brought together more than 24,000 participants and culminated in the historic Global March of 70,000 people in Belém, positioned itself as the true stage for Climate Justice.
The letter
Auricélia Arapiun, from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), was forceful in giving the political meaning of the document delivered to the negotiators: “This letter from the summit is the letter that holds up so the sky doesn’t fall.”
The Indigenous leader denounced the lack of ambition of governments and the ongoing violence against the guardians of the forest. Citing the celebration of the demarcation of 20 Indigenous Lands in Brazil, she stressed that it is necessary to advance even further in the face of the great conflicts experienced by Indigenous peoples.
“It is not enough just to demarcate. It is also necessary to protect. It is necessary to protect those who protect.”
She recalled that the killing of Indigenous leaders is a genocide that is escalating in Brazil, with more than 200 deaths recorded in one year, and demands that international treaties such as ILO Convention 169 be effectively considered by governments.
Nilce Pontes, from the National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Quilombola Black Communities (CONAQ), argued that the outcome of the People’s Summit demonstrated the capacity for mobilization and confrontation of climate injustice.
Nilce reinforced the exclusion of Indigenous peoples from negotiation processes and the need for the defense of the environment to include the individual. “Without territory, it is impossible to discuss climate change, adaptation, and resilience,” she declared.
Popular pressure as a factor for change
The event also served to chart the way forward. Jesus Vazquez, from La Via Campesina, emphasized the need for an analysis that highlights the vulnerability of the most affected people – the working class and those on the margins – and that points the finger at those truly responsible for the crisis: “international corporations” and “imperialist governments.”
Moderator Pablo Neri (MST) celebrated the success of the Summit – including the Global March, the Boat Parade, and the Banquet, which served more than 300,000 agroecological meals – and the collective satisfaction with the work done.
The final message, echoed by Auricélia Arapiun, is one of unity and clarity: “We have only changed address, but we are in the same village. Therefore, our problems are the same. And the answer lies within us.” The Summit Declaration is seen as the clear “solution” for humanity, now depending on the political will of governments to accept it and ensure the effective participation of the people in the decisions.