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Dozens of people from around the world, including Indigenous leaders, climate activists, and community leaders on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, brought solar panels and a giant banner created by renowned Brazilian artist Mundano to the doors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty) in Brasília. Ashes from the wildfires in the Amazon were used to create the 30ft artwork banner with the words “Brazil, lead the just energy transition at COP30.”
The action called for a direct response to a letter delivered to the COP30 presidency during the Free Land Camp (Acampamento Terra Livre, in Portuguese), signed by over 180 organisations from around the world and thousands of individuals from 98 countries in an online petition. The letter demands that ending fossil fuels, ensuring a just energy transition, and centering Indigenous and traditional leadership be core priorities at COP30.
Participants in the action are attending the event “Renew Our Power” this week, organised by 350.org, an international climate activism and community organising group advocating for a just energy transition. The gathering brings together over 200 climate leaders from more than 70 countries in Brazil, aiming to boost community renewable energy projects – a strategic milestone on the road to COP30.
Cacique Jonas Mura, Indigenous leader from the Amazon, said: “At this COP30 in our home, the Amazon, Brazil needs to show that it is the climate leader it wants to be. Instead of wanting to exploit oil, and instead of continuing to be one of the world’s main oil exporters, Brazil needs to lead the way towards the end of the fossil era and the beginning of a just and popular energy transition.
“We Indigenous people are the guardians of the planet. We need our lands demarcated, respect and space to speak and decide, but we know that as long as there is oil, we won’t have that. As long as we keep burning the planet with fossil fuels, there will be no real solution.”
Mundano, Brazilian artivist, said: “Artivism is an essential tool for tackling the climate emergency, because numbers and data no longer seem to impact people. Neither do collapsing landscapes or even extreme weather events such as heatwaves, severe droughts or unprecedented floods seem to be awakening the collective conscience.
“Artivism comes in as another language – sometimes more playful, sometimes more direct – capable of reaching people in other ways, generating reflection on the seriousness of the climate crisis and the urgency of action.”
Savio Carvalho, 350.org Head of Regions, said: “We’re here representing not only the hundreds of people gathered in Brazil to build a renewable future but those all over the world demanding climate justice. As COP30 hosts, Brazil has the opportunity to lead and implement the commitments made at previous UN climate negotiations – transition rapidly away from fossil fuels and triple renewable energy by 2030.”
Portia Adu Mensah, 350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon (GROC), said: “Communities on the frontline of the climate crisis need guaranteed access to safe, clean and reliable renewable energy. We need an urgent halt of fossil fuel projects like the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline which is destroying the planet and people’s communities.”
Serena Mendizábal, Sacred Earth Canada, said: “When envisioning new energy systems, we must ensure that our communities are not further excluded by climate policies or harmed by extractivism. We stand with our relatives who are fighting for their rights, defending the land, and leading the way forward. Indigenous wisdom and ingenuity are critical for combatting the climate crisis at COP30 and beyond.”
