COP in the real, unequal, imperfect Brazil

This article was originally written in Portuguese by GlobeScan , Latin America Director, Alvaro Almeida . You can read the original article here.

“There is no Deep Brazil, only shallow thought.

There is no Deep Brazil, only prejudice and delay.”

This is how environmental poet Eliakin Rufino began his speech on Sunday, June 8, at TEDxAmazônia, in Belém. The expression “Deep Brazil” has no clear authorship, but it emerged in the late last century and has been used by writers, sociologists, journalists, and artists to describe the remote and often invisible parts of Brazil, far from the major urban centers—also known as the “grotões.” Eliakin shakes us by exposing the exclusionary weight of the term, which contrasts the cultured from the uncultured, knowledge from ignorance.

The term rests on a concept deeply rooted in Western culture: that the urban and industrialized are “developed,” while the natural or ancestral are seen as backward or uncivilized. The powerful speeches at TedX Amazônia anticipated the true legacy of COP30, the first Climate Conference to be held in the Amazon region: to give global visibility and a stage to the intelligence and wisdom of local peoples. Around 43 million people live in the so-called Pan-Amazon, spanning nine countries—26 million in Brazil alone. This is a population long rendered invisible by prejudices rooted in the colonial era.

It will be at COP30 that the world may finally recognize that the climate crisis is inseparable from nature and communities. The solution to the climate crisis is socio environmental. And this will happen in Belém, in the real, unequal, imperfect Brazil. But perfect to frame the true discussion that leaders from governments, civil society, and the private sector must lead: how to include people in the climate crisis equation.

Belém is not the exotic showcase of Rio de Janeiro, nor the modern bubble of São Paulo. Belém is the real Brazil—and no matter how much it is dressed up for the event, it will still be there: without sanitation, without formal education, without abundant money, but rich in energy, ideas, flavors, hospitality, culture, and connections to the original Brazil. The minimum infrastructure will be in place timely, but it won’t be easy to find where to sleep or how to get there. In truth, it is naïve to celebrate a global conference in the Amazon and expect European infrastructure. And therein lies the beauty of COP30.

It is certain that the official discussions will remain entangled in geopolitical issues and the reluctance of wealthy countries to acknowledge their responsibility for the scale of the climate crisis—and, consequently, for financing the solutions. And it is uncertain how much progress will be made. However, it is also certain that this will be a Conference where civil society will be present with strength and voice—especially the representatives of forest peoples. If COP30 gives us only the opportunity to listen to the voices of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and mixed-race peoples who live in and protect the Amazon, it will already be a major step toward effective solutions. Let us remember that the Conference will also allow for exchanges with African, Asian, and Native Northern peoples, who also hold valuable experiences in their relationship with nature.

By participating in TEDxAmazônia, I (an experienced sustainability consultant) realized that I needed to deconstruct the prejudices passed on to me throughout life in order to truly grasp what COP30 has to offer – and it won’t be found in the air-conditioned meeting rooms. It will be in the humid heat of the streets, where good ideas will flow from the riverbanks, forests, and streams of the Amazon. I recommend that representatives of companies, governments, and multilateral organizations do the same and make listening a top priority during this COP.

And one must go to Belém with the spirit conveyed by the young artist Uritã, from the distant northeast of Pará, when she quoted at TedX Amazônia the activist and quilombola intellectual Nêgo Bispo:

“When we speak in chatter,

And write with broken grammar,

When we sing off-key,

And dance out of beat,

When we paint with smudges,

And draw askew,

It’s not because we are wrong—

It’s because we were never colonized.”