Protesters Demand Accountability and Action for Global Crises

Rio de Janeiro, November 16, 2024

Prior to the opening of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, protesters organized mass demonstrations to highlight their demands and hold the leaders of the G20 accountable for the climate crisis, violation of Indigenous rights and escalating global poverty and displacement. Actions took place for the duration of the Summit forcefully demanding the leaders at the Summit take steps to end genocide against the Palestinian people.

Kleber Karipuna, spokesperson for the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) told the media that they placed giant cutout heads of G20 leaders in Rio de Janeiro's Botafogo Bay to protest global inaction on measures to stop climate change. "In anticipation of the meeting of big global leaders of the G20, we are sinking these heads to represent how these leaders, who head some of the biggest economies in the world, are failing to face climate change," he said.

This action was the launch of an Indigenous mobilization towards the 30th Climate Conference (COP30), which is set to be held in Belém, Brazil next year. In their call, the activists note:

"We, the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, in the face of the gravity of the climate crisis, know that the time to act is now.

"We know who is setting the planet on fire and we feel the devastating impacts in our territories and our lives: severe drought, forced isolation, diseases, lack of food, invasions, conflicts, and deaths.

"With the imminent collapse of living conditions in the world, strong and effective actions must be taken. There will be no life on a burning planet.

"The climate crisis is also a crisis of leadership and values. We have never given up on defending life, and we will not get lost in empty discussions and sterile commitments."

Another protest organized by Rio for Peace focused attention on the rising levels of poverty in the world. They placed 733 empty plates on Copacabana Beach to represent the 733 million people worldwide who, according to the United Nations, died from starvation in 2023.

Hundreds of protesters, many wearing keffiyehs, marched in support of Palestine. Carrying Palestinian flags and banners, demonstrators chanted slogans as they marched. They demanded that Brazil break diplomatic ties with Israel and that Israel's allies stop arming and enabling the genocide against the Palestinians.

A union activist who participated in the march told media that the protesters represent a contrast to the G20 and its aims and that the march not only stood with the Palestinian people but was demanding action on the climate crisis and against the policies of the super-rich in the G20 who subordinate other nations to their economic policies.

(Democracy Now, Al Jazeera. Photos: medianinja, redstreamnet)

---

This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 11 - November 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5401119.HTM

Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca