Movimiento de Afectados por Represas (MAR) hosted the IV International Meeting of Communities Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis in Belém, Brazil, from November 7 through 12, 2025. (MAR)

The published article is posted on the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) website. Below, we provide the opening excerpt from the piece, written by JTA’s Nona Chai, Lara Aumann, Fernando Tormos-Aponte, and Catalina de Onís.

As thousands gather in Belém, Brazil, over the next two weeks, the testimonials of Indigenous Peoples, frontline workers, and affected communities from all over Earth will reverberate loudly at the IV International Meeting of Communities Affected by Dams and Climate Crisis and the Cúpula dos Povos (The Peoples’ Summit). Some of these experiences and demands to abolish systems of extractivism and exploitation will make it into conversations at the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as COP30.

However, members of the COP30 Presidency and wealthy, high-emitting parties and delegates must not merely include Indigenous Peoples, frontline workers, and fenceline communities in conversations and deliberations. These groups’ experiences and demands must be centered and responded to with bold actions that advance a just transition toward collective liberation.

Read the full piece on NACLA’s website!