The blog is done for today - here’s what happened on day seven at Cop30
More than 200 human rights and environmental groups have accused the UN climate chief Simon Stiell of encouraging a state crackdown on Indigenous people at the climate talks. The open letter accused Stiell of “creating a chilling effect and a feeling of unsafety for Indigenous peoples, environmental and other human rights defenders, civil society, and activists standing up for their rights.”
Coal giant South Korea joined a group of 60 countries pledging to wean itself off the dirtiest of dirty fossil fuels.
Colombia, a member of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, announced plans to host a first international conference on the phase out of fossil fuels in April next year.
A new UN Environment Programme report showed that emissions of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas, are still rising, though at a slightly slower rate than before.
Vicente Fernandes Vilhalva, an Indigenous Guarani Kaiowá leader, was shot dead on Sunday morning, confirming Brazil’s inglorious record as among the deadliest countries for land rights and environmental defenders.
My colleague Ajit Niranjan will be back with you in the morning for day eight. Until then, get some rest, there’s still a way to go. Descanse um pouco, ainda há um longo caminho a percorrer.
Absolutely terrible news of another Indigenous land defender killed in Brazil.
Vicente Fernandes Vilhalva, a 36-year-old Guarani Kaiowá leader, was shot dead on Sunday morning. Four others were reportedly injured in the attack by a group of armed assailants on Pyelito Kue, a community of Guarani Kaiowá people who recently reoccupied part of their ancestral land in southern Brazil. This is the fourth assault against the Pyelito Kue community in recent weeks, where disputes with ranchers over their ancestral land go back decades, according to Survival International.
A community member speaking anonymously, told Repórter Brasil:
We were surrounded. The gunmen didn’t come to talk, they just started shooting. We have no weapons, we have no chance of defending ourselves. We retreated and went to the village, but they kept shooting…. They burned everything in the reclaimed area: our shacks, pots, chairs...”
A statement by the Guarani Kaiowá organization Aty Guasu said:
We, the Guarani Kaiowá Indigenous peoples, condemn the attacks that took place in Tekoha Pyelito Kue, which resulted in the murder of a leader. Our struggle is for life, for land, and for ‘Tekoha Guasu’ (our complete ancestral territory). We no longer accept being treated as invaders on our own land.”
Latin America is the deadliest region in the world for land rights and environmental defenders, accounting for 82% of those killed in 2024 - including 12 in Brazil, according to Global Witness.
The killing of Vicente Fernandes Vilhalva comes amid mounting anger at the deployment of armed security forces to the Cop30 venue in response to Indigenous-led peaceful protests demanding to have their struggles over land and water be heard.
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