The Amazon Forest, Brazil
By Dr Rajendra Singh*
COP30 Sell-Out: Corporate-State Axis Torches Amazon & Adivasis!
Belém: It began in 1972 in Stockholm with the first Earth Summit. We were college kids then, and the word ‘environment’ itself stepped onto the world stage. News reports from that summit first shook us awake. India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stood tall, her voice cutting through: “Environment, nature, and the poor are bound by blood. Eco-harm crushes the poorest first.” She was the pioneer—the first leader to fuse care for forests with care for the forgotten. Governments, she said, owe both. Her legacy? Iron-clad laws to shield jungles and wildlife.
Big corporations smelled danger. “This will kill industry!” they roared. For twenty years, they built their war chest. By 1992, at Rio de Janeiro’s Conference of Parties (COP), their lobby drowned the room.
Yet Rio still echoed with fire. Community leaders—guardians of soil and spirit—thundered for forests, rivers, the panchmahabhootas. The world tried treaties. India’s Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao, matched their heat: “Our day begins with Earth’s apology—Samudravasane Devi Parvatastanamandale | Vishnupatni Namastubhyam Padasparsham Kshamasva Me. We bow to nature as we rise. India honours both creation and creator equally.”
Fast-forward a decade—Copenhagen. Climate change and biodiversity became battle cries. In 2002, Johannesburg, we carried the Earth Charter like a flag. Communities, citizens, institutions—all roared against industrial overreach.
Slowly, “Earth Summit” shrank into “COP.” I’ve walked most corridors since. To stop climate change through climate adaptation and mitigation, we successfully extended the Paris COP21 in 2015 by two days and successfully pushed our slogan, “Jal Hi Jalvayu Hai” (Water Is Climate), to be included as an outcome.
Then came Egypt—COP28. Nearly 200 indigenous voices rose as one: “These summits mock adi gyan (ancient knowledge). No space to listen, to learn, to honour ancient knowing.”
Now, Brazil—COP30. Here, because of Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva, I have got the chance to put my points. Minister Marina Silva opened a door. I stepped in. The venue? Belém—carved from the jungle, trees felled to host the “green” circus. Irony drips.
Amazon, Earth’s grand lung, bleeds. Once, its rivers were sung. Today, deep inside the green dark, luxury hotels and baby cities sprout like weeds. Locals’ life-cycles—tuned to monsoon, fruit, flood—lie broken. Encroachment is the new king. Brazil must demand Amazon laws here, now, in this COP.
On November 5, I landed at Belém airport. We drove 100 kilometres through the heart of the jungle and reached a hotel. They gave me Room 1—the topmost room in the building. That evening, I held a meeting with several environmental activists.
On November 6, at 6 a.m., I arrived at the grand City Hall of Ananindeua Municipal Corporation. Environmental activists from across the world had already gathered there. We held a strategy session on how to push the issues of the environment and people with full force inside the COP. We discussed at length how to bring *comunidade de paz*, forests, water, and society to the forefront and how to save the jungles.
Truth cracked open: COP is theatre. Big industry scripts the play. “Democratic” governments? Puppets on corporate strings. A toxic triad—industrialists, state, capital—declares war on forests and First Peoples. COP is broken. The fix? Indigenous knowledge process—sensitive, rooted, alive. Adopt it.
I planted a seed idea: Link nature and culture like roots and soil. Rise against the greedy triad peddling doomsday growth. Work in rhythm—destroy harm, birth harmony. Launch satyagraha against eco-killers. Only then does nature breathe strength.
This path feeds arthiki (economy) and paristhiti (ecology). It births green jobs. Go global—or COP stays deaf.
On November 7, Mayor Daniel Santos, the Deputy Senator, and movement activist Jessica Barveja addressed us. They said that they are running agitations to stop the wrongdoings in Brazil and that my voice is also being heard. Minister Masa Lopias spoke next. She said the Lula government is doing immense work for nature and the environment, and the entire government is engaged in saving the Amazon.
True—but the development river runs poisoned. No nature-culture yoga. Modern farms choke rivers; dread diseases stalk villages.
Brazil should look east. In India, the common man still guards the mool atma (soul) of the seed against MNC claws. Brazil’s corporates stole that birthright. India holds it still. This is the time for South-South thunder. Demand biodiversity laws. Use COP’s stage—roar for nature-culture unity. Nations must draft geo-cultural maps. Turn education into vidya—wisdom, not just data.
Tarun Bharat Sangh walked this talk: 50 years, 23 dead rivers reborn. That’s climate adaptation lived. Scale it worldwide—through people’s bodies, not boardrooms. Peaceful revolution + creation + satyagraha = COP conquered.
We elect leaders to craft a lush tomorrow. Today, they dance in industrialists’ pockets. Nature and culture burn at turbo speed.
To save both, yank politicians from corporate laps. That is COP’s true mandate. United, we’ll make Vinoba Bhave’s cry ring: Jai Jagat.
*Well-known water conservationist and a recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize.
Excellent
Challenges in Environmental Reforms:
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A sustained struggle rajendra ji. We are inspired by you. We are with you to fight for water, soil, air, forest with community.