COP30: this name refers to the 30ᵉ Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held from November 10 to 21, 2025 in Belém, Brazil. Held for the first time in the heart of the Amazon, this international conference will bring together more than 190 national delegations, heads of state, NGOs, scientists and representatives of civil society to negotiate urgent measures to deal with worsening climate disruption.
This geographic choice marks a turning point: the world’s largest tropical forest becomes both the backdrop and the focus of discussions. Faced with record levels of deforestation, loss of biodiversity and growing pressure from the extractive industries, COP30 aims to redefine the priorities in the fight against climate change by placing the protection of ecosystems at the heart of international commitments.
Curupira: an ancient spirit for the challenges of the future
To embody this decisive edition, Brazil has chosen a figure from indigenous legends: Curupira the mythical guardian of the Amazon rainforest. Far from being a consensual symbol, this character embodies a form of resistance. In Tupi-Guarani tradition, he is depicted as a small man with red hair and upturned feet, capable of outwitting intruders and fiercely defending his territory.
His name, formed from the words “curumin” (boy) and “pira” (body), evokes both childhood and vitality. Curupira is no mere folkloric character: he is deeply rooted in the collective memory of the forest peoples, and his influence extends beyond Brazil’s borders.
In French Guiana, it takes the name Makilili. In Colombia, it becomes Madre Monte. In Ecuador, it’s known as Sachamama, the mother of trees. In the Peruvian Amazon, it is known as Chullachaqui. In Suriname and Guyana, he is referred to as Winti-boskopu or Watramama. All these avatars fulfill the same mission: to protect the forest from predators.
A shared territory, a common emergency
The Amazon covers more than five million square kilometers and crosses nine countries: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. This vast territory is home to some 34 million inhabitants, including hundreds of indigenous peoples, often on the front line of the effects of extractivist policies and the climate crisis.
By choosing Curupira as its official mascot, COP30 is sending out a strong signal: the recognition of ancestral knowledge and local struggles, and the full involvement of Amazonian populations in global debates.
COP30: objectives, tensions and expectations
COP30 promises to be a strategic moment in international climate governance. Several crucial issues will be addressed in Belém:
- ✔️ Implementing a fair energy transition, with concrete support for the most vulnerable populations.
- ✔️ The creation of a global fund to preserve tropical forests, with announced support from China.
- ✔️ The aim is to mobilize $1,300 billion a year by 2035 to finance adaptation to climate change.
- ✔️ Sensitive negotiations around the reduction of fossil fuels, in a country like Brazil, a major oil producer.
These challenges are compounded by strong popular pressure. Brazilian civil society, researchers and indigenous organizations expect ambitious decisions. In this context, Curupira is not just a symbol: it has become the voice of an Amazon that is demanding its place at the negotiating table.
And what about the Caribbean?
The Caribbean territories are participating fully in COP30, as members of the Framework Convention and representatives of the Small Island Developing States. They include Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Why is their presence essential? Because these countries, although low emitters of greenhouse gases, are bearing the full brunt of climate change: increasingly violent cyclones, rising sea levels, water stress, coastal erosion and the collapse of marine biodiversity.
For the Caribbean, COP30 is an opportunity to advocate specific financing mechanisms tailored to their vulnerability, as well as to showcase their often innovative local initiatives in resilience, sustainable agriculture and risk management.
An educational and symbolic device around Curupira
Not every climate conference has had a mascot, but Curupira marks a breakthrough. At COP28, a sea turtle symbolized the fragility of marine ecosystems. But until now, no figure had embodied a protective force rooted in popular belief.
Curupira is to be presented in the form of educational and symbolic objects: posters, educational games, school events and workshops in the “citizens’ villages” running parallel to the official conference. This choice aims to raise awareness of global climate issues among a wider public, especially young people, through a figure from the collective imagination.
Curupira, the Amazon's red alert to the world
Through Curupira, COP30 is reminding us that the answers to ecological crises will not only come from laboratories or ministries. They will also require listening to local communities, recognizing local knowledge and redefining our relationship with living things.
By setting up its debates in the Amazon, COP30 is opening a new chapter. For the Caribbean, as for the Amazonian countries, it’s a question of transforming a long-marginalized voice into a lever for global decision-making. And perhaps by looking Curupira in the eye, leaders will understand that the forest is not asking for charity. It demands respect.
