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They were there to celebrate a community from around the world at a gathering of activists, organizers, environmentalists and Indigenous groups, outside the halls where world leaders are discussing climate change for the next two weeks. Their joy came after a brief but tense moment the night before when protesters at the main conference venue, slightly injuring two security guards, according to the U.N.

Many emphasized the importance of making the voice of the people heard after years of these talks being held in countries where civil society is not free to demonstrate.

“The Amazon for us is the space of life,” said Jhajayra Machoa, an A'l Kofan First Nation of Ecuador member of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation, who helped paddle one of the canoes. “We carry the feeling and emotions of everything lived in this place, and what we want is to remember. Remember where we are from and where we’re going and what we want."

Pressing world leaders to keep those who suffer most in mind

The people who are attending the Conference of the Parties, or COP30, have a wide range of hopes for the outcome. This year is different than in past years, because leaders aren't expected to sign one big agreement at the end of it; instead, organizers and analysts have said it's about getting specifics to execute on past promises to act on climate change.

But many of the activists have some goals in common. They want nations to center the needs of historically marginalized communities who with the least resources to adapt. That means And they want to see toward stopping the greenhouse gas emissions, resource extraction and other practices driving the problem.

“When we’re bridging what’s happening in the mind, when we talk about policy, we need to bridge to the heart, and touch our spirit when we do the work,” said Whaia, another member of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation, a Ngāti Kahungunu woman from New Zealand. “It takes both arms, both branches of the tree to really be strong, to be able to find our resilience in this space.”

Activists welcome greater freedom to speak out

The ability to express thoughts and feelings freely is a welcome respite for many arriving in Brazil after being held in countries where governments imposed limitations on free speech and demonstrations.

On Tuesday night, that freedom ran up against security personnel as a group of activists before they were pushed back.

The evolution that needs to happen for the world to take action is "not in the halls of the U.N. COP, but it’s in the streets and it is with our people,” said Jacob Johns, an Akimel O'Otham and Hopi member of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation who witnessed the security breach.

Now is the time to come together, respect each other and reevaluate the systems that govern the planet, said Pooven Moodley of the Earthrise Collective, which brings together activists from different traditions.

For him, the canoes seen in Wednesday's gathering are a metaphor for the situation the world is in with climate change.

“The current canoe we’re in is falling apart, it’s leaking, people are being pushed over, and ultimately we’re heading for a massive waterfall. So the question is, what do we do, because we’re in that reality,” Moodley said. “We have to continue to defend the territories and the ecosystems that we can, but while we do that, we launch a new canoe.”

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