ACTION · Using giant books as protection at the COP30

At the end of 2025 the UN climate summit called COP30, took place in Belém in the Amazon, a frontline of ecological destruction and indigenous resistance. To protest during this gathering in a safe and impactful way, activists needed creative tools to protect themselves with, so that they can still make their voices heard and build international visibility. As BookBloc’s (oversized books as shields) have already been used with much success in The Netherlands, the strategy was adapted by the BookBlocBrigade and Brazilian movements for the COP30.

This action was funded by the Climate Justice Grants.

The book-shaped shields are both symbolic and protective, they enable safer, more powerful and very visible protests.

The project, partly funded by the Climate Justice Grants of Het Actiefonds, took place between the 21st of October and the 21st of November. First the action groups visited radical bookshops in São Paulo to select Portuguese titles that are grounded in local context. In Salvador, around 30 participants helped paint the covers during workshops. Street cleaners even came over and spontaneously helped paint one shield.

The shields were used in the main Climate March and the Indigenous March (where only book covers by Indigenous authors were carried), they were then displayed at the People’s Plenary in the COP30 Blue Zone.

The shields are now with the local activist collective Pororoka, who will organize workshops around them, together with Vaga Lume, a network of libraries across the Amazon region.

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Bookbloc against COP30