As it is my first COP, I walked in with quite the optimism, the hope that I would see some new things. And though I did, simultaneously the same framework I had long recognized replicated itself in front of me.
The false carpet floors sat three inches above concrete, Indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendant panels were drowned out by larger Global North pavilions; the space was treated more like a resume booster than a place for real engagement. Too many spoke about climate only through rose colored glasses, praising false solutions propped up by the oil and agriculture lobbyists.There were just over 1,900 fossil fuel and big agriculture executives/ lobbyists in attendance at this year’s COP according to an investigation by The Guardian and DeSmog.
And so I realized something: the global climate conversation is unique from the one happening in the United States, but the variable of difference lies not in exploitation, not in silence, but in the sheer magnitude of individuals. The scale shifts, but the pattern remains.
The rain bellowed at the Indigenous Peoples pavilion amid the demand for the recognition of Afrodescendants and the need for a constituency. Someone called it Thundercats, and the bellow felt like Mother Nature calling out. Here, in the mouth of the Amazon, she called out to us again and again. In Week One the door fell, and territories rose; that movement carried momentum straight into Week Two. My optimism had not faded, but the next battles played out consecutively around me.
The whispers of justice broke like the rain, yet some walked shielded from it, untouched, without a single furrow in their brow.
The United States was apparently absent, yet its impacts and obligations rang through nearly every conversation. And although the United States did not seem to wish to be here, the civil society members from the US stood their ground. We, the civil society, understand the delay the US has caused on justice, the harm multiplied by its shadow, and the obligation grossed by its inadequate and cruel inaction.
Then the panel began, and the Afrodescendant demand for UNFCCC recognition was spoken again. Fire flickered and spread near the pavilions. And in our fervor, we escaped into cramped hallways, and I held a hand tight. Thunder boomed again. This time she gave no warning; she simply let it ring. Videos poured in, and what we could not see became undeniable.
The plastic ceilings and cardboard went as fast as they were produced, and the outside came in. The impermanent build was at war with the soil beneath it; and there was a reckoning for all who walked upon her. Water sprinkled from above with her bellowing reminder, perhaps her reflection of how insufficient the action inside remained.
“More than 300 Big Agriculture Lobbyists Have Taken Part in COP30, Investigation Finds.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Nov. 2025, www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/18/big-agriculture-lobbyists-cop30-climate-summit.
Erika Yamada, Melissa Gómez Hernández. “Afro-Descendant Peoples Seek Climate Justice on the Global Stage.” Ford Foundation, 14 Oct. 2025, www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/afro-descendant-peoples-seek-climate-justice-on-the-global-stage/.
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Gemma Gutierrez is a Youth Advisor to the GoodPower (formally Action for the Climate Emergency) Board and a member of its Youth Advisory Board. Born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, in a tight-knit Mexican community, she learned early the power of words, connection, and collective action. Her work spans climate justice, civic engagement, and immigrant rights through organizations such as Sunrise, Voces de la Frontera, and CUNY’s Environmental Justice Working Group. From voter mobilization in the 2020 election to research on flooding and urban equity, Gemma is committed to linking climate justice and finance to a broader vision of global liberation.
The post Reflecting on COP30 appeared first on Climate Generation.
Next week, diplomats from around the world will descend on Yerevan, Armenia, to negotiate a series of decisions under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Between 19 and 30 October, 196 parties will gather to hammer out the precise wording of the dozens of legal texts that make up the decisions under the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD.
This year’s summit is particularly significant, as it marks the halfway point between the agreement of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the deadline for achieving its targets.
The CBD has found that countries are currently not on track to meet 22 out of the framework’s 23 targets.
During the fortnight, delegates will also be negotiating decisions relating to the two supplemental protocols to the CBD: the Cartagena Protocol, which covers biosafety; and the Nagoya Protocol, which covers access and benefit-sharing for the use of genetic resources.
(The Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols, which are each governed by a “meeting of the parties”, or “MOP”, have fewer parties than the CBD as a whole, with 173 and 141, respectively.)
Carbon Brief is tracking the progress of countries towards consensus on dozens of negotiating texts using the interactive table below.
The tracker includes texts from the COP, as well as the MOPs for the Cartagena and Nagoya protocols. It also includes draft decisions from the most recent subsidiary body meetings, as these form the starting point for the negotiations in Yerevan.
The CBD has three subsidiary bodies: the subsidiary body on scientific, technical and technological advice (SBSTTA), the subsidiary body on implementation (SBI) and the subsidiary body on article 8(j) and other provisions (SB8J).
SB8J focuses on issues related to the Indigenous peoples and local communities. It was established at COP16 in Cali, Colombia, in 2024.
The first two columns of the interactive tracker list the topic of each agenda item and the relevant body, with subsequent columns including dates, page counts and links to the original documents.
The table is searchable and can be sorted using the arrows in the header.
Areas of disagreement in UN draft texts are denoted by square brackets. Counting the brackets in a particular iteration of a text therefore gives a sense of how far parties are from reaching consensus.
The bracket column is colour-coded, with dark green indicating a low number of brackets and red indicating a high number of brackets remaining.
Texts can also present parties with choices using “options” or alternatives (“alt”), which are counted together in the sixth column of the table.
The key discussions in Yerevan will centre around two agenda items in particular. The first is the global review, which will assess progress towards the GBF and make recommendations for accelerating action.
The second is finance, which can be separated into two parts: resource mobilisation and the financial mechanism. On resource mobilisation, biodiverse global south countries are likely to push for an increased amount of international finance for conservation.
Disagreement over the creation of the financial mechanism led to the suspension of COP16 in Cali in October 2024, as parties failed to find agreement on the mobilisation of finance before the end of the summit.
Global south countries want the establishment of a separate financial mechanism under the control of the CBD; global north countries largely prefer to maintain the existing mechanism, which sits under the Global Environment Facility.
At the resumed session of COP16 in Rome in early 2025, countries agreed on a roadmap that would lead to the establishment of a permanent mechanism.
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The post Interactive: Tracking negotiating texts at the COP17 biodiversity summit appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Interactive: Tracking negotiating texts at the COP17 biodiversity summit
A beacon of love
On an outer island of Fiji, two thousand nautical miles from Sydney, is a shining light of hope and resilience for our troubled world.
The island of Kioa is home to a Tuvaluan community who migrated from their atoll of Vaitupu in the late 1940s. It is a land of warm hearts, big smiles, and deep cultural roots; a place where the sound of a conch still summons the island together, where islanders paddle out to fish in carved outrigger canoes, and healthy happy children walk barefoot to school.
Here, culture is life. Kioans live sustainably through their traditional knowledge and practices. The island is alive with song, dance and the rhythms of a life tied to the tides, the winds, and the seasons.
Facing the future
Greenpeace has been lucky to have a relationship with Kioa for a number of years now, and we are continually learning from this remarkable community.
Last week, as part of our Voyaging Oceania project, we returned to the island. Our purpose was twofold —- to carry messages from the island to leaders gathering in Nadi this week for the Pacific Pre-COP, and to support the Kioa community in their efforts to improve water security for the island.
Unlike Tuvalu itself, with its eight atolls, Kioa is a mountainous, forested and richly fertile island. It will remain habitable far into the future. Kioans did not initially migrate from Vaitupu due to climate change, but the move was prophetic. They now have a lifeboat.
However, even Kioa faces challenges on our rapidly warming planet, in particular when it comes to water. Climate change is shifting once reliable rainfall patterns. On top of this, the island is already feeling the effect of this year’s intensifying El Niño event, which for Fiji means reduced rainfall and prolonged dry spells.
Right now, fresh water has to be carefully rationed, and is only available for a few hours a day. During last week’s visit aboard our campaigning ship Oceania, Greenpeace was privileged to work with the Kioa community on a new solar-powered water distribution project for the island.
Designed and led by the island, the project involves using a solar pump to move water from a reliable source to a storage tank and then using gravity to distribute the water around the village.
It was a lesson in how local knowledge and ingenuity can be the backbone of today’s climate solutions. To build a dam around the source, the local community knew the exact spot where they could gather gravel at low tide to mix with the cement. They took only what was needed, knowing that all resources must be carefully conserved. Kioa has no roads and no machinery, and it was an all-of-island effort to carry the materials up to the project site, including many heavy bags of sand and rock.
Such projects truly bring to life the vision of a resilient, locally-led, fossil fuel free Pacific.
Gallery photos taken by Raeed Ali, Pacific Community Mobiliser at Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Voices of wisdom
During our four precious days on Kioa, Greenpeace’s Pacific team sat with the island’s elders as they shared stories and experiences for us to carry with us to the Pre-COP. During a fun filled morning at the island’s school, Kioa’s children shared what they love about their life on Kioa and what they want to see nourished and protected. They wrote these messages on flags which will fly proudly from Oceania in Nadi.
It is hard to describe the warmth and generosity we experienced once again in Kioa. Meals were lovingly prepared for us, each one the product of many hours and many hands needed to fish, to grow, and to prepare. In the evenings we were entertained with traditional songs and dances, each one pulsing with an indescribable energy. For Kioans, these rituals are of course more than entertainment. This is how they have encoded and kept alive countless generations’ worth of traditional knowledge, and the wisdom that has enabled them to flourish sustainably and peacefully.
We are now sailing on to Nadi, inspired by the warmth and wisdom of Kioa, and determined to help take the voice of Pacific climate justice to the world.
A visit to Kioa is a reminder of what life can and should be. It is a reminder of what we are all fighting to protect. It is a reminder of the power of local knowledge and culture, and of listening to those on the climate front line. And it’s a reminder that tackling climate change is above all about building community, and respecting and loving each other.