COP 30 and Human Rights*

The Conference of the Parties is a multilateral platform on which different nations negotiate actions against climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the basis on which these Conferences are held.

Among its objectives are climate financing, addressing the causes and effects of climate change in the world through international cooperation, as well as reviewing compliance with the commitments made by different nations.

Governments of member countries, international organizations, as well as civil society, companies, scientists and indigenous communities participate.

The decisions made at these meetings influence environmental policies at the national level around the world, so that one of the meetings that caused the greatest impact was COP21, due to the signing of the transcendental Paris Agreement, where nations around the world committed to limit global warming to less than 2 °C.  ideally 1.5 °C.

This year 2025, COP30, held in Brazil, in Belém, is considered a key summit, because it occurs after the planet has exceeded the limit of 1.5 °C of global warming, so that this multilateral environmental meeting marks a turning point in climate action, establishing a new phase of climate change.  where global warming has exceeded the limit considered safe by the scientific community.

It is important to note that this COP30 (Conference of the Parties) will take place from November 10 to 21, 2025, which is expected to be attended by more than 50,000 attendees, and whose central themes are:

-       Limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C

-       Presenting new national climate action plans

-       Presenting the progress of COP29

-       Adaptation, infrastructure, sustainable cities, circular economy.

On the other hand, climate justice is one of the most important issues of this meeting, because the solution must not only be posed as the reduction of emissions, but also as ensuring that the measures that are established do not generate new inequalities or violate human rights.

In addition, the rights of peasants is another of the topics of this multilateral meeting, so that their rights are respected because they actively participate in the care of the environment and food production.

It is also sought to demand at this COP30 meeting greater protection for environmental defenders, that is, that there be greater legal and political protection for them. Other organizations are also calling for the protection of people's human rights in the face of the climate crisis.

Thus, this Conference of the Parties reminds us that the right to a healthy environment is fundamental, as well as the defence of the rights of people such as peasants as well.

The environment is inevitably linked to the protection of human rights, because the dignity of people must be protected.

The right to a healthy environment is one of the rights that is sought to be implemented in the climate policies of countries.

Vulnerable communities must be protected, because they depend directly on nature, mainly forests and lands. Their participation must be guaranteed and their territories must be protected from deforestation.

COP30 is setting the stage to point out that the climate crisis is not only an environmental problem, but also a human rights problem. Climate change disproportionately affects those who have contributed the least to it.

Thus, this COP30 aims to guarantee the participation of indigenous and peasant communities, as well as to link climate action with human rights.

A very important human right, such as the right to a healthy environment, is promoted for its recognition worldwide, as well as the protection of indigenous and peasant communities. So climate action cannot be separated from social justice.

Thus, Brazil and other countries have a platform for COP30 to be a turning point where climate and human rights come together in the same framework of action.

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