Hannah Eves – a Christian climate campaigner who also works for Tearfund – was selected for the Christian Climate Observers’ Programme and travelled to Brazil for COP30. Last month, she shared her hopes for COP30 with Operation Noah; this month, she shares her insights from the UN climate summit.
COPs are always very intense, this one was no exception. Hosted in the Amazon, the weather certainly reflected the location with a heavy heat and rain storms every afternoon.
I stayed with the Christian Climate Observers’ Programme which supports young people at the beginning of their careers to learn how UN climate summits work. This was a brilliant experience. It was very encouraging to be surrounded by people of faith, praying for strong outcomes for people and for the planet and coming together in fellowship.
We stayed on the Brazilian Bible Society’s boat over the two weeks, which was an amazing part of the adventure of COP30. It was really incredible to have that trans-Atlantic fellowship, and the boat was a very fun setting from which to go into the main summit.
Faith communities were active in and around COP30: Tapiri, an inter-religious and ecumenical coalition, met as part of the People’s Summit, which was an alternative grassroots summit taking place outside of the formal UN summit. There, people discussed issues of climate justice and indigenous rights. I had the privilege of joining the boat parade along the Amazon River, marking the opening of the People’s Summit. This was one of the most moving parts of the two weeks as we joined a huge fleet of boats sailing alongside the city of Belém.
People like to ask, what gives you hope when it comes to the climate? It can feel like COPs are so slow and progress is so marginal, but I always feel so encouraged by all of the people there – the faith communities showing solidarity with those most impacted by climate breakdown, the innovators doing really exciting things, and civil society always making our voices known and felt. I also feel very encouraged by all those who have prayed over these weeks.
It was deeply disappointing to see the roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels excluded from the final text. One thing that is really worth catching up on from the closing plenary is Columbia’s intervention: they spoke truth to the power gathered at COP30 and called out the lack of courage which kept fossil fuels from the final text. If this was the COP of truth, as Lula called it to be, theirs was the most powerful call to truth over the two weeks.
It was, however, deeply encouraging to see a Just Transition in the final text, as this was something civil society was campaigning hard on during the two weeks. It shows that movements can make a difference in these spaces. A Just Transition is about making sure that people who live by or work in polluting industries are supported in the transition to a green economy – that no one is left behind as we make the change we need to make for a fairer, greener world.
The progress on finance was less ambitious than we’d hoped; while there has been a tripling of adaptation finance, this is only a drop in the bucket of what communities need. We can definitely celebrate the inclusion of a package to deliver on a ‘just transition’ in the final text. A welcome step in the right direction, it will help ensure that people working in and living alongside polluting industries are supported with sustainable, dignified jobs and livelihoods as we shift to a green economy. This was an issue that many organisations and community groups campaigned hard on during the two weeks, so it was significant to see it included in the final text.
Yet without a concrete plan to transition away from fossil fuels, we cannot hope to avoid worsening climate catastrophe and deliver justice for communities living with the impacts of climate change. As such, the issue of fossil fuels remains the dinosaur in the room at every climate summit.
