Field Notes: Covering COP30 and the Global Fight for Climate Justice
By Anne Marxze D. Umil
“It was scorching hot that day, but the solidarity—and the people’s clamour for climate justice and for Global North nations to act—was even warmer.”
Was it 30 hours of travel? I lost track of time as we traveled to Belém, Brazil for the 30th Conference of the Parties last November.
Thrilled to be invited by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD) to attend this historic event, I had the opportunity to cover COP30.
Then again, there were second thoughts about this due to the work that would be left behind since the Bulatlat newsroom only has a few full-time staff members.
Truth be told, however, I did want to travel and witness what would unfold on COP 30. I may never have this opportunity again, I said to myself. Besides, it’s Brazil, the gateway to the Amazon!
So, with the approval of the newsroom (and, of course, a little negotiation with the people I left behind in our household), Rachelle Junsay of Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP) and I braved the long trip to the other side of the world for Week One of the two-week conference.
Being a journalist, what I thought about a week before the COP were the possible stories and angles to pursue. Who would be the interesting climate activist to feature? What issues needed more explaining? What format? Who will be there? How extravagant would the Philippine pavilion be amid the typhoon that was currently devastating provinces back home?
On day one, the story for many covering the COP was the ill-prepared venue.
Some pavilions had yet to be set up and the heat as well as lack of proper ventilation made it hard to breathe in some areas.
There was also a slight delay in claiming participants’ tote bags since the computers with the names and codes were not yet at the venue.
But in less than 30 minutes, the computers became available and participants were able to claim their tote bags and the much anticipated (I think) COP freebie, the tumbler.
It was also on day one that people experienced flooding in Belém after a heavy downpour in the afternoon.
As one colleague who got soaked due to rain and flood (in the bus stop area in the COP) said, “Anyare Belém?” (What happened to Belém?).
In the second week, a fire also broke out at the COP venue. Some friends and others who stayed for the second week also attested on their own social media accounts that there were no fire alarms when it happened.
A colleague said people got confused seeing others running outside the venue until they were told to evacuate because of the fire.
But aside from the host country’s lack of preparation, one of the things that also struck me was the presence of indigenous peoples of Brazil.
Even if I didn’t know their language or understand the statements in many of the events I have witnessed, I felt the emotion.
Imagine indigenous people losing their land and livelihood to corporate interests.
At this COP, climate activists from Brazil and other parts of the world also gathered in spaces outside of the venue, where activists and advocates shared experiences and stories of inspiration and motivation to sustain the fight for climate justice.
These are COP do Povos (COP of the People) and the People’s Summit where events were held in Belém’s university and other places apart from the COP venue in Hangar Convention and Fair Center of the Amazon.
The opening of the People’s Summit on November 12 for me was so powerful, seeing different indigenous peoples from all over Brazil showcase their culture.
I tried to somehow understand the chants as well as their speeches, but the local lady I got acquainted with said she also could not understand their language.
She said there are many different tribes all over Brazil, each of them speaking their own languages distinct from the Portuguese and Spanish colonisers.
The organisers of the COP do Povos also made efforts for other nationalities to understand what the locals as well as visitors were saying by providing translators. A true solidarity indeed.
English is not as common in Brazil and I had to download Google translate and turn on my location (not minding digital security at that moment) because I needed to navigate the place on my own and ask the locals for directions.
Although language became a challenge, the locals were patient enough to wait for what I needed to say (because I needed to translate it first through my cellphone).
They were warm toward visitors like us, always smiling and willing to help. Yes, English is just a language. It’s true when they say “have faith in humanity.”
I focused my coverage on what Bulatlat usually does, focusing on the people-led initiatives.
Civil society organisations in a protest inside the Blue Zone of COP30.
Thus, I concentrated on events held by civil society organisations. The protests condemning imperialist-led wars in Gaza and Sudan (among others), and how other poor nations suffer from the effects of destructive projects in resource rich areas being exploited by multinational companies.
Members of the CSOs stressed that it has been 30 years since nations sat down at the first UN Climate Change Conference to talk about solutions and yet no concrete action has come out of these negotiations.
Who benefits more from these negotiations? None other than the countries whose interests are to rake in more profit than taking action.
Note that there were 1,600 fossil fuel and 200 big agribusiness lobbyists at the COP. At the end of the COP, there was no roadmap to transition away from fossil fuel (Read: No climate justice in COP30). The irony, right?
There are also many ironies in holding the climate summit in Brazil.
While the country faces increasing deforestation and severe environmental degradation of its rivers, the Kick Big Polluters Out analysis observed that fossil fuel trade associations were strongly represented at the summit.
Brazil was among the top 10 countries with the largest trade association presence.
COP30 also saw the largest indigenous participation in the history of the UN climate summits, according to the COP organisers.
At least 5,000 indigenous individuals were present in Belém, 900 to 1,000 were accredited delegates by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). But there were indigenous people who also had to assert their involvement in the COP, saying they must have a voice in the climate negotiations. (Read COP30 in the Amazon: A peoples’ COP without the peoples)
Uniformed men seen in front of the COP venue.
After indigenous peoples broke through the security of the COP venue, uniformed men were seen both inside and outside the venue the following day and the days that we stayed in Brazil, which was until November 15.
Rachelle quipped the heavy security presence was “like [Brazil] living up to its record of among the deadliest countries for environmental defenders.”
COP30 saw one of the largest mobilisations for the Global Day of Action on November 15.
Groups in Brazil showed force by mobilising thousands of their members. Filipino climate activists also marched carrying the demand of many Global South nations to put money in climate reparations, not for war and occupation.
What an amazing manifestation of solidarity – mobilising thousands and amplifying demands to hold Global North nations accountable and to fulfill their obligations.
It was scorching hot that day, but the solidarity—and the people’s clamour for climate justice and for Global North nations to act—was even warmer.
A snap on the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice, 15 November 2025.
On that day, the pessimist in me somehow vanished as I also became hopeful. As Cleng Fulve, secretary general of progressive scientists group Agham, put it, another world is possible because the power comes from the people.
There is still too much to learn and understand in this space like the jargon, themes, treaties and other agreements. There are many stories to tell as well as voices that need to be heard even if the COP has been existing in the past 30 years.
What can I do? Do I separate myself from the people’s struggles? Is amplifying the voice of the marginalised enough or examining papers and reporting them out for the people to understand?
Should I limit myself to the journalist’s role of just telling the story?
All of us should be involved in any way we can. As many climate advocates said, there is no Planet B.
