As the UN COP29 climate conference concludes, Peace Brigades International turns its attention to COP30 in Brazil

Published by Brent Patterson on November 22, 2024

Image: Logo of COP30 in Brazil.

The United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) 29 climate conference is scheduled later today (November 22) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

On September 10, 2024, Global Witness highlighted: “At least 1,500 defenders have been killed since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on 12 December 2015” at the conclusion of the COP21 climate conference.

More than five years ago the United Nations Human Rights Council affirmed: “Human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement.”

And yet this 42-word sentence has still not made its way into the final text of any of the subsequent COP climate conference final texts.

An article by Cape Town, South Africa-based Natural Justice on a COP29 side event held on November 20 titled “Recognizing, Protecting, and Empowering Environmental Defenders” seems to suggest there may have been a moment of progress.

That article notes: “This is the first time in COP history that the COP has included language on defenders, but regrettably the reference in the gender text is bracketed along with other refences to human rights.”

The “draft negotiating texts”, including on “COP agenda item 14 Gender and climate change”, released yesterday (November 21) do not appear to include any reference to environmental defenders.

Center for International Environmental Law tweeted on November 21: “The new text of the Gender Work Program at #COP29 is glaringly incomplete without … protection of women environmental human rights defenders. This is unacceptable!”

On November 16, Camilla Pollera of the Center for International Environmental Law had commented: “The blatant attempts to eliminate reference to the protection of environmental human rights defenders and human rights is especially alarming.” Floridea Di Como of CambiaMO also noted that references to land and environmental human rights defenders were being taken out of the text.

At the PBI-Canada-organized webinar on the COP16 biodiversity conference a month ago, UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst suggested that there are States that block the inclusion of this reference.

Forst stated: “There are people who are willing to push for good results and at the same time we know that we also have people who are not our allies who are pushing also for counter-results and trying to delete paragraphs and good wording that some of us, some of them, would like to introduce.”

He further noted: “[Many participants] feel not respected and their voices are not heard when they try to introduce new language in the outcome document, when they are meeting with delegations to try to push for wording, then we have the same usual suspects who block the discussions.” 

Despite these very real obstacles, Peace Brigades International is committing to intervene in collaboration with the defenders we accompany at the United Nations COP30 climate conference that will take place from November 10 to 21, 2025 in Belém, Pará, Brazil. Stay tuned for updates on this work.