Conference of the Parties (COP)

UUSC Key Messages for COP30

COP30 is being held in Belém, Brazil, from November 10 – 21, 2025, is the first conference after a series of advisory opinions from international courts making clear that countries are obliged under international law to take ambitious action to protect the climate. It is also the first in decades to be hosted by Brazil, home to the Amazon rainforest and a vibrant civil society movement of indigenous human rights and environmental defenders. The theme of the COP is structured around the concept of “multirao“, or collective effort, embracing not only states but all peoples and organizations, in a joint effort to address the crisis. 

UUSC is supporting eight grassroots partners to attend COP. They include organizations from Kiribati, Haiti, Tuvalu, Haiti, the Marshall Islands and Panama and two global collectives.  We are collaborating on seven side events on climate reparations and loss and damage and uplifting Pacific Rising’s pioneering work on non-economic loss and damage (NELD). 

Drawing from our partners, we have the following list of demands for COP30: 

Human Rights

• Abide by the ICJ Advisory Opinion by taking a human rights-based approach across all climate negotiations, including mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and protections for climate-displaced persons
• Develop a just transition work program that avoids human rights violations and extractive exploitation
• Prioritize the active participation and empowerment of frontline communities, especially women, youth, elderly persons and persons with disabilities, persons with non-confirming gender identities and LGBTQIA+ persons in decisions and policies that directly impact their lives and environments
• Commit to protecting environmental human rights defenders

Mitigation

• Submit ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius

Loss and Damage

• Recognize Loss & Damage as the third pillar of climate action (alongside mitigation and adaptation)
• Fill the Loss and Damage Fund with adequate financing
• Develop a Loss and Damage gap report to track needs versus resources
• Ensure the fund adequately addresses non-economic loss and damage (NELD)
• Operationalize the fund through grants, not loans
• Make funding accessible and transparent to communities, not just states

Climate Finance

• Deliver on $300 billion in climate finance per year, scaling toward $1.3 trillion

Indigenous Rights and Traditional Knowledge

• Respect traditional knowledge in climate governance
• Center the voices and leadership of indigenous peoples

Food Systems

• Center solutions based on peasant agroecology

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UUSC’s presence at COP

We attend COP annually to amplify the voices of our partners living in the Global South, Indigenous communities, and Pacific island nations who are experiencing the earliest and most devastating effects of climate change. While local communities are willing to offer support for international climate solutions, they are often excluded from the decision-making spaces that determine their future.

We hold firmly the belief that climate change is fundamentally a human rights issue exacerbated by capitalism and colonization. This is a profound moral crisis that calls for the transformation of our relationships with one another and with the Earth.

Our Annual Delegation

Each year, we support the attendance of numerous representatives from our grassroots partners worldwide, including assistance with funding, visa support, and strategic planning. Our collective typically includes Indigenous communities, faith-based organizations, and leaders from Pacific island nations.

Our advocacy centers on our FAIR framework:

• Fund Loss and Damage Initiatives: Advocating for wealthy nations to compensate communities for climate damages already suffered. The recently established Loss and Damage Fund represents a historic victory, though pledges fall short of actual community needs.
• Assess Progress Towards Climate Success: Supporting a rigorous process to honestly evaluate global progress toward limiting warming to 1.5°C.
• Increase Funding for Adaptation and Mitigation: Collaborate across nations to ensure that regions and locales worldwide have equitable access to funds for adapting to and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
• Raise Equity and Justice: Ensuring climate action addresses rather than perpetuates existing inequalities, with meaningful participation from climate-vulnerable groups.