UUSC at the Conference of the Parties (COP)

UUSC has been attending annual COPs for the past decade.

We accompany partners from frontline communities and platform their climate justice demands. We organize official and unofficial side events, gather funders to attract greater resources for our partners, network with allies, and lobby negotiators to implement the principles of climate justice. We support global movements for climate reparations and compensation for climate-related loss and damage.

Key Messages for COP31:

This COP has to be a point of inflection for the world community. The consistent demand of our partners has been to keep 1.5 alive, and we are now seeing the existential impacts that many have warned about. The negotiations over the last 10 years have shown a lack of political will, despite economic incentives (from the short to the long term) favoring renewable energy and sustainable solutions.

• Abide by the ICJ Advisory Opinion by taking a human rights-based approach across all climate negotiations and prioritizing climate reparations
• Look to the examples set by frontline coalitions like Pacific Rising to create a model for intersectional, decolonial climate responses
• Prioritize the active participation and empowerment of frontline communities, especially women, youth, elderly people, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ people in decisions and policies that directly impact their lives
• Recognize Loss & Damage as the third pillar of climate action (alongside mitigation and adaptation)
• Ensure the Loss and Damage Fund has adequate financing and is operationalized though grants, not loans
• Make funding accessible and transparent to communities, not just states
• Respect traditional knowledge in climate governance and center the voices and leadership of indigenous peoples
• Center food system solutions based on peasant agroecology

UUSC COP Side Events:

UUSC’s History at COP

Each year, UUSC supports the attendance of representatives from our grassroots partners. We assist 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.