Open Letter from Civil Society to the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

For a COP30 committed to climate justice and reparatory justice and that centers the voices of Africans, people of African descent and Peoples

We, civil society organizations, social movements, collectives, activists, community leaders, professors, business leaders, artists, public intellectuals and other public figures from across Brazil and around the world, write to the organizers of COP30 and to the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil to reaffirm our strong commitment to a just transition to sustainable development, which leaves no one behind.

In the face of insufficient action, while communities across the world are already suffering from the effects of climate change and our planet is balancing on the brink of disastrous and irreversible tipping points, we call on the Federative Republic of Brazil, the organizers of COP30 and the international community to bring justice to the forefront of the conversations at COP30 and the future of sustainable development.

We call for justice from the regions and countries of the world that have historically contributed most to global warming and that have the greatest capabilities to change the disastrous track that humanity currently is on. We call for justice for the countries and people of the world who have historically contributed the least to climate change, but who are often among the hardest hit by it.

We affirm that global warming began with the Industrial Revolutions that were made possible by the resources provided by imperialism, colonialism and enslavement, that colonialism and enslavement skewed the global economy in favor of the material and financial interests in Global North and established relations of exploitation of human and natural resources that have contributed to environmental degradation and underdevelopment.

We call for a global stocktaking and bold and decisive action on a profoundly unjust and unsustainable global economy and international order that is reeking havoc on our planet, that delivers for the few and fails the many, and that remains fundamentally imperialistic and colonial in its relations among Global North and South countries.

We affirm that there cannot be any sustained climate and other environmental justice nor any just transition to sustainable development that leaves no one behind without a comprehensive, bold and decisive justice framework for all of humanity that transforms the unjust and unsustainable structure of the global economy and the international order. 

We therefore call on the Federative Republic of Brazil, the organizers of COP30 and the international community to highlight climate justice and its interconnections with global reparatory justice for the histories and legacies of colonialism and enslavement at COP30 as well as in the future of sustainable development, including in conversations about a post-2030 Agenda for sustainable development. It will be of historical significance for Brazil, which is a country founded on colonialism and enslavement and that has the largest population of people of African descent outside the continent of Africa and among the largest populations of Indigenous Peoples in the world, to take the lead on this call.

We recognize that environmental sustainability and social and economic equity within and among countries is at the heart of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and that in recent years climate justice has taken center stage at the COPs. We recognize the recent Advisory Opinions on climate justice by the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, and note that they highlighted the vulnerabilities of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. Further, we recognize that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified colonialism as among the key drivers of vulnerability to climate change and as a historical and ongoing pattern of inequality across regions in the world.

We recognize, furthermore, that in the broad sweep of history and established social, economic and environmental patterns within and among countries climate justice is interconnected with reparatory justice for histories and legacies of colonialism and the crimes against humanity of enslavement, the transatlantic trade, native genocide, and institutionalised racial segregation (apartheid). We recognize that reparatory justice is now mainstream at the UN and the global stage as called for by the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), by the majority of Member States at the UN, the 15 Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the 55 Member States of the African Union (which has made “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations” its leading theme of the year), the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNESCO, and the UN anti-racism mechanisms, including the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent and the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

We, as representatives of civil society from across the world, affirm that Africans, people of African descent and Indigenous peoples have long borne the brunt of colonialism, enslavement, native genocide, institutionalised racial segregation, systemic and structural racism, environmental vulnerabilities and injustices, and the exploitation of their ancestral territories. Yet, people of African descent and Indigenous peoples across the world continue to be among the most effective stewards of ecosystems and biodiversity.

We commend the COP30 Presidency of Brazil for stressing that “initiatives under the COP30 Action Agenda must be guided by both the ethical and scientific imperatives of just transition and equity.” We also welcome the efforts to highlight the perspectives of Indigenous and African descendent communities, notably in the Leadership Circles of Peoples and of Global Ethical Stocktake.

We stress that this year’s COP30 in the city of Belém do Pará, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, represents a historic opportunity to bring historically marginalized voices to the forefront of the global climate debate—particularly those who have suffered the gravest impacts of the climate crisis, despite having contributed the least to its causes, and who may accelerate transformative change towards a world of environmental sustainability and social, economic, and ecological equity and justice for all within and among countries.

We therefore hold that it is imperative that COP30 center conversations on climate justice and reparatory justice that highlight the voices of Africans, people of African descent and Indigenous peoples, including the Second International Decade for People of African Descent. COP30 should, in the spirit of the DDPA and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, recognize the historical harms caused by colonialism and their lasting systemic and structural consequences, and that there cannot be any effective transformation towards sustainability without comprehensive social and global justice.

We stress that sustained global climate justice is inseparable from global reparatory justice and urge the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to:

1. Establish an official COP30 space dedicated to climate justice and reparatory justice, with the active participation and leadership of Africans, people of African descent and Indigenous peoples and representative civil society organizations and grassroots movements;
2. Include these themes in Brazil’s official diplomatic and political agenda as the host country of COP30; 
3. Facilitate a broad, deliberative, inclusive and participatory conversation on these themes at COP30, including in consultation with the communities most affected by the climate crisis, ensuring their full involvement in decision-making at COP30.

To see the full list of signing organizations, click here.