COP30 to launch a platform to receive contributions from civil society on climate goals

A Collective Effort for the Climate (Mutirão pelo Clima), an initiative led by the Brazilian presidency of the conference, will launch this month during the UN Climate Week in Panama City. The effort will have a platform to receive contributions to inspire governments regarding the climate agenda.

By Mara Karina Sousa-Silva | marakarina.silva@presidencia.gov.br

On May 7 (Wednesday), the Brazilian Presidency will launch a platform to gather civil society contributions to the achievement of climate goals, embodying the COP30 "Mutirão pelo Clima". This was announced by Ambassador André Corrêa, President-Designate of the Brazilian COP30 Presidency. According to him, the idea is to give visibility to the different actions of civil society around the world to inspire global leaders in the preparation of NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions).

The ambassador explained that the launch of the initiative will take place during the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Climate Week, which will be held in Panama City from May 19 to 23. The system will allow the registration of actions taken by civil society actors to address the effects of the climate crisis, as long as they are already underway or in the short term. "We will have a registry with the necessary diversity. It is very important for governments to see that all actors in society are involved in efforts to tackle climate change," said Corrêa do Lago.

According to COP30 CEO Ana Toni, the purpose of the Mutirão (collective effort) is to be a space for inspiration and learning about what has already been achieved in this agenda. "We want them to be examples. We know that it will be something simple - everyone will have access to learn about what is happening in a community in Namibia — that has been successful — or how people in a place with overwhelming difficulties are managing to make extraordinary innovations," added COP 30 president.

Mutirão as a lever for the Paris Agreement

Corrêa do Lago recalled that the private sector, sub-national governments, universities, and other civil society actors are responsible for most of the commitments and responses of governments in the climate agenda. Therefore, he said, the Mutirão will serve as a reminder that the implementation of the Paris Agreement requires the commitment of everyone and that "governments cannot believe that only they can control it".

The Mutirão wants to highlight the COP negotiations, for example by showing the integration of the climate agenda into the logic of cities, as a positive sign to support the ambitions of central governments towards climate goals. "It's about showing that the transition is already underway and is led by society, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation," stressed Ana Toni.

"At the level of mobilization, we want complexity, contradictions and more things that reflect reality. It is much more. If societies want more, they have to show that they are capable of doing much more - so they can ask for much more than the government. That is why we are trying to be a COP of solutions. The important thing is that society can essentially do much more than what the government commits and announces [in the climate agenda]," he concluded.

English Version: Trad. Bárbara Menezes

Proofreading by Enrique Villamil