ou’ve probably seen the news mention COP30, but you might not know that it’s the most important meeting discussing climate change this year. 

Co-relate’s apprentice, James, has the answers to some of the questions you might have about it. 

Q&A 

1. What is a COP? 

COP (which stands for Conference of the Parties) is a United Nations meeting which talks about environmental issues once a year. 

In total, there are 198 countries which are split into 5 regional groups, with the conference’s president being a senior official from the country which is hosting the conference. 

At the end, all the countries come to an agreement on action. 

This year, COP is being hosted by Brazil in the city of Belém of Pará,  in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. 

2. Why does it matter to us? 

A lot of us are worried about climate change and how to help, but maybe don’t get a chance for our worries to be talked about by important politicians. 

COP30 is a chance for all governments (including ours) to come together and discuss how to help climate issues. 

3. What’s the theme this year?

A big focus this year is putting people into climate action, including health, human rights, climate justice and jobs. 

Another important inclusion is indigenous people, many of which will live in/near Belem.  

Hosting in such an important city is a step to include people in climate action, and ensure that actions agreed will benefit people and the planet. 

At Co-relate, we’re keen to get people involved in environmental work and helping young people take climate action. 

It’s 10 years since COP20’s Paris Agreement to limit carbon emissions and keep global warming to much less than 2 °C.  

4. What has COP achieved before?

It’s achieved a lot! Here’s a short list of what’s been agreed before:

COP3 (1997): The first emissions reduction agreement (the Kyoto Protocol). 

COP21 (2015): The Paris Agreement (a deal to limit warming to below 2°C, and ideally 1.5°C). 

COP26 (2021). The Glasgow Pact, meaning that countries agreed to revisit and strengthen national goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

COP isn’t perfect, but it means that agreements can be reached that otherwise would have been too difficult. 

5. Have there been 30 COPS?

Yes, beginning in 1995. 

6. Who hosts COP?

It depends, each year the host changes. Two that I think are worth mentioning are COP26 (which Britain hosted) and COP28 (which UAE hosted).  COP26 is worth mentioning because it was an opportunity for the UK to focus on climate action. Hosted in Glasgow, countries strengthened their commitments to reducing emissions. A guide called “The Paris Rulebook” was finalised, which provided guidelines to countries on how they could deliver their climate targets.  At COP28, there was an assessment of progress since the Paris Agreement was agreed at COP21. This was the first time that an assessment was done.

7. Is COP accessible?

It depends! COP26 wasn’t accessible enough (a senior politician couldn’t use her wheelchair) but Brazil is keen to make the event accessible for all. This COP has accessible restrooms, sensory kits, sunflower lanyards and a dedicated accessibility team. Accessibility is vital to ensuring that everyone is able to take part fully. 

8. I’ve heard people mention climate justice, what does that mean for COP30 and is climate justice part of COP? 

What a great question! 

It’s important that developing countries aren’t punished for historical emissions produced by other countries.  Climate justice is all about looking at what countries are doing now, and what they’ve done in the past. Britain used to be full of woodland and a unique sort of rainforest. Now, it’s mainly open areas, and almost all the rainforest is gone. 

Countries like Brazil still have a lot of their rainforest, so we want to protect it. But it’s not fair to punish them for cutting down their forest, when we did the same hundreds of years ago.  That’s what climate justice is all about, making sure that we help fight climate change, but also make sure that countries that are still full of wildlife aren’t punished. At Co-relate, we are keen to help the climate while also helping people. 

This COP is hosted in Belem, which borders the Amazon rainforest. This is important because many indigenous people live there. Indigenous people worldwide look after a lot of protected areas, but are unlikely to be heard outside of COP.  Any action agreed to be taken by countries must involve indigenous people fully. 

     9. What’s one headliner-policy that’s been proposed by Brazil? 

For me, anything to protect the rainforest is important! Brazil has suggested a new fund, called the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), which would need $125 billion.  The trust would mean that $4 billion a year is created through protecting the forest, with cutting down trees actually costing more than keeping them.  Brazil has already given it $1 billion, and wants other countries to give $25 billion. They also want private investors to put $1 billion into the fund. At least 20% of money generated will go to indigenous people.  There are lots of charities and good causes which are environmental, but this fund is a chance for countries to both protect trees and get money back. 

    10. What can I do to help? 

There’s a few things you can do to spread the word.  One that’s both impactful and fun is a creative project by Letters to the Earth. 

Write a postcard to the future. 

Imagine it’s 2050 and things are going well for the planet. What would that look like? How did we get there? Write the story to the future, or a loved one, or even the Earth, and share your story on social media.  Letters to the Earth has more information here and more instructions on how to craft your letter and social media posts can be found here.  

Want to learn more? 

1. Oxfam: What is COP and why is it important?
2. Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL): What is COP? 
3. Mongabay: Heading into COP, Brazil’s Amazon deforestation rate is falling. What about fires?
4. Mongabay: Brazil leads push for novel forest finance mechanism ahead of COP30 summit
5. Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit: COP: A visual guide