Women are raising their voices with urgency, urging negotiators to ensure the conference highlights the connection between gender and climate policy. Central to these discussions is the Belém Gender Action Plan, which acknowledges that climate change affects women more severely and proposes measures for funding, training, and leadership roles.
“Climate justice requires gender equality,” says Ana Carolina Querino, Acting Representative of UN Women in Brazil, a sentiment echoed since the summit opened on November 10. If implemented, the plan would span from 2026 to 2034, incorporating gender-responsive approaches to transitions, adaptation, mitigation strategies, and loss and damage mechanisms.
Nanci Darcolete, a self-employed waste picker and advocacy advisor for the Movimento de Pimpadores, has been working as a waste picker in São Paulo since 1999. She now leads Pimp My Carroça, an organization advocating for workers who transform discarded materials into resources, preventing waste from being discarded or burned. Waste pickers demonstrated their role in emission reduction at COP30 by composting organic waste, saving municipal funds, providing income, and significantly mitigating environmental pollutants.
In Brazil, women dominate waste picking roles and manage most cooperatives, yet they encounter racism and gender-based violence while balancing responsibilities at home. Nanci highlights how climate change exacerbates their work challenges, with extreme heat and flooding affecting low-income areas. She advocates for the COP30 program to recognize waste pickers as “agents of transformation,” with improved urban logistics, hydration points, and paid contracts.
Portuguese lawyer Mariana Gomes, 24, uses litigation as a powerful tool against the climate crisis. She founded Último Recurso, leading over 170 climate litigation cases in Portugal. Mariana believes litigation can transform climate promises into binding actions, especially since the International Court of Justice recently required states to maintain global warming below 1.5°C. “In the future, we will see more lawsuits against states needing to raise ambitions and align goals with the Paris Agreement,” she stated.
Mariana argues citizens have a right to demand governments ensure a clean, healthy environment and stable climate. In Portugal, she champions municipal climate action plans to prepare for droughts, wildfires, and floods. She emphasizes that adaptation and mitigation must consider that climate disasters disproportionately affect women, increasing risks of gender-based violence, displacement, and caregiving burdens. Litigation, she asserts, can unlock funding and compensation for affected communities, protecting women’s rights.
UN News East provides front row coverage of COP30 from Belém.
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