A group of 43 countries and the European Union approved the Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty and People-Centered Climate Action. The document aims to place the most vulnerable populations at the center of global climate policies.
The text was approved at the end of the Climate Summitwhich ended this Friday (7), in the capital of Pará. The event brought together leaders from different countries and preceded the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), which will be held from November 10th to 21st, also in the city of Belém. The objective is to update and reinforce multilateral commitments to address the urgency of the climate crisis.
The declaration on combating hunger and poverty proposes a change in the way the international community faces the climate crisis. The document recognizes that, although climate change affects everyone, the impacts fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable populations.
“Almost half of the world’s population does not have access to social protection, and many of the excluded are precisely among those most exposed to the impacts of climate change. Social protection systems are most fragile precisely where they should be most robust: in communities affected by poverty, hunger and high climate vulnerability”, says an excerpt from the declaration.
The text also advocates that climate finance supports sustainable livelihoods for family farmers, traditional communities and forest peoples, ensuring that climate action generates decent jobs and economic opportunities for those on the front lines of the crisis.
Among the signatory countries are Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Spain, Sudan, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, France, Denmark, among others, in addition to the European Union.
Environmental racism
Other approved document this Friday, during the Climate Summit, was the Belém Declaration on Combating Environmental Racismwhich seeks to foster international dialogue on the intersection between racial equality, the environment and climate. The text recognizes that the global ecological crisis is also a crisis of racial justice and proposes the construction of a cooperative agenda in defense of greater equity and solidarity between nations and overcoming historical inequalities that affect access to resources, opportunities and environmental benefits.
The text, which will be open for additions during the COP, already has endorsements from countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Fuels and carbon market
The Climate Summit in Belém also announced the approval of two other documents. One of them is the Declaration on the Open Coalition of Regulated Carbon Markets.
The other is the Belém Commitment to Sustainable Fuelswhich intends to join efforts to quadruple the production and use of sustainable fuels by 2035.
