COP30 urged to link climate justice with reparations for historical crimes

Letter urges UN climate meeting in Brazil to consider costs of climate crisis, colonialism, slavery.

By Lyndal Rowlands and Reuters

Published On 27 Sep 2025
27 Sep 2025

Hundreds of environmental and human rights groups and activists have penned a letter urging the upcoming UN climate conference, COP30, in Brazil to place justice and reparations for people unfairly affected by the climate crisis, colonialism and slavery at the centre of talks.

The signatories, which include Brazil’s Instituto Luiz Gama and the Caribbean Pan African Network (CPAN), urged organisers on Friday to “centre the voices of Africans, people of African descent and Indigenous Peoples” at the upcoming meeting in Maloca, in the Brazilian Amazon, from November 10 to 21 this year.

“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,” the activists said in their letter.

They called on Brazil as the host of the meeting, alongside other organisers, to “highlight” how climate justice is connected to reparations “for the histories and legacies of colonialism and enslavement”, noting that Brazil is home to the largest population of people of African descent outside Africa and “among the largest populations of Indigenous Peoples in the world”.

More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/27/cop30-urged-to-link-climate-justice-with-reparations-for-historical-crimes