As we move closer to COP30 in Belém, Brazil, one thing is clear: this moment must be shaped by the voices, experiences, and leadership of women in all their diversities. That belief was front and center for us this past month at the UN climate meetings in Bonn (SB62), where we supported four powerful advocates from the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region to bring feminist climate justice directly into the halls of international decision-making.
In Bonn, Chandelle O’Neil (Trinidad and Tobago), Xiomara Acevedo (Colombia), Natalia Tsuyama Cócolo (Brazil), and Andrea Monzón Juaréz (Guatemala) advocated for real accountability, equity, and justice. Their presence, rooted in lived experience and sharp policy expertise, made clear that the Global South is not just watching — it is leading.
SB62 also marked the launch of the Latin America and Caribbean chapter of the Women and Gender Constituency, during a vibrant multilingual side event that we co-hosted. The session created space for intersectional feminist voices, from Afro-descendant leaders in Brazil and Caribbean engineers to Indigenous defenders of ancestral territories, and sent a unified message:
“It is not possible to talk about the climate crisis without talking about environmental racism, gender, and class injustice.”
Also in Bonn, the gender negotiations defied anti-gender rhetoric through the collaborative spirit that reigned in the room, producing a draft gender action plan (GAP) with key provisions on women environmental human rights defenders, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, and marginalized groups, while recognizing the lack of intersectional framework and systematic gender-responsive approaches.
This round of negotiations also saw a breakthrough on the Just Transition Work Programme. After years of advocacy, countries agreed to a draft decision that lays the groundwork for a global just transition mechanism. This hard-fought progress, which includes feminist language on care work, informal labor, and gender justice, is the result of tireless organizing by civil society, trade unions, and feminist movements — and it must be protected.
What comes next is critical. From the Caribbean to the Amazon, we must ensure COP30 delivers real solutions that center people, not profit. Feminists will not only hold the line to protect human rights, but we will continue pushing that line forward to have a gender action plan that is inclusive, intersectional, robust, resourced, and progressive.
Feminist climate justice is the foundation of any future worth fighting for.
