A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY: AN ENDING YET TO BE REWRITTEN AT COP30 IN BELÉM

Ten years ago, the world tried to write a new story: the Paris Agreement was signed — a promise, a commitment by 196 countries to work together to limit global warming to below 2°C, and ideally to 1.5°, compared to pre-industrial levels. Ten years later, we are preparing to leave for Belém, a city in Brazil at the gateway to the Amazon, where COP30, the most important international climate conference, will take place.

When we talk about the COP (this will be our fourth!) in our communities, we often notice how it’s perceived as a distant and abstract event. The extreme heat in our classrooms, the floods in our neighborhoods, the hours-long water shortages, the forest fires, the changes in the Mediterranean and its species — it all feels so far away from the rooms where the future of the planet is being decided.

That’s why, before leaving, we wanted to collect stories from Italy and from around the world — stories that would help us feel part of a generation that, everywhere, in different ways and with different tools, is dealing with the effects of climate change. 

A generation that did not contribute to global warming, but is suffering its consequences. And now, however, this generation wants to rewrite the ending of this story.

We’ve collected stories from Peru, Madagascar, Bolivia, the Sahara Desert, the island of Samoa, the Mediterranean coasts of Italy, and the mountains of Trentino. These accounts speak of the tangible, real effects of a changing climate — but above all, they show how children and young people are not the future, but the present of the collective fight against climate change.

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This is what we want to bring to Belém, to a COP that — unlike others — feels like a people’s COP.
A COP inspired by the idea of “mutirão”, a Tupi-Guarani word meaning “collective effort,” referring to a community mobilization to achieve a common goal. Alongside the official conference, there are many grassroots initiatives such as the Cúpula dos Povos (People’s Summit), which brings together social movements, Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, riverine and fishing communities, peasants, and collectives from all over the world.

There’s also the Yaku Mama Amazonian Flotilla: from the Napo River in Ecuador, dozens of Indigenous leaders have embarked on a 3,000-kilometer river journey to COP30 in Belém, Brazil. The flotilla unites communities from Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and Brazil to demand an end to fossil fuel expansion in the Amazon and to ensure Indigenous leadership in global climate decision-making.

And then there’s the Mutirão das Juventudes — a collective effort by young people from around the world to demand not only that the voices of children and adolescents be heard, but that the rights of children and youth become an integral part of national climate plans.

A new UNFCCC report revealed that 88% of countries now include commitments related to children and youth in their NDCs (national climate plans). ⁣
This is good news, because it shows that more and more governments recognize that young people are part of the solution. But there’s still a problem: there isn’t enough funding to make these commitments a reality, especially in the poorest countries. ⁣

The urgency of the climate crisis opens up an important opportunity to invest in actions that protect children and adolescents, placing their well-being and their future at the center. ⁣

If it’s true that in Belém activism will once again take center stage at the COP, then youth civic participation — in the streets and squares, inside the pavilions, and even on social media — will be essential. And we invite you to be part of this movement.

→ SEND US YOUR STORY

Learn more about our call to action and send us your own story.
When we return from Belém, we’ll publish a collection of the stories we’ve received over the past months and encountered during COP30.

→ WILL YOU BE IN BELÉM? JOIN OUR CREATIVE WORKSHOP AT THE CHILDREN & YOUTH PAVILION

Join us on November 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Children and Youth Pavilion (Blue Zone) for a creative workshop inspired by the stories we’ve gathered.

The workshop will be held in collaboration with our partners Viração&Jangada and young delegates from Save the Children New Zealand and Save the Children Bolivia, as part of Save the Children International’s Generation Hope campaign.

→ FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY TO BELÉM ON THE MOVEMENT’S SOCIAL CHANNELS

With a few hours of time difference, you can follow Maria Chiara and Vera on the Movimento Giovani Instagram account — interact, ask questions, and experience this adventure with us, even from afar!