"The organizers held the COP30 climate summit in Belém because when you fly into the airport, you're in the rainforest. They wanted people to see what we're trying to protect," says Rekha Marcus, a master's student in Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria (UVic).
Marcus travelled to the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) where governments that have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change convened this November in the spirit of curiosity and learning.
"I participated in Model UN for 10 years," she said before she got on the plane, "so I'm familiar with the structure of events and how to network. I bring curiosity about how conversations at COP will shape each other."
Her main goal, though, was to meet people and build relationships for collaboration. With 30,000 participants from around the world, how hard could it be?
What she didn't expect was to meet so many youth leaders from as far away as South Africa and as close to home as the T'Sou-ke First Nation and feel so much hope for the possibilities of youth leadership and collaborative action.
First: the hummingbird
Marcus, who researches bird habitat conservation in the context of climate change, arrived ahead of the COP events because when you're a bird researcher going to the Amazon rainforest, you really must go birdwatching.
She found Para Birding Tour, a local company owned by a woman named Fernanda who grew up in the area and still lived there, in addition to having advanced degrees in conservation-related fields.
"She knows where the birds are and why they're there," Marcus says, "right down to knowing that the rare dot-eared coquette hummingbird often shows up between 10 a.m. and noon on a specific tree." (Yes, the bird showed up.) "She is super passionate about connecting people with nature, with the rainforest."
As a bonus, Marcus gained insights from the guide about how COP affects, even disrupts, local communities.
COP discussions look for general solutions because United Nations resolutions must pass by consensus, but in fact climate impacts are very local and solutions must start at the community level."
-Rekha Marcus, UVic Environmental Studies graduate student and COP30 attendee
Social media wayfinding
Marcus met Hailey Campbell, who led discussions and negotiations on behalf of Care About Climate, an NGO that focuses on youth engagement and empowerment in climate action.
"She's very experienced at COP," Marcus says. "Her Instagram posts were so informative about what was happening when and where. They were a lifesaver!"
After attending a presentation by Audubon Society conservation researchers, Marcus also connected with Christine Dragisic, the society's managing director for global policy, to learn more about their methodologies.
"It was really inspiration to hear from so many researchers," Marcus says. "Their perspectives and experiences helped me to amend my analysis when I got back to Canada."
Expanding her network
Another highlight was an introduction from Marcus's friend, Zaheer Sooliman, to Sibusiso Mazomba, who is part of the UN Secretary General's Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. Both are members of the South African negotiating team.
"There wasn't a huge youth presence," Marcus says. "Most negotiators are older. So it was good to see them lead some of the discussions."
Bringing Marcus's experience home, she met xwis xwčaa (kati george jim), an Indigenous land defender and member of the T'Sou-ke First Nation.
They were another young participant at COP, speaking on a panel about the intersection between colonial structures such as land theft and climate change, and how Indigenous peoples are on the frontlines of climate defence.
The power of collaborative action
The experience of being able to learn how conservation and ecological restoration are addressed in such a different ecosystem provided Marcus with a lot of hope about the important work many people are doing worldwide to combat climate change and work towards a better future.
"From the outside," she says, "COP appears to be about negotiations among official representatives. But the civil space outside the negotiations was more important: hearing about different programs, research collaboratives and voices of Indigenous leaders from all over the world was so enlightening.
"There is value in bringing all these climate-focused minds together into the same place. At the end of the day, climate action has to be collaborative. It was really cool to see that in action."
