I arrived in Belém on the 11th with Paola (2nd year from Peru) and Cam (CALD Program Director) and we moved through the city with a mix of curiosity and quiet shock, as the heat, much of the vegetation and urban planning were new to me and the others as well. We met in person the organizers of the delegation we were taking part with, #Decarbonize, a branch of the Centre for Global Education, and some of the Canadians of our group at the hotel. We then stepped into the Casa Vozes dos Oceanos (Voice of the Ocean house), the Ver o Peso market, a local tradition, and a local fair where lunch brought some of us a first lesson, which is that inequality did not hide behind the conference walls. It sat in the streets, in the heat and humidity of the air, and in the stories the street vendors’ eyes would tell as they offered us food and crafts. Later on, some in our group labelled that first day as transformative and I could not disagree. The city asked us to see climate and justice in the same, not even adjacent folders.
On the 12th our delegation focused on the internal organization before most of us headed into the actual event. I used some of the time to prepare mentally for my panel with UWC Brazil around the creation of a college in the Amazon, which happened later in the afternoon at the Green Zone, which was open to the public. I met Jens, Clever, Ariel, and Mati (other youth representatives) in person, and reencountered with Luana and Inês. We spoke about education as infrastructure for the forest, a bridge between my studies and Amazonian realities. I left the panel with a simple thought: if learning does not change how we care for places and people, then what is it even for?
The 13th took us into the People’s summit. Cam, Tom, Montsé, and I moved through plenárias named for solidarity, resistance, and hope. I translated in real time and tried to keep everyone in the conversation. Food was part of the learning as we shared dishes from the region and listened to elders who spoke about responsibility and repair. Later in the Green Zone we attended a session on the transition for coal-based economies, which was a technical discussion that still felt somewhat human. It reflected how communities carry these transitions, not abstract models, and was delivered in Portuguese as was most of the content in the Green Zone.
The 14th was my first Blue Zone day (main negotiating area, only for people with credentials), in which protesters of the Munduruku Indigenous ethnic group from Brazil protested at the main gate of the event. They eventually got taken to a separate room to discuss their demands, and it was clever to see the practical outcomes of their protest. I met a UWC alumnus from Germany and we compared notes on how youth frame urgency without losing respect for the process. I joined a #Decarbonize side event on empowering children and youth through education, and helped as the translator to interview Samara Borari (activist), who spoke on the panel. I volunteered in the Child and Youth Pavilion, and we held space for questions, small drawings, and anxiety about the future. I also watched a press conference by the Liga Campesina, and their language around land, food, and dignity stayed with me. We addressed agenda issues carefully because youth work must listen and adapt.
On the 15th we joined the March for the Climate. I walked with Latinos and felt the energy of a movement that stretched across borders and languages. The march mattered for visibility and for building relationships that last beyond the COP. It pushed for accountability on fossil fuels and real money for adaptation. People know that promises without budgets are not real and knowing that those were the people there made me leave the march more hopeful than I was tired.
The 16th closed the Peoples’ Summit with a big ceremony at the Federal University of Pará, and we heard Raoni (a widely known Indigenous leader from Brazil), the president of the COP, the ministers of the environment and climate change, Indigenous peoples, and the secretariat of the presidency of Brazil. Each of them brought a different angle on justice, governance, and courage. The banquetasso (big feast) came right after those speeches as an official closure to the Summit, aiming at showing how political and joyful food is and can be.
On the 17th we began the day with a workshop by the French NGO Climate Fresk, which gave us the shared language for system links between science, policy, and daily life. That clarity helped me to teach and organize later, as we also scheduled an official training on the game for later in the week. I had dinner at a Canadian bonding event where we traded highlights, questions and business cards, resulting in some opportunities arising and seeds planted.
On the 19th and 20th, I listened to Marina Silva (Minister of Environment in Brazil) and Janja (Brazil’s First Lady) speak on women and climate change and I took part in an interview with Helder Barbalho (Governor of Pará) where I asked a brief question. The next day I completed Climate Fresk training and practised facilitation by reading the room and adjusting my tone and rhythm. I then visited the Rainbow Warrior and attended a Blue Zone plenary and consultation on the Belém Package, which reminded me that negotiation texts shape real budgets and policies later.
Experiencing COP30 left me with a clearer sense of how climate action and justice must move together. I saw communities demand accountability, scientists translate complexity, and youth insist on being part of decisions that shape their future. The trip taught me to listen first, then to act with humility and persistence. I return to Pearson with new skills, new partnerships, and a promise to keep showing up for the people and places I met and got to know in Belém.
Read about fellow student Paola’s COP30 experience HERE.