From Berlin to Belém: 30 years as a climate leader

From Berlin to Belém: 30 years as a climate leader

The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is happening in Belém, Brazil, from November 10 to 21, 2025. I share this reflection as someone engaged in climate diplomacy since the early 1990s as negotiator, government official, diplomat, facilitator, professor, and advocate of climate justice. My purpose is to provide the institutional memory to the Philippines’ role as a climat…

30 years of failure: COP needs radical reform or replacement

Despite 30 years of UN climate talks, global warming worsens. Discover why COP has failed and how societal transformation can still save our planet.