Behind the Scenes in Belém: The Conversation’s Report From Brazil’s UN Climate Summit

Energy giant faces backlash after details emerge about hidden agenda using social media influencers: 'Money spoke louder'

A major oil company in Brazil is teaming up with Gen Z influencers as part of a PR push before November's climate negotiations at the UN Climate Change Conference in the country.  Critics say these social media stars are pumping up the company's eco credentials while helping to obscure the oil industry's negative effect on the planet — a practice known as greenwashing.   What's happening? Brazil intends to increase oil and gas production by 20% …

COP30’s “people-centered” climate agenda is really about power

In COP30’s opening week in Belém, delegates keep repeating the same line: this is the “people-centered” and “implementation” COP. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insists that “climate change is no longer a threat of the future;

Behind the scenes in Belém: The Conversation’s report from Brazil’s UN climate summit

This roundup of The Conversation’s climate coverage was first published in our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter, Imagine. As the UN climate summit Cop30 progresses in the Brazilian city of Belém, there’s much debate about the specifics of climate finance targets, whether the transition away from fossil fuels really can be ethical and how renewables are shaping the global economy. Luciana Julião, editor at The Conversation Brasil, h…

No more sugar-coating - Brazil’s sugar high and climate, trade, and global inequality

As COP30 wraps up today in Belém, a new climate storyline is taking shape – one that sits squarely at the crossroads of climate action and global trade. More than ever, governments are using trade tools to deliver their climate targets, from border carbon taxes to deforestation-free import rules. But why talk about trade when we talk about climate mitigation?  Because climate policy doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in a global economy wher…