Welcome to the WECAN COP29 report back. Over the last years we have received encouraging feedback from many of you that these report backs have been useful and important to you, so we are thrilled to be able to offer this newsletter.
We have divided the report back into two main sections, the top section contains analysis of COP29 outcomes, and the bottom section shares WECAN events, actions, advocacy, partnership strategy meetings, and media coverage from COP29.
Please find our COP29 live streams and daily advocacy work available on Instagram here and Facebook here. A full photo album from COP29 is also available here.
STATEMENT FROM
WECAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
To begin our report back from Baku, we would like to share the COP29 closing response from Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director:
“This year at COP29, the stakes could not be higher. The latest Emissions Gap Report paints a terrifying picture: our world is on track to surpass 3 degrees of warming. That path is a death sentence—a disaster for every living being on this planet.
The time for half-measures is over. Our collective survival demands bold, immediate action, and it is far past time for the wealthy countries most responsible for the climate crisis to pay up for climate mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage. The financing negotiated at COP29 was appalling both in terms of quantity and quality. Responsible Parties need to pay in the form of direct grants and not loans to the Global South. Going forward, we will continue to demand that wealthy countries increase the financing that is owed and that governments not only stop fossil fuel expansion but also end fossil fuel subsidies and growing military budgets. Instead these funds need to be directed toward a Just Transition and real climate solutions—funds need to go to supporting life, not death and extraction. The funds are there!
This is not merely a policy shift; it’s a moral imperative. To confront the climate emergency, we need a fair, fast, funded, and full phaseout of fossil fuels. An equitable phaseout ensures that vulnerable and affected communities receive the support and investment they need to transition to a clean, renewable future and to address harms already well underway. A Just Transition honors workers, frontline communities, women in all their diversity, and Indigenous Peoples by protecting livelihoods, respecting human rights, and ensuring no one is left behind. There is no climate justice without human rights. We must also deeply listen to Indigenous Peoples' solutions and implement them at every level.
And let us be unequivocal here—carbon capture and storage, geo-engineering, carbon offsets, carbon credits, biodiversity credits, and other market-based schemes are false solutions that perpetuate climate chaos, Indigenous rights violations, and injustice. The gaveling of Article 6 at COP29 is a giant step backward and will pave the way for the furtherance of carbon markets. These schemes allow polluters to continue business as usual, all while delaying the real action we so urgently need. We need community-led solutions to lead the way and for pollution to be stopped at the source.
Although gender diversity was not recognized in the gender outcome of COP29, we are heartened that the hard-fought for 10-year renewal of the Lima Work Program on Gender was adopted, and we can further a collective agenda for gender-responsive efforts and rights.
Most importantly, we are not giving up! No matter what happens in the halls of the UNFCCC process, our movements and networks are defining and creating the world that we know is best for our communities and our living Earth. We are speaking it awake, we are dreaming it awake. We are birthing a new reality out of the ashes of failing systems of patriarchy, colonialism, racism, and capitalism. We are not waiting, we are acting!"
OVERVIEW: CLIMATE JUSTICE MOVEMENTS GROW STRONGER, YET DOMINATING GOVERNMENTS FAIL TO DELIVER ON CLIMATE FINANCE, JUSTICE, AND AMBITION
A collage of advocates sharing the demands of climate justice movements during the negotiations at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) was conducted in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 11-22. Billed as the “Finance COP,” a primary goal of COP29 was for governments to advance the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance—a lifeline for climate-vulnerable countries.
From the onset, Azerbaijan’s selection as the host for COP29 presented an immediate challenge for global climate governance: on full display was the tension between the stranglehold of fossil fuels in a petrostate, and the urgent need for a just energy transition. Azerbaijan’s economy is inextricably tied to oil and gas, accounting for a third of its GDP and 90% of its exports. The country’s history of resource extraction, characterized by the exploitation of oil fields and human rights concerns linked to energy projects, was at odds with the ambitious goals of COP29 to advance commitments in the Paris Agreement and push forward equitable climate solutions.
The challenges were deepened by revelations that the COP29 Presidency had brokered oil deals even before the negotiations began, bringing to question the summit’s overall integrity. This was followed by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's opening COP29 speech praising oil and gas as a "gift of God."
Furthermore, fossil fuel lobbyists saturated every corner of COP29. Over 1,770 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to the summit in Baku— one of the largest delegations this year, and larger than the delegations of the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined.
Even though countries agreed to transition off of fossil fuels last year, there was a concerted effort to overlook COP28’s historic agreement and remove reference to this agreement from the negotiated text this year. WECAN stands with activists, global leaders, and scientists who are calling for significant changes in the UNFCCC process that, at the very least, would bar countries who do not support a fossil fuel phase out from hosting future negotiations.
Conflict and militarism also formed a backdrop for COP29, with Azerbaijan securing their host status following the release of over 30 Armenian prisoners of war. The decision for Azerbaijan to host COP29 was also met with strong opposition from human rights organizations due in part to allegations of the Azerbaijani regime detaining climate activists and cracking down on political dissenters. While Azerbaijan quickly branded COP29 as the “COP of Peace,” strong criticisms remain about the role of militarism in undermining climate justice. Militarism and war intensified the political strain at the summit, with leaders boycotting events and withdrawing from negotiations altogether. Additionally, Trump’s election in the United States cast a harsh shadow on the COP29 talks.
Global climate justice leaders join the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice at the COP29 venue in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
Globally, 2024 is set to be the hottest year on record, with climate disasters devastating communities all over the world. Warming temporarily hit 1.5C this year, giving a glimpse into what awaits if governments wait to take immediate action. Furthermore, humans have transgressed six out of the nine planetary boundaries, pushing the Earth and our climate to the brink of collapse.
With global tensions and a worsening climate crisis setting the stage, COP29 unfolded amidst considerable difficulties. Governments were tasked with agreeing on a roadmap to replace the outdated $100 billion annual climate finance target—set in 2009 and unmet to this day—with a more ambitious, effective framework, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). This new goal was expected to ensure robust financial support for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage in developing and climate-vulnerable countries, predominantly in the Global South.
Throughout the two-week negotiations, experts, civil society, and developing countries demanded that wealthy nations fulfill their historical debt by committing to at least $1.3 trillion USD annually by 2030. The rationale is clear: the scale of the climate crisis demands it. Public funds exist to reach this target, with $1 trillion representing just 1% of global GDP—less than half of annual global military spending. Recent reports from organizations, including Oil Change International, demonstrate that redirecting fossil fuel subsidies, holding big polluters accountable, and reforming global financial systems could mobilize over $5 trillion annually. Central to the demand were calls to:
End Fossil Fuel Subsidies: The continued subsidization of fossil fuels, amounting to trillions annually, perpetuates inequality and delays the transition to renewable energy. Redirecting these funds toward climate finance could unlock resources for just and sustainable solutions.
Defund Military Budgets: In 2023, global military expenditure reached $2.4 trillion USD. Decreasing military spending for destruction and war and redirecting these funds for climate finance and solutions is essential. Advocates called upon governments to divert billions of dollars away from war and into climate finance.
Invest in Just Transition: Climate finance must prioritize community-driven solutions that address intersecting crises of climate and social inequity. Funding a Just Transition and non-extractive economic models that center care work, rights-based approaches, and local resilience efforts is essential to enact the transition away from fossil fuels.
Address Loss and Damage: Climate-vulnerable countries face mounting costs from extreme weather events. The NCQG must include dedicated funding streams to address these losses, recognizing the disproportionate burden borne by the Global South.
Despite strong advocacy for just climate finance, the political will to deliver meaningful commitments remained dangerously absent. Wealthy countries—responsible for the vast majority of historical emissions—continued to shirk their responsibilities, offering in the end only $300 billion and insisting primarily on loans and private sector mobilization instead of direct public funding in grants.
Civil Society calling on wealthy countries to pay up on climate finance during an action held at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
After contentious negotiations throughout COP29, wealthy countries deprived the world of ambition on achieving its promises. While texts on climate finance were gaveled through by the COP29 Presidency in the early hours of November 24, they lacked the ambition and accountability needed to address the life-or-death realities that are facing developing countries.
Several governments also named how they were not consulted properly in the process and objected to the final text. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) walked out of negotiations at one point, frustrated by the paltry sums being offered. Wealthy nations continued to evade their fair share of responsibility, leaving the Global South to grapple with the consequences of a crisis they did not cause. In an impassioned speech, India voiced rejection to the final $300 billion deal, calling it an insultingly small amount that will not support climate action.
Across negotiations there was significant backsliding on human rights, gender-responsiveness, and Indigenous Peoples rights within the negotiated texts, with civil society fighting to protect language that has been established for years.
Additionally, the proliferation of false solutions was persistent at COP29. After years of strong civil society advocacy to address serious concerns about Article 6 of the Paris Climate Agreement, the COP29 President used his authority on day one of the negotiations to gavel through the final pieces of the Article, which is focused on operationalizing carbon markets and other market-based mechanisms. While countries did continue to negotiate on Article 6.2 and 6.4, the pressure from the Presidency to finish with a final text was palpable. The adoption of Article 6 will now pave the way for extensive expansion of carbon markets and carbon offsets. WECAN and many groups have been warning about the dangers and ineffectiveness of these carbon markets for years.
COP29 once again clearly exposed the structural barriers to climate justice within international climate negotiations. The summit’s legacy is one of unmet promises, deepened mistrust, and a stark reminder that fossil fuel interests, colonialism, and patriarchy continue to wield disproportionate power.
Yet, the conference also galvanized movements worldwide. From the daily direct actions at COP29 to the late night strategy sessions, climate justice advocates emerged more determined than ever to confront the outsized power that wealthy countries and the fossil fuel industry have on international climate policy. The path forward requires not only rejecting false solutions, stopping fossil fuel expansion, and imperial power dynamics, but also committing to systemic change, including:
Phasing out fossil fuels with binding global agreements. WECAN supports the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty as a solution and serves on the Steering Committee. The Treaty is an initiative which has been gaining momentum for the past several years and complements the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Centering the strategies, expertise, and solutions of women in all of their diversity, Indigenous Peoples, and frontline communities in all decision-making.
Demanding and ensuring accountability from wealthy nations and polluting corporations, which also requires excluding polluting industries from participating in the conference.
Implementing Just Transition pathways that center justice and rights-based frameworks, while supporting feminist and beyond growth economic models.
Elevating women’s leadership and gender-transformative climate policies, including implementing the mandates of the Gender Action Plan.
Advancing the Rights of Nature in the negotiations, and ensuring no commodification of nature.
Denouncing false solutions and market-based mechanisms that include carbon offset schemes and markets, removal technologies, nuclear, geoengineering, and other projects that do not stop pollution at the source.
Protecting global forests and biodiversity. Without biodiversity the climate will crumble, and governments must bridge the gap between the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework to ensure protection for nature, and also uphold the rights of land and environmental defenders who are risking their lives to defend global biodiversity.
As one of our key interventions at COP29, WECAN delivered the following policy briefs and reports to government representatives and negotiators throughout the two weeks of the conference:
While confronting the hardships of the negotiations, WECAN remains buoyed by the persistent organizing and advocacy efforts of civil society and climate justice movements. Every day civil society held actions, events and press conferences, creating a steady heartbeat to remind us of the strength of our collective movements and the many communities we represent globally.
Ultimately, it is our global movements and networks for justice that are creating the future for our communities and a liveable Earth. The science is clear, our communities are clear. However, we need Parties, especially wealthy countries, to demonstrate the political will to transform our societies and keep 1.5C alive. COP29 faltered quite badly, but the fight for a healthy and just future continues.
Next year’s COP30 Presidency in Brazil will have a great task upon its shoulders, not only to deliver on vital agenda items that were stalled this year, but to also heal the divide between countries and strengthen international cooperation. Along with other vital efforts, our climate depends on countries coming together to agree to and operationalize transformative climate policies.
Additionally, there has been a call for Indigenous leadership to act as co-president to guide the negotiations at COP30. In light of this, at COP29, Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Australia, the Pacific, and Eastern Europe launched an Indigenous Peoples’ Troika to complement the COP Presidencies’ Troika, in order to ensure Indigenous leadership is a part of planning for COP30 and beyond. This new Troika partnership offers hope as we look to 2025.
Another world is possible—one free from the grip of extraction and built on principles of equity, solidarity, and care. While WECAN is fully committed to civil society demands and interventions at the UNFCCC to prevent worst outcomes and to advocate for climate justice, we are well aware that a great deal of the work we do outside of the UNFCCC is vital to the world we seek.
Please read further to learn about outcomes from COP29, WECAN advocacy in the negotiations, and our events, interventions, press conferences, actions and delegates!
CLIMATE FINANCE AT COP29:
A FAILURE OF AMBITION AND JUSTICE
Civil society holds an action inside COP29 urging wealthy nations to “Pay Up” for climate finance.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
Climate finance is a cornerstone of the Paris Agreement. At COP29, Parties agreed to establish a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to replace the $100 billion USD annual climate finance target set in 2009. The original commitment, meant to mobilize funds by 2020, has yet to be fully realized, failing to meet the urgent needs of frontline communities suffering from intensifying climate impacts. The NCQG was intended to rectify this failure at COP29, but the outcome of negotiations in Azerbaijan reveals deadly shortcomings.
After two weeks of contentious negotiations, developed countries reluctantly committed to raising $300 billion USD annually by 2035. While some hail this as a step forward, it falls drastically short of the trillions demanded by developing nations and civil society to address the escalating climate crisis. The so-called “tripling” of climate finance does not account for inflation; economists estimate that the value of the pledged funds will decrease by approximately 20% by 2035, effectively maintaining the status quo rather than delivering a meaningful increase. Moreover, the delayed timeline—funds not being mobilized until 2035—is an unconscionable blow to climate-vulnerable nations that need immediate support to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, and recover from loss and damage.
The terms "developed" and "developing" countries within the UNFCCC framework underscore the historic responsibility of wealthy nations, the largest historical emitters of greenhouse gases. These nations owe a profound climate debt to countries that have contributed the least to the crisis yet bear its worst consequences. However, developed countries continue to neglect their obligations, pushing the financial burden onto the private sector and imposing exploitative mechanisms, such as loans, that drive developing nations deeper into debt.
The agreed NCQG also includes a non-binding target to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually from both public and private sectors by 2035. This figure pales in comparison to the actual need. Recent estimates suggest that climate finance requirements will surge to $8.5 trillion annually by 2030 and $10 trillion annually from 2031 to 2050. The longer governments delay, the higher the costs will climb, compounding both economic and human suffering. Investing ambitiously in mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage now could save trillions in future costs and prevent the worsening of global inequities.
A major flaw in COP29’s finance framework is its reliance on loans, which disproportionately harm developing nations. These methods exacerbate inequality by indebting countries already struggling to respond to climate disasters. Climate justice demands direct, grant-based funding mechanisms that prioritize equity and rapid deployment. Such funding must flow directly to frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples, and women-led grassroots organizations leading climate solutions—not to corporate interests that perpetuate extractivist practices.
Wealthy countries’ assertions that sufficient public funds are unavailable ring hollow. Mobilizing just 1% of global GDP—equivalent to $1 trillion—could dramatically accelerate climate finance. Studies by Oil Change International show that redirecting fossil fuel subsidies, implementing fair taxation on polluters, and reforming global finance systems could generate over $5 trillion annually in debt-free climate finance. This funding exists, but political will is sorely lacking.
Several country blocs and civil society organizations expressed strong disapproval of the COP29 NCQG outcome. The African Group of Negotiators, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), and the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) bloc all denounced the weak ambition and the exclusionary negotiation process. Civil society groups unequivocally stated, “No deal is better than a bad deal.” Bolivia, speaking at the closing plenary, condemned the lack of transparency and equity in the decision-making process, emphasizing that the agreement ignored the demands of those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
This discontent underscores the systemic flaws in the UNFCCC's approach to climate finance. The needs of developing countries are not negotiable; they are a matter of survival. The failure to prioritize justice in these discussions perpetuates colonial power imbalances and undermines the very spirit of the Paris Agreement.
Looking ahead to COP30, there is an urgent call to keep climate finance on the agenda with a clear action plan for achieving equitable and ambitious funding targets. Civil society and vulnerable nations are demanding that the $1.3 trillion goal be treated as a starting point, not a ceiling. Wealthy nations must pay their fair share by phasing out fossil fuels, redirecting subsidies, and creating robust systems for public, debt-free financing.
The funds agreed at COP29 are too little and will arrive far too late. Entire nations are sinking, climate disasters are intensifying, and communities on the frontlines cannot wait. Wealthy nations must honor their commitments, stop outsourcing responsibility to private interests, and deliver climate finance that centers justice, equity, and the preservation of life. The survival of millions—and the future of our planet—depends on it.
ARTICLE 6 ADOPTION: DANGEROUS CARBON MARKETS GET A GREEN LIGHT
Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), WECAN Board Member and COP29 Delegate, and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, at an action to call for governments to stop investing in carbon markets and false solutions at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
On the opening day of COP29, the COP President hastily gaveled through the final items of Article 6, declaring it a milestone in operationalizing the Paris Agreement's mechanisms for carbon markets. While some hailed this as progress, many Indigenous leaders, governments, and climate justice groups expressed profound concern. By the end of COP29, Parties formally adopted a decision text for Article 6, setting the stage for considerable global expansion of carbon markets—a development that threatens to entrench false solutions and deepen climate injustice.
Carbon markets allow corporations and countries to buy and sell carbon credits, permitting them to continue emitting greenhouse gases instead of reducing pollution at the source. Critically, carbon markets do not address the root causes of the climate crisis. Instead, they reinforce the financialization of ecosystems and prioritize profit over justice. Furthermore, a 2023 investigation found that the vast majority of global carbon offset projects are “likely junk,” with minimal or no impact on reducing carbon emissions. Such findings expose the empty promises behind carbon markets, which delay meaningful climate action while enabling polluters to greenwash their practices.
Advocates rally to stop false solutions and demand real solutions at COP29.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
Additionally, carbon offset projects frequently target Indigenous territories, undermining Indigenous sovereignty and displacing communities. These projects often label Indigenous lands as “underutilized” or “empty,” erasing the knowledge and stewardship that have protected these ecosystems for generations. A 2023 global analysis by Carbon Brief revealed that 72% of carbon offset projects implemented in the last five years have caused harm to Indigenous or local communities, through forced evictions, human rights violations, or restrictions on traditional land use.
By prioritizing profit-driven carbon trading schemes over community-led solutions, Article 6 threatens to exacerbate the exploitation of Indigenous Peoples and undermine the very solutions that have proven effective in addressing the climate crisis. Research consistently shows that Indigenous-managed lands have lower deforestation rates, higher biodiversity, and greater carbon storage than areas managed by governments or corporations. Respecting Indigenous sovereignty is not only a moral obligation but also a critical component to achieving real climate solutions.
Since the establishment of the Paris Agreement, WECAN has been working in solidarity with Indigenous leaders, environmental justice advocates, and civil society to halt the adoption of Article 6 and expose the dangers of carbon markets. COP29’s decision to operationalize Article 6 represents a devastating setback. Governments and corporations have doubled down on schemes that prioritize profit over people, greenwashing their commitments while continuing to pollute.
Civil society holds an action during the final day of negotiations calling for governments to “nix Article 6” and say no to carbon markets at COP29 in Baku Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: WECAN International
Furthermore, the language of Article 6 decision text fails to ensure meaningful safeguards for transparency, accountability, and the protection of human rights. Without these safeguards, carbon markets will accelerate land grabs, human rights violations, and environmental destruction, disproportionately harming Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities.
WECAN and our allies remain steadfast in opposition to Article 6 and the proliferation of carbon market schemes. We will continue to advocate for real solutions that respect Indigenous rights, uphold ecological integrity, and directly stop pollution at its source. As we look to COP30 and beyond, the global climate justice movement will remain vigilant, pushing back against false solutions, and demanding accountability from governments and corporations. The climate crisis requires bold, systemic transformation, not mechanisms that entrench business as usual.
FEMINISTS HOLD THE LINE ON GENDER RESPONSIVE CLIMATE ACTION
Feminists demand climate justice during the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Women in all their diversity are essential leaders in climate solutions and critical to ensuring a Just Transition. Gender-responsive climate policies are not optional—they are indispensable for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and addressing the climate crisis equitably. Even as COP29 was billed as the "Gender COP,” the lack of gender balance in its organizing team set a troubling tone from the start. Azerbaijan’s organizing committee initially included 28 men and no women, a glaring oversight that only after public outcry, including from WECAN, led to the addition of 12 women to the team. Such imbalances are reflective of a deeper systemic problem: at COP28, only 15 of 133 world leaders present were women, a mere 11%. And, unfortunately, this year the number dropped to 10%, highlighting the persistent gender disparity in global climate leadership.
A focal point of COP29 was the renegotiation of the Lima Work Program on Gender (LWPG), which informs the Gender Action Plan (set to be negotiated next year). Established in 2014, the LWPG aims to integrate gender considerations and equity into the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Despite this progress, COP29 negotiations revealed a growing backlash against gender equity in climate action. Socially conservative governments—including the Vatican, Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt—led efforts to weaken the LWPG by attempting to roll back language agreed upon a decade ago and minimize financing commitments for gender-responsive initiatives. These attempts reflect a broader attack on gender justice within the climate negotiations, undermining hard-fought gains and delaying urgently needed action.
While the pushback was strong, gender justice advocates from the Women and Gender Constituency, of which WECAN is a formal member, held the line. After robust negotiations, gender advocates successfully secured an extension of the LWPG to a 10-year work plan, providing a longer timeframe to advance gender-responsive policies and accountability mechanisms. Key elements include advancing data collection on gender impacts, pushing for inclusive decision-making, and creating a roadmap for a Gender Action Plan to be finalized at COP30. However, many activists and feminist organizations pointed out that these commitments, while a step forward, lack the ambition and funding needed to ensure their effective implementation.
For example, despite recognition that climate finance is critical to achieving gender-responsive climate action, COP29 failed to meaningfully address the funding gap. Women’s and feminist organizations continue to receive less than 1% of global climate finance, even as they lead transformative, community-driven solutions on the ground. Without targeted funding for women’s leadership and initiatives, commitments under the Gender Action Plan risk becoming symbolic gestures rather than transformative change.
Feminists and members of the Women and Gender Constituency engage in an action to “Hold the Line” on gender justice at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
The failure to fully embed gender justice at COP29 highlights significant inequities within the UNFCCC process. From leadership representation to policy outcomes, the system continues to marginalize the voices of women in all of their diversity. These inequities perpetuate a global climate response that prioritizes power and profit over justice and inclusion.
A glaring example of this inequity is the persistent exclusion of intersectional feminist perspectives from key decision-making spaces. Despite their leadership in addressing the climate crisis, women and feminist organizations are routinely sidelined. This exclusion not only limits the effectiveness of global climate policy but also perpetuates systems of oppression that drive the climate crisis itself.
As we look to COP30, there is an urgent need to move beyond performative commitments and deliver concrete actions that advance gender-responsive climate policies. This includes increasing funding for women-led climate initiatives, ensuring equitable representation in all levels of decision-making, and addressing systemic barriers to inclusion.
The roadmap for the Gender Action Plan at COP30 must prioritize transformative change by:
Allocating dedicated funding for women’s leadership in climate solutions.
Creating robust accountability mechanisms to ensure gender-responsive policies are implemented.
Protecting against the rollback of agreed-upon language and principles.
Women, particularly those from frontline communities, are not just stakeholders in this process—they are leaders and changemakers. It is imperative that the UNFCCC and its Parties recognize this by committing to an equitable climate response that centers gender justice. Without it, the goals of the Paris Agreement will remain out of reach, and the world’s most vulnerable will continue to bear the brunt of inaction.
Feminist advocates and civil society are clear: climate action must be gender-just, and gender justice must be climate justice. WECAN is dedicated to this ongoing advocacy!
JUST TRANSITION WORK PROGRAM STALLS
Civil society in action calling for a just transition from governments at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
At COP29, the call from civil society and climate vulnerable countries for a Just Transition—a shift to regenerative, renewable energy systems and economies grounded in justice—was loud and urgent. However, the negotiations on the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) fell short of delivering the decisive action that workers, communities, and civil society have been demanding. Originally launched at COP28, the JTWP intends to provide a roadmap for equitable and inclusive pathways to transition away from fossil fuel-dependent economies while ensuring that no one is left behind.
While the mandate of the JTWP has been focused on dialogues between stakeholders and parties, there was a push this year to transition the JTWP into an actionable work plan. At COP29, expectations were high that the program would make tangible advancements, particularly given the urgency of climate impacts and the worsening inequities faced by frontline communities. Yet, at this critical juncture, progress was stalled in part by poor engagement structures.
Civil society organizations faced significant barriers to meaningful participation in the negotiations. Many reported being sidelined during key discussions or excluded from decision-making spaces altogether. With weak communication, and a lack of clarity and coordination from the COP29 Presidency, negotiators and stakeholders grappled with confusion over timelines, objectives, and processes. This lack of leadership derailed momentum and contributed to the stalemate. Additionally, there were significant blocks toward more actionable items under the JTWP. Several wealthy, fossil-fuel-dependent nations resisted calls for binding commitments on funding and support for workers and communities most affected by the transition, undermining the JTWP’s goals.
A climate justice advocate holding a sign “workers for just transition” during the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice inside the COP29 venue in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
As part of our advocacy alongside the Women and Gender Constituency and feminist organizations, WECAN emphasized the centrality of care work— often undervalued and unpaid— to accelerate sustainable economies and equitable transitions. Women in all their diversity disproportionately bear the burden of care responsibilities while also leading climate resilience efforts in their communities. Recognizing and resourcing care work as a key pillar of the Just Transition is essential for achieving justice across economic, gender, and climate dimensions. WECAN’s report, “Prioritizing Care Work Can Unlock a Just Transition for All” clearly outlines these vital issues. Read the report here.
Going into COP29, feminist climate advocates, including WECAN, made it clear: a Just Transition that excludes care work cannot be truly just— and the advocacy was successful. In the draft JTWP text, the inclusion of care work was added to the operational part of the text. This was further bolstered by strong interventions from several party negotiators on the importance of highlighting formal and informal care work in the outcome document. The text also included language highlighting the importance of engaging Indigenous Peoples, youth, migrants, and people with disabilities in Just Transition pathways. Unfortunately, the organizational barriers mentioned previously led to stalled negotiations, and Parties could not reach consensus on several key issues in the final text, including implementation. In the end, Rule 16 was applied to the JTWP resulting in the draft text being totally thrown out and Parties will need to start anew in 2025.
Moving forward, it is also clear that Just Transitions must challenge the dominant growth-oriented economic paradigms that have fueled the climate crisis. At COP29, feminist leaders and civil society organizations called for the JTWP to adopt beyond-growth models that prioritize wellbeing, equity, and planetary health over endless GDP expansion. Such models recognize that the relentless extraction of resources and exploitation of labor are incompatible with the goals of climate justice. A good example is the country of Bhutan that has embraced a well-being economy that centers people and ecosystems rather than profit, providing a blueprint for integrating these principles into the JTWP. Advocates at COP29 pushed for these frameworks to guide Just Transition policies, emphasizing that true climate solutions must dismantle extractive systems and redistribute power and resources equitably.
It is also necessary for rights-based approaches to guide Just Transition, specifically when discussing renewable energy. The shift to renewable energy systems requires critical transition minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which are essential for technologies like batteries and solar panels. However, the extraction of these minerals poses significant risks to communities, ecosystems, and human rights, particularly in the Global South. Mining projects often displace Indigenous Peoples, degrade ecosystems, and exacerbate social inequalities, directly contradicting the goals of the JTWP.
At COP29, the Natural Resources Governance Institute released a report outlining nine principles and five recommendations for ensuring that mineral supply chains align with the principles of a Just Transition. The report highlights that without urgent reforms, the race for critical minerals risks replicating the extractive practices of the fossil fuel industry. Advocates at COP29 demanded that mineral supply chains prioritize reparative justice, including compensation for harm caused by extraction and investment in community-led development.
While COP29 failed to deliver the breakthroughs needed for the Just Transition Work Programme, the demands from workers, communities, and justice advocates remain clear. Moving forward, governments must:
Guarantee participation and engagement: Ensure that frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples, women, and labor unions have a central role in shaping and implementing Just Transition policies.
Secure dedicated funding: Wealthy nations must provide adequate, predictable funding to support workers and communities in transitioning to regenerative economies, including care work and community-led solutions.
Reform extractive practices: Transition mineral supply chains must adhere to strict Indigenous and human rights and environmental standards, with local communities empowered to lead decision-making processes.
Adopt feminist and beyond-growth models: A Just Transition must challenge extractive capitalism and prioritize well-being, equity, and ecological health.
The urgency of implementing a Just Transition cannot be overstated. Workers and communities are already experiencing the economic and social upheaval of the climate crisis, and further delays will deepen inequalities. As we look to COP30, the pressure is on governments to move beyond rhetoric and deliver transformative action that centers justice and equity in the global energy and economic transition.
BRIDGING BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE ACTION
The mountains of Azerbaijan in the Quba region of the country. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Our planet is facing an unprecedented biodiversity collapse, with plant, animal, and insect species becoming extinct faster than at any time in human history. If left unaddressed, this crisis will have catastrophic consequences for food systems, global economies, human health, and all life on Earth.
The biodiversity crisis is deeply interconnected with the climate crisis, creating a dual threat that demands urgent and integrated action from governments. WECAN participated in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16 in Cali, Colombia, in October, with a focus on ensuring that biodiversity protection is meaningfully integrated into climate action discussions at UNFCCC COP29 in Baku.
At COP29, WECAN prioritized building stronger links between biodiversity protection and climate action while advocating for safeguards for Indigenous Peoples and land defenders. Indigenous Peoples, who steward most of the planet's remaining biodiversity, are at the forefront of efforts to address both crises. Despite this, their territories are disproportionately targeted by extractive industries, which drive biodiversity loss and climate change while displacing Indigenous communities at seven times the rate of the global population.
Recognizing Indigenous expertise is essential to effective biodiversity and climate action. Governments need to move beyond token gestures and instead ensure meaningful engagement, decision-making power, and adherence to Indigenous peoples' right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). Moreover, financing must flow directly to Indigenous communities on the frontlines of these crises, enabling them to continue their vital work.
(left) Advocates uplift the importance of defending ancestral lands as a climate solution during civil society actions at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: WECAN International
(right) Advocates highlight the need to stop industrial agriculture to advance a Just Transition at the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice inside the COP29 venue in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
One significant development during the COP29 negotiations was Bolivia’s proposal to include “Mother Earth Centric Actions” in Article 6. This proposal sought to emphasize the critical role of biodiversity conservation in climate action and highlight non-market-based approaches, such as the Rights of Nature framework. Unfortunately, the final language was diluted, referring only to “enhancing different value systems, including for living in balance and harmony with Mother Earth, as recognized by some cultures.” While this is a step forward, it falls short of the robust recognition needed to drive transformative change.
Biodiversity protection remains a critical issue that must be fully integrated into COP discussions and outcomes. Looking ahead to COP30, we are hopeful that the agenda’s focus on forest protection will help bridge the gap between biodiversity, Indigenous rights, and climate action.
RIGHTS OF NATURE: A SYSTEMIC SOLUTION
Speakers Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), at the press conference “Rights of Nature: A Systemic Solution to the Climate Crisis” held on November 16 at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
This year, WECAN continued our work to elevate the Rights of Nature within the UNFCCC space. Rights of Nature is a framework and legal system based on the recognition and honoring of the Earth’s fundamental and inviolable right to exist, live, thrive, evolve and regenerate. The majority of the world’s legal frameworks treat nature as property, meaning that life-giving rivers, forests and mountains are seen as objects to be sold and consumed. Legal systems built on the premise of Rights of Nature challenge the idea that natural communities and ecosystems are property to be exploited endlessly by humans, and instead recognize the Earth as a living, rights-bearing entity.
At COP29, WECAN held a press conference, “Rights of Nature: A Systemic Solution to the Climate Crisis,” where presenters shared successes from the Rights of Nature movement, and how it can offer a systemic framework for defending and protecting biodiversity, communities, and our climate.
WECAN was also glad to support an event by the Indigenous Council for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature led by the Council Chair, Casey Camp-Horinek. During the event Indigenous speakers shared their worldviews and perspective while also discussing how Rights of Nature can compliment and uphold Indigenous rights.
Organizers Leo Cerda and Casey Camp-Horinek at the event “Indigenous Leadership in Advocating for the Rights of Nature,” coordinated by the Indigenous Council for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
While at COP29, WECAN presented “A Global Initiative for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature,” which outlines a strategy for national and subnational governments to have a mechanism for countries to adopt a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature. To learn about this vital new initiative please see our website here.
Rights of Nature is one of fastest growing environmental movements in the world with advancements for its implementation in 39 countries. This is a climate solution and WECAN will continue to bring this forward in international forums.
FORGING A FOSSIL FUEL PHASEOUT
Civil Society in action to demand a rapid fossil fuel phaseout at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Last year at COP28 in Dubai, countries agreed, for the first time, to “transition away from fossil fuels” in the Global Stocktake, a historic agreement only made possible by the advocacy efforts of climate-vulnerable countries and civil society.
This year, several countries pushed back on the language to phase out fossil fuels, seeking to remove the reference from the outcome documents altogether. Saudi Arabia led unprecedented efforts to derail fossil fuel phaseout discussions, with senior negotiators accused of editing official negotiating text. These attempts to undermine transitioning away from fossil fuels are all the more alarming as fossil fuel production remains on the rise. Carbon Brief released a new report during the conference determining that emissions from coal, oil and gas will rise by 0.8% in 2024. This represents a 2% growth from last year, raising the urgency for a more ambitious climate plan. This is at a time when the IPCC, IEA, and climate scientists are all calling for governments to rapidly stop fossil fuel expansion.
At COP29, countries failed to adopt an agreement on the UAE Dialogue which considers how to carry forward the goals laid out in the Global Stocktake. Talks on this issue will be taken up at Bonn 2025.
Youth leaders hold an action calling for governments to pay up for climate finance and phase out fossil fuels at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
The lack of commitment and integrity to transition off fossil fuels at COP29 was clear from the start. According to Global Witness, Azerbaijan's state oil firm, Socar, struck $8 billion in deals this year after Azerbaijan was announced as COP29’s host country, a record high for the company. Additionally, ahead of the negotiations in Baku, the Chief Executive of COP29, Elnur Soltanov, was filmed facilitating apparent deals with oil and gas companies in exchange for sponsoring the summit. The scandal renewed calls from climate justice advocates to ban fossil fuel companies and representatives from COP talks. Over 1,700 fossil fuel lobbyists attended COP29, and over 100 company executives were awarded special guest badges, including head of Saudi oil company Aramco and the chief executive of British Petroleum.
Alongside the negotiations in Baku, OECD leaders gathered in Paris to discuss ending $41 billion in fossil fuel support from export credit agencies. At COP29, advocates urged the Biden administration to use its last few months in office to secure this deal, which likely cannot be undone by the incoming Trump administration. This agreement could have significant impacts on fossil fuel financing, as export credit agencies supported over 80% of LNG expansion from 2012-2022. Participating nations failed to reach an agreement in Paris, but there is still the possibility to convene additional talks before the end of the year.
At COP29, demands from scientists, civil society, and governments grew for a more ambitious plan to transition away from fossil fuels. The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT) was spotlighted as an ambitious framework that complements the Paris Agreement while mitigating the harmful impacts of oil and gas industries. Support for the treaty gained traction at COP29, with the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, representing $117 billion in assets, becoming the first financial network to endorse the FFNPT. Moving forward, FFNPT leaders are seeking to secure a negotiating mandate for the treaty in 2025. The Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative also launched an open letter, signed by 125 climate champions, on the final day of COP29 urging a global plan to end fossil fuels.
Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director serves on the steering committee for the FFNPT and participated in strategy sessions to chart the course for FFNPT, including amplifying campaigns to global audiences, outreach to more counties to endorse the Treaty, building collective power, and advancing research to guide a fossil fuel phaseout.
Members and organizers at the strategy session for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative at COP29 Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo courtesy of the Fossil Fuel Treaty
ADVANCING CLIMATE JUSTICE IN NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS (NDCs)
Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director shares WECAN’s Climate Finance report and NDC recommendations with COP28 High Level Champion Razan Al Mubarak at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Every five years, governments are required to update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to escalate their contribution to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. As part of WECAN’s advocacy at COP29, we distributed our policy brief “Climate Justice Recommendations for Nationally Determined Contributions: Guidance for a Healthy and Equitable Future for People and Planet” to support countries in strengthening their climate commitments and integrating climate justice principles to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and avert the most severe consequences of the climate crisis. You can read the policy brief here.
With the next update due in February 2025, the outcomes of COP29 have a role to play in guiding the ambition of countries in their NDCs, however we know much more is needed domestically to surpass the agreements at COP29 if we want to keep 1.5C alive.
Brazil and the United Arab Emirates were the first to publish their NDCs for 2025. However, as demonstrated in their NDCs, many governments are relying on false climate solutions like carbon capture and storage, that depend on environmental degradation and are not successful at reducing carbon emissions at the necessary scale. Although the UAE’s NDC spelled out intentions to decrease emissions by 47% by 2035, the commitment omitted export emissions, which account for 63% of its oil production. This, combined with the UAE’s plans to expand fossil fuel production demonstrate its failure to address the root cause of climate impacts by stopping pollution at its source and phasing out oil and gas production.
Brazil presented its full NDC at COP29, which aims to cut emissions between 59% and 67% from 2005 levels by 2035. However, the plan relies heavily on its carbon-storing forests and largely ignores the country’s fossil fuel industry, which Brazil plans to expand by 36% by 2035. NGOs have called for a more ambitious NDC of at least 80% emissions reduction.
Other countries previewed commitments to release NDCs that are aligned with a 1.5C climate scenario. The EU, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland all announced that net zero targets would be included in their February commitments. Furthermore, the EU and 25 countries, including Canada, Colombia, and Australia, agreed to add a "no new coal" commitment in their next NDCs.
The Biden administration shared hopes to publish the U.S. NDC before the end of the year, before Trump takes office. As the largest historical polluter, it is essential for the United States to publish an ambitious NDC that prioritizes a fossil fuel phaseout. Modeling by the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland shows that a feasible and ambitious NDC for the U.S. could aim for 65% emissions reductions by 2035.
Scientists and governments agree that to avert the most severe consequences of the climate crisis, global temperatures must be kept below 1.5°C from pre-industrial levels. This upcoming round represents a critical juncture, as the targets and objectives set will influence climate action and policy until 2035, marking the last opportunity to implement transformative actions needed to avoid exceeding the 1.5°C limit and climate catastrophe.
INDIGENOUS WOMEN LEADERS FROM BRAZIL GUIDING THE WAY TO COP30
The WECAN team with Secretary Puyr Tembé, First Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon and members of ANMIGA at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: WECAN International
“You have all been called to Brazil where you will see how wonderful it is. You will grow to understand and see the truth with your own eyes, why it is that we fight with our lives to protect nature, the rivers, and the forests. You will finally see for yourselves that we, Indigenous peoples, are not merely a “part” of this nature but rather, that we are one with it. It is in this moment of learning, you will know why you, too, need to join our fight and will begin implementing real solutions.”
LUCIMARA PATTÉ
Co-Founder of ANMIGA and WECAN COP29 Delegate
Part of WECAN’s advocacy at COP this year involved supporting the agendas and calls to action of Indigenous women leaders from Brazil. We were honored to have five Indigenous women from Brazil participate as WECAN COP29 delegates who represent communities from the Amazon and connected biomes. COP30 will be held in Belém, Brazil, at the opening of the Amazon Rainforest, and Indigenous women are uniting to ensure a powerful presence of Indigenous women leaders from across Brazil at COP30. Indigenous Peoples are the guardians of ecosystems and their leadership, solutions, and strategies will be essential to ensuring a successful outcome at COP next year.
Puyr Tembé, First Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon, and co-founder of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA); Laysa Mathias, “We Are Guardians” Film Impact Producer in Brazil, and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director meet to discuss and strategy about an upcoming reforestation and forest protection project in the Brazilian Amazon. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
While at COP29, WECAN had a chance to strategize about COP30 with Puyr Tembé, Secretary of Indigenous Peoples in the State of Para in Brazil, and to discuss an upcoming reforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon titled, “WECAN Reforestation and Forest Protection Program: Indigenous Women Restoring and Protecting Brazil’s Amazon and the Heart of the People.” Through the leadership and knowledge of Indigenous women from the Tembé and Guajajara communities, this reforestation initiative will restore degraded lands of the Alto Rio Guamá and Arariboia territories. By improving soil quality and planting native trees, the project will restore biodiversity and strengthen both community and climate resilience.
As part of our efforts at COP29, we coordinated a press conference at COP29 on November 14, “Indigenous Women from Brazil: Calls for Climate Action on the Road to COP30” to specifically hear from leaders of the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestrality (ANMIGA) on their goals and plans on the road to COP30.
(left) Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
(right) Puyr Tembé, First Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon, and Co-Founder of ANMIGA speaks out during the WECAN Press Conference “Indigenous Women from Brazil: Calls for Climate Action on the Road to COP30” held on November 14 at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
On November 13, ANMIGA hosted an event at the Indigenous Peoples’ Pavilion, "Reflorestarmentes pela cura da terra" (Reforesting Minds to Heal the Earth), where leaders from ANMIGA spoke about climate, agribusiness, and extractive industry impacts in their territories. The discussion then moved to the women's vision for COP30. Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, was honored to be invited to moderate the panel.
Concita Sõpré, ANMIGA Co-founder and President of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Pará (FEPIPA), Fernanda Soraggi Silva, ANMIGA International Technical Advisor, Lucimara Patté, ANMIGA Co-founder, and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director at the ANMIGA hosted event at the Indigenous Peoples Pavilion at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
WECAN has been building a formal partnership with ANMIGA for the last two years, and at COP29 we met to strategize for the coming months and discuss opportunities and challenges. ANMIGA is working to ensure women’s participation and leadership at all levels of decision-making in Brazil, while creating a powerful vision and movement for Indigenous women at COP30, and we are thrilled to be collaborating!
Overall, we are very excited about the leadership of Indigenous women in Brazil from grassroots leaders to their role in government, and their efforts to protect territories, advance climate justice, and uplift women’s leadership. While we remain concerned with Brazil’s role as a major oil producer, we invite the news that they will “not shy away” from the discussion of the fossil fuel transition at COP30.
ADVOCACY ENGAGEMENT WITH GOVERNMENT LEADERS AND REPRESENTATIVES FOR CLIMATE ACTION
(left) Casey Camp-Horinek, WECAN Board Member and COP29 Delegate and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, share climate justice reports with Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland and Elder Representative at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
(right) Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia and CBD COP16 President, receiving WECAN reports at COP29 with Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
Throughout the two weeks at COP29, WECAN engaged in advocacy meetings, events, and interventions with governments leaders and representatives advocating for just climate finance, women-led solutions and strategies, and fossil fuel phaseout within the negotiations and beyond. This is a critical aspect of participating in the UN Climate Talks— there is an opportunity to engage with government leaders directly.
The WECAN team presented WECAN’s reports to Aubrey Paris, Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: WECAN International
WECAN met with government representatives, high-level climate champions, and COP29 leaders, including COP28 High Level Champion Razan Al Mubarak, Mary Robinson the Former President of Ireland, Susana Mohamed, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, Rachel Kyte the UK Special Representative on Climate, and the U.S. negotiating team, along with other high level officials. During our discussions, we delivered several WECAN reports highlighting climate justice analyses and frameworks. Reports included “Climate Justice Recommendations for Nationally Determined Contributions,” “Climate Justice Perspectives on Climate Finance for COP29,” and “The Need for Real Zero Not Net Zero: Shifting from False Solutions to Real Solutions and a Just Transition.” You can find the reports here: https://www.wecaninternational.org/reports
(left) Osprey Orielle Lake with Dr. Frances Roberts-Gregory, Activist Scholar and WECAN COP29 Delegate, in a briefing with the U.S. Delegation at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Osprey Orielle Lake/WECAN International
(right) Jacqui Patterson, Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project, and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director following a close-door strategy session with U.S. Congressional staffers.
Photo Credit: WECAN International
Additionally, alongside U.S. partners, WECAN engaged in closed-door strategy meetings with U.S. Congressional staffers to advocate for stopping fossil fuel expansion in the United States and to address upcoming challenges with the incoming administration.
At COP29 we also met with journalists and news outlets to uplift the stories and leadership of global women leaders sharing their strategies and solutions. At the bottom of the blog you can find a selection of media hits from COP29 highlighting delegation members.
(left) Casey Camp-Horinek, WECAN Board Member and COP29 Delegate and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, meet with Amy Goodman from Democracy Now. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
(right) WECAN with partners from the US Climate Action Network (USCAN) at COP29. Photo courtesy of USCAN
SPEAKING OUT FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE: WECAN EVENTS, PRESS CONFERENCES AND COLLECTIVE ACTIONS
WECAN hosted, co-hosted, and participated in 10 events while at COP29, and engaged in actions almost every day of the negotiations. Please see information and resources for all WECAN events, press conferences, and collective actions, in chronological order.
Pavilion Event — Centering Care and Peace to Ensure a Gender-Just Transition
Katherine Quaid (Confederated Tribes of Umatilla), WECAN Communications and Outreach Coordinator speaking at the event “Centering Care and Peace to Ensure a Gender-Just Transition” held on November 12 at COP29 in Baku, 2024. Photo Courtesy of the WGC Just Transition Working Group
Kicking off our COP29 events, Katherine Quaid, WECAN Communications and Outreach Coordinator, spoke at an event coordinated by the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) Just Transition working group, “Centering Care and Peace to Ensure a Gender-Just Energy Transition,” held at the ILO Just Transition Pavilion at the COP29 venue. She presented on the care economy, and the need to center care and consent, specifically the Indigenous Right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), in Just Transition efforts.
Civil Society in Action for Climate Finance, Human Rights, and Just Transition
Climate Justice advocates in action calling for the end of fossil fuels and wars at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
From the first day of COP29, civil society made it loud and clear:
Global North Countries must pay up on climate finance!
There is no climate justice without human rights!
Governments must end fossil fuel subsidies and advance a just transition!
Every day of COP29, civil society groups held actions to bring forth our collective call for action and justice. We urged governments to meet the $1.3 trillion USD demand for climate finance and ensure that financing comes in the form of grants instead of loans.
We also called on parties to uphold human rights, Indigenous rights, and gender justice. We know that justice lies at the core of our work, and thus we need to uplift the many intersecting crises happening right now, which will inform a Just Transition globally.
(left) Advocates on the ground in Baku for COP29 demanding climate finance for an equitable and just transition.
Photo credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
(right) Civil society calls to kick big polluters out and ensure just climate finance during at action at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
Press Conference — Indigenous Women from Brazil: Calls for Climate Action on the Road to COP30
Speakers at the “Indigenous Women from the Amazon: Calls for Urgent Action on the Path to COP30” held on November 14 at COP29 in Baku, 2024. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
“We are calling all women, not only Indigenous women, not only Brazilian women but we are calling on all women across the globe to become a part of this movement to protect the Amazon and to protect the planet.”
PUYR TEMBE
First Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in Brazil,
Co-founder of ANMIGA, and WECAN COP29 Delegate
On November 14, WECAN organized a press conference with esteemed speakers from Brazil to share calls to action and advocacy efforts to protect Indigenous rights, forests, water, communities, and the global climate on the path to COP30.
With COP30 slated to be held in Belém, Brazil it is vital to hear from the Indigenous women who are mobilizing to protect Indigenous rights and biodiversity in the Amazon and connected biomes.
Speakers included: Puyr Tembé, First Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon, and co-founder of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA), Brazil; Concita Sõpré, Co-founder, National Association of Indigenous Women's Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), and President of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Pará (FEPIPA), Brazilian Amazon; Lucimara Patté, Co-founder of the National Association of Indigenous Women's Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), from the Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil; with moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), United States.
Global Day of Action for Climate Justice
Climate justice leaders hold the WECAN banner “Women Ending the Era of Fossil Fuels and Building a Just Transition” during the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice held inside the COP29 venue in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
On November 16, civil society in Baku and across the world held events and activities for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice. Climate Justice constituencies at COP29 held a speak out in one of the plenary halls. Casey Camp-Horinek, (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, and Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), spoke together during the speeches highlighting the importance of Indigenous led-solutions and knowledge in addressing the climate crisis.
Casey Camp-Horinek, WECAN Board Member and COP29 Delegate, and Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), speaking out at the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice at COP29. Photo credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
Following the speak-out, advocates went out into the halls of the Blue Zone to conduct a silent action, as we were not allowed to chant or make sound in this area. We held signs, hummed, and encircled the entire space outside the plenary halls where governments were in negotiations.
(both photos) Civil society in action during the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice held inside the COP29 venue in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Press Conference — Rights of Nature: A Systemic Solution to the Climate Crisis
Speakers at the press conference “Rights of Nature: A Systemic Solution to the Climate Crisis” held on November 16 at COP29 in Baku, 2024. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
“We organize in our own territory and we listen to all that is good from what Mother Earth has to teach us. We begin to recognize the inherent laws of all living things and align ourselves with the true power of Sun, Moon, Earth, and life itself. Rights of Nature exist. Let’s recognize that.”
CASEY CAMP-HORINEK (PONCA NATION)
Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador
WECAN Board Member and COP29 Delegate
On November 16, WECAN hosted a COP29 Press Conference articulating a new legal framework and economy based on living in balance with Earth’s natural systems. Presenters discussed the Rights of Nature movement, its successes, and how it can offer a systemic framework for defending and protecting biodiversity, communities, and the climate.
Speakers included: Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA; Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nigeria; Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN); and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA.
WECAN presented “A Global Initiative for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature,” which outlines a strategy for national and subnational governments to have a mechanism for countries to adopt a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature. To learn about this vital new initiative please see our website here.
Press Conference — Women Leading
Fossil Fuel Phaseout and A Just Transition
Speakers at WECAN’s press conference “Women Leading Fossil Fuel Phaseout and A Just Transition” held on November 18 at COP29 in Baku, 2024. Photo Credit: WECAN International
"At the end of the day, we need direct financing to our communities that are not reliant on false solutions and carbon markets. We need solutions that we, Indigenous and frontline communities, design. We need direct funding that isn’t based on nation states' determination of how they think we should receive those funds either but rather based on our experience, knowledge and wisdom, and our knowing of exactly what we need."
ERIEL TCHEKWIE DERANGER
(Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation)
Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action
On November 18, WECAN hosted a press conference where women leaders spoke about the importance of advancing a fossil fuel phaseout and embracing a Just Transition that supports communities and ecosystems. Speakers highlighted the role of climate finance in supporting equitable solutions and ensuring accountability in the Just Transition. Speakers also discussed the efforts of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Speakers included: Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Canada; Dr. Amiera Sawas, Head of Research and Policy at the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty; and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA.
Formal UN Side Event — Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis
Women activists speak out at the WECAN COP29 Side Event, “Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis.” Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
"Capitalism has been very successful at capturing our imagination and making us believe that we cannot live in a different way than we do now but another world is possible. We have seen this across time– the story of a large institution, once thought to be insurmountable, that can be taken down by the people. Well, there is no reason for the climate crisis not to become a part of that same history –where the powers and systems that be, those of oppression and exploitation, can be brought down once again by the people. Of course, with women leading at the front."
ZUKISWA WHITE
Coordinator for the Women and Gender Constituency
“Indigenous women are at the front of this battle and it is our work to create a bridge between our ancestral knowledge and the recognized science acknowledged in these international spaces. We have the solutions as Indigenous peoples and we know that by securing the lives of Indigenous communities, women, youth and children, we can protect not only our land, biodiversity, ecosystems, our rivers and sacred mountains but we can guarantee a just future for everyone.”
MAJO ANDRADE CERDA (KICHWA)
Leader of Economy and Community Development of CONFENIAE
"Mother Earth is saying 'NO'. She is saying, 'Get loud, get strong, and assume the power that is already there within you.' So who are the leaders here now? That’s us and it’s time to warrior up!"
CASEY CAMP-HORINEK (PONCA NATION)
Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador
WECAN Board Member and COP29 Delegate
On November 19, WECAN hosted our formal UN Side Event, “Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis.” During the side event, Indigenous, Black, and frontline women, and global advocates presented climate justice strategies and solutions including forest protection and restoration, Indigenous rights, agroecology, fossil fuel phase-out and divestment, and protection of women land defenders.
(left) Xiye Bastida, Co-Founder of the Re-Earth Initiative, speaking at the WECAN COP29 Side Event, “Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis.” Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
(right) Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, speaking at the WECAN COP29 Side Event, “Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis.” Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Speakers included: Zukiswa White, Coordinator, Women and Gender Constituency, South Africa; Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Canada; Majo Andrade Cerda (Kichwa), Director of Economy and Community Development Serena and Leader of Economy and Community Development of CONFENIAE; Xiye Bastida, Co-Founder of the Re-Earth Initiative, Mexico/USA; Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA; and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA.
Speakers at the WECAN COP29 Side Event, “Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis.” Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
Formal UN Pavilion Event — Indigenous Leadership in Advocating for the Rights of Nature
Speakers at the Pavilion Event, “Indigenous Leadership in Advocating for the Rights of Nature.”
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
During this event, hosted by the Indigenous Council for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN), Indigenous leaders spoke to the importance of centering Indigenous knowledge and leadership in global environmental governance, and how Rights of Nature can support ongoing efforts for Indigenous sovereignty and climate action. WECAN was honored to support this event at COP29.
Please follow the Indigenous Council on Instagram for more information and to stay up to date on their work.
Press Conference — Women Leading a Just Transition
Speakers at the WECAN Press Conference, “Women Leading a Just Transition” held on November 20 at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
“We cannot speak about a Just Transition without guaranteeing Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) within the negotiation text. We must guarantee Indigenous rights, human rights, and our right as Indigenous peoples to protect our biodiversity, our ecosystems, and our way of life. Without this recognition, this is simply not a Just Transition.”
TAILY TERENA (TERENA NATION)
Indigenous rights activist and organizer
“The fight to keep 1.5 alive, the fight to fiercely protect and defend land and life from the cruelty of self serving and self sabotaging greed of capitalism and its pillars of exploitation, oppression and violence upon which it is anchored, is one we will not stop fighting for as long as we have breath in our body.”
ZUKISWA WHITE
Coordinator for the Women and Gender Constituency
On November 20, women leaders shared vital reports and critical strategies to accelerate a Just Transition and global climate justice while supporting communities and ecosystems impacted by extractive industries and human and Indigenous rights violations.
Speakers included: Colette Pichon Battle, Vision and Initiatives Partner at Taproot Earth, USA; Zukiswa White, Coordinator, Women and Gender Constituency, South Africa; Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA; Taily Terena (Terena Nation), Indigenous rights activist and organizer, WECAN Coordinator, Brazil; and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA.
(left) Colette Pichon Battle, Vision and Initiatives Partner at Taproot Earth, and (right) Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and COP29 Delegate, speaking out during the WECAN Press Conference, “Women Leading a Just Transition” held on November 20 at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
WGEO Pavilion Event — Protecting
Biodiversity for Climate Resilience
WECAN Founder and Executive Director, Osprey Orielle Lake, speaking at “Protecting Biodiversity for Climate Resilience.” Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid / WECAN International
WECAN Executive Director, Osprey Orielle Lake spoke at WGEO’s event on November 21 to discuss the interlinkages between the global biodiversity and climate crises. WECAN spotlighted key climate solutions essential to biodiversity protection, and the crucial role of biodiversity in climate regulation, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem resilience.
Press Conference — Accelerating
Feminist Solutions to the Climate Crisis
Women activists on the importance of Feminist Solutions at COP29 Press Conference, “Accelerating Feminist Solutions to the Climate Crisis.” Photo Credit: WECAN International
“When we center care, we honor our interdependence and our responsibility to one another and to the earth. It is our future on the line. We will not allow our future to be defined by the governments and corporations that drove us into this crisis.”
KATHERINE QUAID
(CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF UMATILLA)
WECAN Communications Coordinator
On November 21, the Feminist Green New Deal (FemGND) Coalition and US Climate Action Network (USCAN) held a joint press conference, “Accelerating Feminist Solutions to the Climate Crisis,” where we heard from panelists on the the critical role that feminist perspectives play in formulating effective solutions to the climate crisis and the impact of feminist voices during the COP29 negotiations. WECAN is honored to be a member of both the FemGND and USCAN.
Many thanks to the speakers: Dr. Frances Roberts-Gregory, Feminist Political Ecologist and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Harvard University Center for the Environment; Analyah Schlaeger dos Santos, EJ Youth Program Director and Global Climate Justice Coordinator at the Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light; Sheelah Bearfoot (Chiricahua Apache) MHS, Environmental Justice Advocate and member of the Wisdom Keepers Delegation at COP29; Katherine Quaid (Confederated Tribes of Umatilla), Communications Coordinator for the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN); Bridget Burns, Executive Director of Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO); and a special reading by Poet Parneet Kaur.
PEOPLE’S PLENARY
A representative from the Indigenous Peoples Caucus speaks out at the People’s Plenary at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
On November 20, constituencies held the People’s Plenary to raise our collective voices and demand that governments respond urgently to the multiple interlocking crises. Despite shrinking civil society space in the COP and around the world, we continue to fight to ensure the voices of millions who are experiencing the worst of the climate crisis are heard. We will not give up the fight!
(left) climate activists speaking at the People’s Plenary at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
(right) Activists in the crowd holding signs calling for just and equitable climate finance at the People’s Plenary at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo Credit: Katherine Quaid/WECAN International
HONORING THE COP29 DELEGATION
WECAN International was honored to facilitate, accompany, and uplift the presence of an incredible group of frontline and Indigenous women leaders at COP29, who advocated for climate justice and led and participated in powerful actions, announcements, advocacy interventions, press conferences, high-level engagements, and events over the duration of their time at the conference.
CASEY CAMP-HORINEK
Ponca Nation, Turtle Island, USA
Casey Camp-Horinek of the Ponca Nation is a community leader, long-time Native rights activist, environmentalist and actress. She is the Ponca Environmental Ambassador and a WECAN Board member. Casey is the Chair of GARN’s Indigenous Council. She has been at the forefront of grassroots community efforts to educate and empower both Native and non-Native community members on environmental and civil rights issues.
PUYR TEMBÉ
Tembé, Brazil
Puyr Tembé, is a prominent Indigenous activist of the Tembé Indigenous peoples from Alto Rio Guamá in the Brazilian Amazon, and the First Secretary of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Pará. She is also a co-founder of The National Association of Indigenous Ancestral Women Warriors (ANMIGA). Puyr's advocacy is featured in the award-winning film “We Are Guardians,” which highlights the efforts of Indigenous forest guardians and Earth Defenders in protecting the Amazon from illegal logging and mining.
TAILY TERENA
Terena, Brazil
Taily is a young Indigenous woman from the Terena nation of Brazil and a passionate advocate for the environment and Mother Earth. Since a young age, Taily has been an advocate for the rights of Indigenous women in Brazil. She belongs to the Enlace Continental de Mujeres Indígenas (Continental Network of Indigenous Women of Americas) and is the President of the General Assembly of the ACT-Brasil. She is a WECAN Coordinator in Brazil.
DR. FRANCES ROBERTS-GREGORY
USA
Dr. Frances Roberts-Gregory is an ecowomanist academic and feminist political ecologist with familial roots in coastal North Carolina, Georgia, and New Jersey. She currently serves as a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Her feminist activist research explores women of color’s environmental resistance in Gulf Coast Louisiana and advocacy within UNFCCC negotiations for environmental, energy, and climate justice.
OSPREY ORIELLE LAKE
USA
Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International. She works nationally and internationally with grassroots and Indigenous leaders, policy-makers, and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a clean energy future.
KATHERINE QUAID
Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, Turtle Island, USA
Katherine Quaid is the Communications Coordinator for the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). She was born and raised in rural central Oregon and is a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla. Her dedication to climate justice is tied to the lands of her ancestors and the many communities nationally and around the world that are fighting for a healthy future.
COP29 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
Media requests for the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network regarding our events and advocacy at the UNFCCC COP29 can be directed to: katherine@wecaninternational.org
Below is a selection of the media highlights for the WECAN COP29 Delegation and the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network overall:
AnewZ - Exclusive with Osprey Orielle Lake: Women’s Rights and Climate Action
Klima Reporter - [Deutsch] The Summit 27 Leagues Below the Sea
East Leigh Voice – Climate change is hitting women the hardest. What to do about it – economists
Women’s Agenda - Representation of women at COP29 stalls as calls for climate action grow
Euro News - Video. COP29 carbon credit debate sparks backlash from activists
Agência Pará - [Português] Pará participates in the creation of the Sector Chamber of Indigenous Peoples at COP 29
East Leigh Voice - Climate change: Women’s role in the economy is key to a just transition
Media.AZ - [русский] Day 6 of COP29: Blue Zone activities conclude
New York Times - Climate Talks Head Into the Final Stretch With Negotiators Far Apart
Reporterre - [Français] At COP29: The Voice of an American Indigenous Woman Against the Fossil Fuel Industry
Censored News - Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Saturate U.N. Climate Summit in Azerbaijan
The Innovation Station - Podcast. LIVE! From COP29 with Dr. Aubrey Paris
ECCO - [Italiano] Women and climate: the role of gender in multilateral processes
aef info - [Français] Press Review of Wednesday, November 20, 2024 on Sustainable Development
Artivist_net - Video coverage of false solutions protest
Trend News Agency - Addressing climate issues demands considering gender parity - COP29's US participant
Reporterre - [Français] COP29 overrun by over 1,770 fossil fuel lobbyists
Reuters - Policy Watch: At COP29 and G20, leaders face calls to direct more finance to Global South
Obyektiv TV - Video. WECAN: Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions
ODI Global - Protecting hard-won rights: gender and climate action at COP29
HOMEF TV - Words on The Streets of COP29 on Nature, Biodiversity, and Indigenous People
Premium Times - COP29: Experts decry Africa’s climate finance shortfalls
EFE: Verde - [Español] Indigenous women from Brazil ask for urgent actions to sustain life at COP29
A Crítica do Acre - [Español] “A historical framework for the Amazon”: Mailza Assis celebrates the creation of the Setorial Chamber of Indigenous Peoples at COP29
Portal da Cidade - [Español] Pará strengthens indigenous protagonism with the creation of the Sectorial Chamber at COP
ACRE Noticias - Acre participates in the installation of the Sectorial Chamber of Indigenous Peoples of the Legal Amazon Consortium at COP29
El Salto Diario - [Español] The gender gap at the Climate Summits
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