From COP30 to COP31: What We As Afro-Descendants Accomplished – and the Work Ahead
By Mariama Williams, Senior Advisor, and Cheryl Kwapong, Lead Project Manager
We were honored to anchor the Global Afro-Descendant Climate Justice Collaborative (GADCJC) at the 30th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP30). Together, in joint purpose and action with scores of Afro-Descendant organizations and leaders, we fought on behalf of communities across Africa and the Diaspora at COP30—advocating for climate justice, Black Liberation, and our collective right to thrive.
COP30 concluded with a historic milestone for the African Diaspora at the frontlines of climate justice globally, but this is where the real work begins.
Now that COP30 has wrapped, here are our major takeaways – and what’s ahead as we prepare for the forum meetings to come.
For the first time, Peoples of African descent appear in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) across multiple strands of negotiated text.
Key documents where Afro-Descendants are now included:
- Global Mutirao: Uniting humanity in a global mobilization against climate change. Draft decision -/CMA.7. Proposal by the President | UNFCCC
- United Arab Emirates just transition work programme. Draft decision -/CMA.7. Proposal by the President | UNFCCC
- Belém gender action plan. Proposal by the Presidency | UNFCCC
This breakthrough reflects years of Afro-Descendants organizing across the world.
We are grateful to the pathbreaking work of the Vice President of Colombia at the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) COP 16 (2024) that helped to open the door for these climate change negotiations.
We have enduring bonds with our Indigenous sisters and brothers – particularly the warm welcome and sustained support of the Anishinaabe (Ojibway) Batchewana, First Nation of Canada and the supportive Indigenous Peoples of Colombia and here in Brazil.
We are appreciative of Civil Society Groups in the UNFCCC constituencies, particularly the Women and Gender Constituency, Demand Climate Justice (DCJ), The Southern Climate and Environmental Network (SCEN), AHAM Education, US Climate Action Network (CAN) and CAN International.
We congratulate our Brazilian Afro-Descendant Sisters and Brothers at Centro Brasileiro de Justiça Climática (CBJC), Geledes Black Women’s Institute, Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum, Perifa Connection, and the Coalizão Negra Por Direitos amongst many others for holding the torch and powerfully keeping the struggle going on the ground in Brasil.
Above all else, we celebrate the collective at GADCJC – individuals and groups who dedicated countless hours and heart to the creation of a policy platform (linked below) through strategic meetings and in-person events. We stand together in our collective journey.
What this means moving forward: This pushes the door a little wider to more meaningful participation in climate change negotiations and inclusion in decision-making data. We have a stronger position in our fight for climate justice.
We still have a long way to go in our fight for formal recognition as our very own constituency group of Afro-descendants. We had the honor of attending the Indigenous Peoples caucus and viewed this as a beautiful reminder of what could be possible for our own people. People from all parts of the diaspora meeting as one to strategize, plan, and fight for our collective liberation is within our very grasp.
What this means moving forward: As GADCJC, we call on all Afro-Descendants and allies across the globe to join us.
Please follow the link to read our Open Letter to All States Parties, and sign on to endorse the Afro-Descendant movement and our right to recognition! (LINK)
The GADCJC also invites your organization to join in advancing the resolution, Race, Racism, and Climate Reparations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as a signatory.
Looking to 2026 and beyond, The GADCJC will continue to mobilize with our comrades from across the globe.
To aid this movement, we offer the following resources:
- A Policy Platform that emphasizes the inextricable links between gender justice, climate justice, and Black Afro-Descendant liberation, recognizing that systemic oppression disproportionately impacts women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals, especially people who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, trans, differently-abled, and/or economically disadvantaged.
This Directory was compiled in November 2025 (in conjunction with COP30 proceedings) to provide a resource to showcase the extensive landscape of Global Afro-Descendant groups and communities organizing around climate justice. This database is a work-in-progress; more groups and information will be added on an ongoing basis.
What this means moving forward: We will continue to collaborate in solidarity across geographic, language, religious, and other kinds of boundaries to realize a shared vision of Black Liberation, Climate Justice and Just Transition.
For more information, please contact: