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We Join Civil Society in Calling on COP30 to Put Care at the Centre of Climate Action

We Join Civil Society in Calling on COP30 to Put Care at the Centre of Climate Action

English | Português

 

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Civil society organisations from across Latin America and beyond have issued an open letter to the Presidency of COP30 calling for care, decent work and a truly just transition to be placed at the heart of global climate action. The letter highlights how paid and unpaid care work sustains life yet remains invisibilised, undervalued and unevenly distributed, particularly affecting Black, Indigenous, rural and women in peripheral territories. It also warns that climate change is deepening existing inequalities, increasing the burden of domestic and community care while failing to recognise the vital role women play in adaptation and resilience. The organisations urge COP30 to integrate the human right to care into climate strategies, strengthen public services, ensure meaningful participation of women carers in negotiations and place care at the centre of policies on loss, damage and reparations.

 

Open Letter to the Presidency of COP30

Care, decent work and a just transition: for an economy that sustains life

Belém, 2025

To the Presidency of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30),

We, civil society organisations, address the Presidency of COP30 to reaffirm the urgency of placing care at the centre of the just transition, decent work and global responses to the climate crisis.

Care work — paid or unpaid — sustains life, economies and territories. However, it remains invisibilised, undervalued and unequally distributed. In regions such as Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, women perform three to five times more hours of unpaid care work than men. In Brazil, 91% of domestic workers are women, 65% of them Black, demonstrating how gender, race, class and age inequalities structure the work that upholds the dignity of human life. This work is therefore feminised, racialised and continues throughout the ageing process of women.

Climate change aggravates this reality. The intensification of extreme events, water and food scarcity and the displacement of communities increase the time and effort dedicated to domestic or personal care — work that falls mainly on women in peripheral, rural, riverside and Indigenous territories. At the same time, they are the ones leading community actions on adaptation, biodiversity protection and resilience-building, even without recognition or adequate remuneration. Thus, paid and unpaid care work carried out by individuals and communities, in addition to environmental care, are essential dimensions of the human right to care that must shape policies and investments in climate action, now and in the future.

The new Gender Action Plan of the UNFCCC, currently under discussion, recognises for the first time care work as an emerging theme essential for gender equality and climate action. This development is historic and requires political commitment so that it translates into financing, the strengthening of universal and high-quality public services, training and the effective participation of unpaid women carers and workers in climate and economic decision-making, in order to achieve a truly just transition.

The Brazilian Presidency of COP30 has the opportunity to lead this process and to consolidate globally the care agenda as part of the just transition. Brazil can show the world that decarbonisation is not possible without the recognition and valuing of the work that sustains life and that is carried out mainly by Black, Indigenous, peripheral and rural women of all ages.

For this reason, we call on COP30 to:

  • Integrate the four dimensions of the human right to care (caring, being cared for, self-care and environmental care) as a pillar of strategies for a just transition, decent work and climate adaptation, in line with the ILO’s 5Rs Framework — Recognise, Reduce, Redistribute, Reward and Represent;
  • Recognise care systems and public services as essential structures for climate resilience and redirect their priorities and governance structures to acknowledge care work — paid and unpaid — as essential infrastructure for adaptation, mitigation, resilience and climate justice, taking into account the ageing of women.
  • Ensure the effective participation of unpaid women carers and workers of all ages in climate negotiations and decision-making spaces; ensure that the new Gender Action Plan includes targets and monitoring mechanisms on care, social justice and gender equality.
  • Consider care at the centre of policies on climate-related reparations and loss and damage.

A truly just transition is one that places the sustainability of life at the centre of economic and environmental policies, recognising the vital role of women, communities and all those who care for human life and nature.

Signed (in alphabetical order):

  • Bufete de Estudios Interdisciplinares AC
  • Casa Fluminense
  • CFEMEA
  • Coletivo Etinerancias – Assessoria Popular em Redes de Cuidados e Direitos Humanos
  • Coletivo Filhas da Mãe
  • CPM Micaela Bastidas
  • Fórum da Mulher Idosa
  • Fórum Feminista Antirracista Por Uma Política Nacional de Cuidados
  • Fundación Arcoíris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual
  • Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)
  • ICW Latina
  • INESC

 

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Organizações da sociedade civil de toda a América Latina e de outras regiões publicaram uma carta aberta à Presidência da COP30, pedindo que o cuidado, o trabalho decente e uma transição verdadeiramente justa sejam colocados no centro da ação climática global. A carta destaca que o trabalho de cuidado — remunerado e não remunerado — sustenta a vida, mas continua invisibilizado, desvalorizado e distribuído de forma desigual, afetando especialmente mulheres negras, indígenas, rurais e de territórios periféricos. Também alerta que as mudanças climáticas aprofundam essas desigualdades, ampliando a sobrecarga de cuidado doméstico e comunitário e deixando de reconhecer o papel vital desempenhado pelas mulheres na adaptação e na construção de resiliência. As organizações instam a COP30 a integrar o direito humano ao cuidado nas estratégias climáticas, fortalecer os serviços públicos, garantir a participação efetiva de mulheres cuidadoras nas negociações e colocar o cuidado no centro das políticas de reparação e de perdas e danos relacionadas ao clima.

 

Carta Aberta à Presidência da COP30

Cuidado, trabalho decente e transição justa: por uma economia que sustente a vida

Belém, 2025

À Presidência da 30ª Conferência das Partes da Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas (COP30),

Nós, organizações da sociedade civil, dirigimo-nos à Presidência da COP30 para reafirmar a urgência de colocar o cuidado no centro da transição justa, do trabalho decente e das respostas globais à crise climática.

O trabalho de cuidado — remunerado ou não — sustenta a vida, as economias e os territórios. Contudo, continua invisibilizado, desvalorizado e distribuído de forma desigual. Em regiões como a África, Ásia, América Latina e o Caribe, as mulheres realizam de três a cinco vezes mais horas de cuidado não remunerado do que os homens. No Brasil, 91% das trabalhadoras domésticas são mulheres, 65% delas negras, evidenciando como as desigualdades de gênero, raça, classe e idade estruturam o trabalho que mantém a dignidade da vida humana. Este trabalho é, portanto, feminilizado, racializado e segue ocorrendo durante o processo de envelhecimento das mulheres.

As mudanças climáticas agravam essa realidade. A intensificação de eventos extremos, a escassez de água e alimentos e o deslocamento de comunidades ampliam o tempo e o esforço dedicados ao cuidado doméstico ou de pessoas — um trabalho que recai, sobretudo, sobre mulheres em territórios periféricos, rurais, ribeirinhos e indígenas. Ao mesmo tempo, são elas que lideram ações comunitárias de adaptação, proteção da biodiversidade e construção de resiliência, mesmo sem reconhecimento ou remuneração adequada. Assim, o trabalho de cuidado remunerado e não remunerado realizado por indivíduos e comunidades, além do cuidado ambiental, são dimensões essenciais do direito humano ao cuidado que devem estruturar as políticas e os investimentos em ação climática, agora e no futuro.

O novo Plano de Ação de Gênero da UNFCCC, em discussão, reconhece pela primeira vez o trabalho de cuidado como tema emergente essencial para a igualdade de gênero e a ação climática. Esse avanço é histórico e requer compromisso político para se traduzir em financiamento, consolidação de serviços públicos universais e de qualidade, capacitação e participação efetiva de mulheres cuidadoras sem remuneração e trabalhadoras nas decisões sobre o clima e a economia, para alcançar uma transição verdadeiramente justa.

A Presidência brasileira da COP30 tem a oportunidade de liderar esse processo e de consolidar globalmente a agenda de cuidados como parte da transição justa. O Brasil pode mostrar ao mundo que não há descarbonização possível sem o reconhecimento e a valorização do trabalho que sustenta a vida e que é realizado sobretudo por mulheres negras, indígenas, periféricas e do campo de todas as idades.

Por isso, demandamos que a COP30:

  • Integre as quatro dimensões do direito humano à o cuidado (cuidar, ser cuidado, autocuidado e cuidado ambiental) como eixo das estratégias de transição justa, trabalho decente e adaptação climática, em consonância com o Marco dos 5Rs da OIT — Reconhecer, Reduzir, Redistribuir, Remunerar e Representar;
  • Reconheça os sistemas de cuidados e serviços públicos como estruturas essenciais para a resiliência climática e reoriente suas prioridades e estruturas de governança para reconhecer o trabalho de cuidado — remunerado e não remunerado — como infraestrutura essencial para adaptação, mitigação, resiliência e justiça climática levando em conta o envelhecimento das mulheres.
  • Garanta a participação efetiva de mulheres cuidadoras sem remuneração e trabalhadoras de todas as idades nas negociações e espaços de decisão climática; Assegure que o novo Gender Action Plan inclua metas e mecanismos de acompanhamento sobre cuidados, justiça social e igualdade de gênero.
  • Considere os cuidados no centro das políticas de reparação e de perdas e danos relacionadas ao clima.

Uma transição verdadeiramente justa é aquela que coloca a sustentabilidade da vida no centro das políticas econômicas e ambientais, reconhecendo o papel vital das mulheres, das comunidades e de todas as pessoas que cuidam da vida humana e da natureza.

Assinam (em ordem alfabética):

  • Bufete de Estudios Interdisciplinares AC
  • Casa Fluminense
  • CFEMEA
  • Coletivo Etinerancias - Assessoria Popular em Redes de Cuidados e Direitos Humanos
  • Coletivo Filhas da Mãe
  • CPM Micaela Bastidas
  • Fórum da Mulher Idosa
  • Fórum Feminista Antirracista Por Uma Política Nacional de Cuidados
  • Fundación Arcoíris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual
  • Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)
  • ICW Latina
  • INESC

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Climate and Environmental Justice

We have advanced rights-based and gender-transformative transition frameworks through research that centres the lived experiences of women and marginalised communities on the frontlines of extractive energy policies, promoting climate and energy frameworks attentive to the social and care-related impacts of transition pathways. We have developed a clear vision for a gender-just transition, firmly rooted in gender and human rights norms, establishing both the legal basis and the direction for the transformative changes our planet and societies urgently need. In particular, the ‘Guiding Principles for Gender Equality and Human Rights in the Energy Transition’, a collective effort built through online consultations, an in-person workshop and multiple rounds of revision with activists, practitioners and experts from around the world, outline a transformative vision for reshaping global energy systems through a human rights and gender equality lens.

Our work recognises that the climate emergency is both an existential threat and an opportunity to reimagine societies built on social, gender, economic and environmental justice. We ground our advocacy in feminist and intersectional principles, prioritising the agency and perspectives of communities in the Global South who have contributed the least to the climate emergency yet face its most devastating consequences. Central to our approach is the understanding that energy is not merely a commodity but a fundamental human right; essential for dignity, health, education, work and the realisation of countless other rights. We challenge approaches to the energy transition that risk replicating the harmful patterns of fossil fuel extraction and, instead, advocate for transformative policies that ensure human rights and gender equality as central to building climate-resilient societies rooted in dignity, justice and planetary well-being.

What's next?

We will continue to challenge approaches that treat energy transition as merely a technical shift, instead positioning it as an opportunity to reimagine economies and societies rooted in dignity for all, with particular attention to communities in the Global South who have contributed least to the climate emergency yet are most exposed to its worst effects.

We will connect community-level evidence and the lived experiences of those on the frontlines of extractive policies to national reform and global norm-setting, breaking down silos between human rights, gender, and climate movements, and advancing a shared vision that recognises just transitions as not only fundamental to achieving climate-resilient and sustainable societies, but as transformative pathways that advance social and gender equality, redistribute power and resources equitably, and ensure that energy systems serve the public good rather than profit.

We will mainstream rights-based and genderjust transition priorities in key multilateral spaces (particularly, within the Just Transition Work Programme and the to-be-developed Just Transition Mechanism, within the UNFCCC) to guarantee that just transitions are advanced at all levels.

We will also translate our work, through strategic advocacy, into at least two concrete policy wins, whether promoted, adopted, implemented, or scaled, in priority countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, or Kenya), ensuring these policies align with human rights standards, centre gender equality, and reflect the needs and views of affected communities.

We will build momentum for the progressive recognition of the right to sustainable energy to shift dominant narratives away from purely extractive solutions that sideline gendered impacts, community participation, and Global South perspectives.

Economic Justice and Climate Finance

Our work has transformed the global discussion on fiscal policy in a more just, emancipatory and sustainable direction. Our approach has combined both high-level, expert contributions within decisionmaking circles, with bold, impactful work on narrative change with the general public.

We have been instrumental in the inclusion of human rights as a guiding principle of the future United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a multilateral instrument with the potential of raising approx. USD 492 billion per year in public revenues currently foregone to global tax abuse. In the process leading to the ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’ decided at FfD4, we proposed and succeeded in creating a specific human rights workstream within the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism, which was critical to ensure that explicit commitments on the matter were included in the negotiating outcome. In a context of cutbacks in multilateral institutions, we have amplified the capacities of technical experts, providing rigorous technical support and leveraging our influence to ensure the enactments of groundbreaking standard-setting instruments, such as the 2025 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Statement on Fiscal Policy and Human Rights, and the first ex oficio hearing on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on Fiscal and Economic Policies to Address Poverty and Structural Inequality, leading to an upcoming thematic resolution on the matter. We have also bridged the silos between multilateral tax discussions and climate finance debates, promoting ambitious financing commitments to increase international and domestic resource mobilisation during COP 28, 29 and 30.

At the regional level, our engagement with fiscal cooperation platforms such as the Platform for Fiscal Cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean (PTLAC), where we are member of its Civil Society Consultative Council, and the African Anti-IFFs Policy Tracker, for which we participated in the pilot mission in Ivory Coast together with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), have been critical in cementing a growing engagement between tax administrations and ministries of finance with international legal experts, exploring actionable and transformative initiatives, such as the taxation of high-net-worth individuals, beneficial ownership registries and corporate countryby-country reports, to be implemented at the international level.

At the local level, our interventions in fiscal reform debates in Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Nigeria have contributed to shaping legislative outcomes in a more progressive, rights-compliant direction.

As for our leadership in narrative change, we have a measurable track record in delivering tailored, innovative campaigns which have decisively expanded economic justice constituencies by appealing to a broader tent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we created the ‘Date Cuenta’ campaign, coordinating over 40 organisations across civil society to deliver plain language, innovative messaging connecting progressive fiscal reforms to the financing of health, education and social protection. ‘Date Cuenta’ generated over 55 original campaign messages that were tailored to the realities of seven priority countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Honduras) and disseminated in Spanish, Portuguese and English. In doing so, we convened more than 65 online co-creation workshops with partners, coordinating a unified communications strategy which combined digital outreach, press and media coverage, and collaboration with influencers. Ultimately, ‘Date Cuenta’ resulted in more than 60,000 interactions on social media, coverage in major regional and international media outlets, including El País, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg and France 24, and the participation of at least 63 social media influencers through 58 dedicated publications. In collaboration with Fundación Gabo and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, we also organised a two-day workshop in Bogota with 20 journalists from 13 countries, building a regional network trained in a human rights-based approach to fiscal policy that has since generated published media coverage on outlets such as La Diaria, Ciper, El Diario Ar and Milenio. Through ‘Date Cuenta’ and our regional advocacy, we strengthened civil society engagement in key processes, including the Financing for Development track and FfD4, co-organised highlevel dialogues with states and civil society from Latin America and Africa.

What's next?

We will shape the UN Tax Convention and its Protocols so they embed human rights principles, and we will stay engaged through follow-up processes (including the expected Conference of the Parties) to support effective implementation. We will keep linking tax and climate finance so that new resources mobilised through fiscal cooperation are channelled to adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage, in line with UNFCCC commitments.

Public Services for Care Societies

We have translated participatory research into accountability and policy outcomes.

In Ivory Coast, our work with Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains and affected communities since 2023 exposed how privatisation and lack of accountability restrict access to quality healthcare. It contributed to the closure of 1,022 illegal private health centres, an executive instrument strengthening the regulation of private hospitals across the country, and the creation of a permanent complaints management committee in healthcare through a bylaw issued by the prefect of Gagnoa. Partners engaged through this process also advanced concrete improvements at facility level: members of the Gagnoa Midwives Association who took part in the participatory action research pooled resources to renovate the neonatal unit of the Regional Hospital, and the Director of the Gagnoa General Hospital launched an action plan to expand services and improve patient reception, with the facility receiving the award for best hospital in the country in 2025.

In Kenya, our research with the Mathare Education Taskforce documented the absence of public schools and the expansion of private provision, evidencing impacts on households and caregivers and strengthening demands for free, quality public education. This work contributed to stronger community agency and collective organisation, alongside ongoing strategies ranging from communications to litigation to secure a public school in the area, some involving GI-ESCR and others led independently.

Across Africa, this work is complemented by a multi-country study examining the human rights implications of austerity in education and health, including how regressive fiscal policies, rising debt burdens and persistent underinvestment undermine the financing and delivery of public services.

In Latin America, from 29 November to 2 December 2021, over a thousand representatives from over one hundred countries, from grassroots movements, advocacy, human rights, and development organisations, feminist movements, trade unions, and other civil society organisations, met in Santiago, Chile, and virtually, to discuss the critical role of public services for our future. Following the meeting, the Santiago Declaration on Public Services was adopted to demand universal access to quality, gender-transformative and equitable public services as the foundation of a fair and just society.

We are currently advancing work on care systems, linking public services and fiscal justice through integrated research, advocacy and communications, including a regional campaign framing care as a collective responsibility requiring sustained public investment.

What's next?

In Ivory Coast, we will evaluate and strengthen the complaints management committee and position it as a replicable model for other health facilities. In Kenya, we will support the Mathare community to co-design a model public school for Mabatini and Ngei wards, grounded in human rights standards. Building on our multi-country austerity study, we will drive national advocacy on financing for education and health: advancing reforms in Ghana; launching a fiscal policy and public services financing agenda in Kenya through the CESCR process and targeted coalition work; and, in Nigeria, using the new tax acts in force since 1 January 2026 to catalyse a national accountability campaign for adequately funded, quality public services. In Latin America, we will amplify locally led care pilots across 8 countries and turn lessons into influence—advancing care policies that strengthen care organisations, protect care workers’ rights, support unpaid caregivers, include disability and family networks, and redistribute care more equitably.