Patrick Periard

Fire breaking out at #COP30 forces evacuation

Events for the day on pause as mandated evacuation underway due to a fire at #cop30 @ClimateBlue

Started off this morning on Day 4 in the RINGO coordination meeting. The meeting concluded with an insightful presentation about the history and impact of the CTCN. @ClimateBlue #cop30

Informal huddles continued into the night last night on article 6 - terminating past midnight. It appears as though parties have found middle ground on many of the divergences. @Cop30noBrasil @ClimateBlue

From coral reefs, to kelp forests, to agriculture run off ponds - microscopic life’s effects on methane emissions, biodiversity, and climate change are instrumental to life as we know it.

To make big changes, we need to start small, even microscopic. Today’s panel at the Ocean pavilion focused on the importance of microbes to our health, our climate, and our future. A call to action for future research and advocacy for microscopic life was echoed @ClimateBlue

As the day kicks off, we are seeing continued increase in frequency of protests. Looks to be another packed day as thematically many events are centering around food, ag, fisheries, AI, etc. @ClimateBlue

@OurOcean @ClimateBlue Key challenges are getting more countries to sign on to commitments to protect the ocean, increasing blue finance, and educating on SOPM. Excitingly, Brazil joined Palau and Norway in the commitment to utilize 100% of their water in a sustainable manner. @Climateblue @OurOcean

Also, some incredible first hand experience from Brazil, @OurOcean , Norway, Palau, amongst many others. The momentum on Blue NDCs is building as more countries recognize the vital importance of a healthy ocean to our economic and social future @ClimateBlue

Woah! Still not over this incredible panel on sustainable ocean planning and management (SOPM), some very insightful and exciting ideas around the ambitions of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and their essential role for biodiversity and climate purposes. @ClimateBlue

As the week stretches on, the deliberations extend deeper into the night. For example, this session on article 6 paragraph 2 lasted until 11PM! There seems to be a deadline for many document drafts for Wednesday. Should be an exciting day tomorrow! @ClimateBlue 🌎🌱

Other commitments and reaffirmations were pertaining to offshore wind, ocean plastic pollution reduction, limiting/stopping off shore drilling for fossil fuels, and commitment to sea grass meadows, mangroves, and other nature based solutions.

Several countries reaffirmed their commitments to the challenge and put forth new commitments like UK’s commitment to restore 15% of salt marshes - an important nature based solution - in the next 15 years! Many commitments to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were also made. 🐬🌊

From today’s panel on the Blue NDC Challenge launched by Brazil and France. 3 back-to-back panels about ocean involvement in NDC 3.0 and the growth of the Blue NDC challenge. Brazil has clearly prioritized ocean matters alongside the Amazon themes here in Belém @ClimateBlue

Some interesting statements being made in Belém, this one by @Greenpeace is a statement about how the Paris Agreement, on its 10th anniversary is more fragile than ever - especially with the withdrawal of the United States. @ClimateBlue #COP30

Another fascinating note, with the increasing modernization of agriculture in the region, less folks are needed to work in the industry. Therefore, more people are moving to cities - rapidly increasing urbanization. In turn, this is leading to intense brain drain in the region.

Second panel of the day was “Cities and the Amazon Rainforest: Reconnecting Agendas for a Livable Future” which concentrated on the importance of taking system based approaches to enhancing and strengthening both. @ClimateBlue

@ClimateBlue Lastly, importance was placed upon the knowledge of indigenous communities on how to best work with nature: mangroves, native tree species, and ocean vegetation to slow destruction. In Brazil specifically, increased collaboration between urban planning and environment is crucial.

Key attention was paid to the critical importance of nature based solutions in the Amazon river basin as a local solution to erosion. Furthermore, opportunities were described as to how to use rising seas to “reconnect” cities with nature through increased access. @ClimateBlue

From the first meeting of the day: “coastal cities and adaptation in the face of climate change”. Main themes of this panel included how cities are managing rising seas and how we apply urban planning principles to organize future communities in more resilient fashions.