Brasilia hosted meeting that gathered legislators from more than 15 countries.

Legislators from more than 15 countries advanced a common agenda toward the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) during the II Parliamentary Summit on Climate Change and Just Transition of Latin America and the Caribbean, held on August 6 and 7 at Brazil’s National Congress.

The meeting marked a decisive step toward building a unified regional voice ahead of COP30, to be held in November in Belém do Pará, the first ever hosted in Amazonian territory.

The Summit was organized by the Parliamentary Observatory on Climate Change and Just Transition of Latin America and the Caribbean (OPCC), an inter-parliamentary platform promoted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The OPCC brings together legislators committed to climate action in the region and serves as a network for cooperation, a legislative repository, and a space to coordinate common positions in major international forums. The event was supported by strategic partners such as Plataforma CIPÓ, Climate Parliament, and Clima de Eleição.

The opening session featured Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, President of COP30; Brazilian Senator Jaques Wagner, co-founder of the OPCC; Federal Deputy Nilto Tatto; and ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary Javier Medina Vásquez.

In his remarks, Ambassador Corrêa do Lago highlighted the trajectory of multilateral efforts since the Earth Summit and scientific advances on climate change.

“It is a process that requires constant improvement. Since Rio 92, there has been a major transformation in science and economic impacts. The logic has been to highlight the historical responsibility of developed countries while recognizing the needs of developing nations,” he stated.

He stressed COP30’s unique character: “It will include a leaders’ summit, followed by negotiation days in parallel with an action agenda featuring more than 350 meetings with non-state actors: business, academia, civil society. It will allow everyone to contribute in an incredible way,” he said.

Senator Jaques Wagner, OPCC co-founder, called on legislators to take a leading role in combating the climate crisis, noting that “real leadership goes beyond numbers; it is grounded in a vision that puts life at the center and recognizes there is no sustainable future without social justice.”

ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary Javier Medina Vásquez recalled that the proposal to create the OPCC first emerged in Brazil’s Senate in 2021.

“COP30 can be an opportunity to recognize the potential of Latin America and the Caribbean to be key actors in providing low-carbon, resilient, and sustainable technologies and solutions,” he said.

During the inaugural session, Latin American and Caribbean parliamentarians delivered a letter to Ambassador Corrêa do Lago expressing the region’s support and commitment to COP30.

The Senate’s Environment Committee’s public hearing, chaired by Senator Fabiano Contarato, was another highlight of the first day. In the afternoon, thematic panels addressed the five pillars of climate action proposed by the Brazilian COP30 Presidency—mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, and capacity-building—as well as the role of legislators in this process. The importance of the “global mutirão” (collective effort) was underscored as a metaphor for uniting sectors and countries around a shared future.

The second day featured a keynote address by ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary Javier Medina Vásquez, who analyzed the structural challenges facing Latin American and Caribbean countries that constrain sustainable development.

During his intervention, the senior official of the United Nations regional body stressed the need for a just socio-environmental transition as a comprehensive response to the triple global crisis: climate, biodiversity, and social inequality.

He stated that, beyond the adoption of technologies, ECLAC proposes managing the transformations of productive, social, and institutional systems to ensure productive, inclusive, and sustainable development.

“Beyond adopting technologies, ECLAC proposes managing transformations of productive, social, and institutional systems to ensure productive, inclusive, and sustainable development. To navigate this systemic change, anticipatory governance is proposed as the key methodological and political tool, enabling societies to move from reaction to proactive, inclusive, and resilient planning,” he said.

He also emphasized that implementing anticipatory governance requires a set of institutional capacities—Technical, Operational, Political, and Prospective (TOPP) which are essential for managing the transformations the region needs.

Subsequently, Camila Gramkow, Acting Director of the ECLAC Office in Brasília, presented OPCC’s activities and progress, highlighting its role as a bridge between technical knowledge and legislative action. She underlined the platform’s consolidation as a collaborative space to translate climate ambition into concrete results.

Camila Gramkow’s presentation was followed by interventions from Mariana Rondón (Plataforma CIPÓ) and Lilia Chanaoui (Climate Parliament), who reinforced the role of parliaments in turning climate ambition into legislative action.

In dialogue sessions, parliamentarians shared legislative experiences, local challenges, and good practices for addressing the climate crisis from their national contexts. This plural exchange reflected the region’s diversity of approaches and a common commitment to advancing concrete solutions. Throughout the Summit, legislators presented ideas and priorities that will guide the drafting of the OPCC’s joint declaration for COP30.

At the conclusion of the event, Brazilian Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá issued a strong call to ‘no regression’ of the environmental legislation, stressing that Indigenous peoples must occupy a central place in the climate agenda.

She reaffirmed parliamentarians’ commitment to confronting the climate crisis and advancing a just transition that includes everyone, emphasizing that “climate is a feminine word,” alluding to the importance of incorporating a gender perspective in this process.

Deputy Nilto Tatto highlighted the role of the OPCC and ECLAC as technical bridges to support parliamentary action in the face of climate challenges, reiterating the collective commitment to drafting a Joint Statement to be officially presented at COP30.

The II Parliamentary Summit on Climate Change and Just Transition of Latin America and the Caribbean reaffirmed OPCC’s role as a key space for political dialogue, legislative exchange, and articulation of a unified regional voice aimed at advancing a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable development path toward COP30 and beyond.