COP30 shows why dismantling ISDS is essential for real climate action

Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions and the mechanisms that facilitate this, including those for farmer-led restoration. Furthermore, the organisation participates to ensure the crucial connection between the climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.

Learn more about the Both ENDS team at COP30 below, and find all the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.

Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions, and for the mechanisms that make these possible, including those supporting farmer-led restoration. The organisation also engages to highlight the crucial connection between climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.

Below is an overview of the Both ENDS team at COP30 and a detailed look at the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.

Recently, many newspapers have written about Brussels’ rush to finalize the trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur countries. According to the European Commission, national parliaments do not need to approve it because the trade part and the “political” part have been separated. This “splitting” means that the trade part can be approved as an EU-only decision by the European Council and the European Parliament, while national parliaments are sidelined and the political-cooperation part is postponed. Both ENDS and its partners are deeply concerned and are calling on the Dutch government to vote against this outdated agreement.

The trade agreement with South America is harmful to farmers, the climate, and biodiversity, on both sides of the Atlantic. It’s time to take this deal off the table once and for all, argues Fernando Hernandez, Senior Policy Officer for Trade and Investment at Both ENDS.

In the face of environmental transphobia, a form of discrimination where trans and gender-diverse communities are disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation,excluded from climate policies, and often met with stigma and exclusion by environmental justice movements, Grupo Orgulho, Liberdade e Dignidade (GOLD) has emerged as a bold and visionary force for change in Brazil. At the heart of this movement is Débora Sabará ,GOLD’s leader, a travesti activist who has fought tirelessly to place the perspectives andneeds of LGBTIQAPN+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer, Asexual, Pansexual, Nonbinary and other identities), Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian communities at the center of environmental justice conversations.

By Carolina de Moura

Six years ago, Brumadinho tailings dam I, from the Paraopeba Complex, owned by mining company Vale, collapsed. January 25th, 2019, forever changed the lives of thousands. The scars remain open, and the quest for justice, remembrance, and prevention of future mining crimes endures despite all adversities. This was manslaughter coupled with socio-environmental devastation of proportions difficult to measure. These are irreparable losses and damages that could have been avoided if it wasn’t for the greed, negligence, and irresponsibility of decision-makers at Vale, the German certification firm Tüv Süd, and the state of Minas Gerais.

Fórum Suape decided to help several women’s groups in their network. First, they wanted to understand the desires and needs of each group, with the aim of fostering collective thinking and understanding their collective interests and goals. Five groups were selected, one group had difficulty in organizing themselves. They did not move forward and did not receive the money. The other four had wonderful results. 

Instituto Cordilheira in Brazil has a vast network of grassroot organisations in Brazil. With a lot of creativity they were able to assist many of them with support of Both ENDS's Dare to Trust-project.

On December 6, the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the Mercosur Summit sealed the agreement on the final text of the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement. Both ENDS condemns this damaging agreement for undermining human rights, the environment, and democracy in Europe, and in Mercosur countries. Should the agreement be ratified as it stands, it will have devastating consequences for the environment, indigenous communities, family farming and small-scale farmers on both sides of the Atlantic.