The Road Towards Belém: Laying the groundwork for COP30（图）

The 30th UN Climate Change Conference(COP30)will take place in Belém,Brazil,in November 2025.This will be a pivotal moment for global climate policy,with decisions expected to be taken on transparency,finance and adaptation.

IFLA will be advocating for greater equity and inclusivity in addressing the climate crisis,primarily through empowering all members of society to understand and take part.IFLA would like to scale up the involvement of libraries involved in climate action in their countries,as well as explore the role that open science and scholarship can have on climate transparency and participation in the scientific process.

Although the June Climate Conference,which will help set the agenda for COP30,is still a few months away,IFLA has already started laying groundwork for bringing libraries to the table.

Shaping the ACE Dialogues

As a part of the June Climate Conference,the Action for Climate Empowerment(ACE)Dialogues bring stakeholders together to build capacity and exchange good practice on implementing climate empowerment.

As an NGO in official partnership with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,IFLA was invited to provide input that will help shape this year’s programme.

This year’s ACE Joint Session will focus on the role of children and youth and Indigenous Peoples in accelerating ACE implementation and promoting intergenerational knowledge-sharing.

IFLA stressed the strong emphasis that many types of libraries,especially community,public libraries,and school library programmes,place on engaging children and youth.We further highlighted that Libraries serving Indigenous communities,including resource centres within many university libraries that include an Indigenous student body,are fully engaged in preserving knowledge and enabling intergenerational knowledge-sharing.

IFLA’s discussion questions for the ACE community:

·What linkages exist between the formal and informal/nonformal education sectors that could be further developed to help extend ACE activities beyond the school environment and engage the full community?

·What is the importance of growing multiple literacies(Media,information,science literacy)in empowering children and youth to engage in climate action?

·What opportunities exist in the nonformal/informal education sectors to center children and youth and Indigenous Peoples and how can these be supported in policy and implementation?

Engaging Brazilian Librarians

For the past three years,IFLA has worked to engage volunteers and members in the COP host countries on issues related to climate action.With COP30 being hosted by Brazil,this is an excellent opportunity to engage the Brazilian library community,as well as the wider LAC Region.

That is the reason IFLA was thrilled to have been invited by SP Leituras and the Secretariat of Culture,Economy and Creative Industries of the State of São Paulo,Brazil,to deliver a webinar on Libraries for Climate Empowerment.We shared background on Action for Climate Empowerment and the opportunities it offers the library field,presented a theory of change that could assist in strategizing further engagement,highlighted a number of good practices from around the world,and shared recommendations for action and advocacy.

Watch the recording of the event here:

Thank you to our partners for this excellent event and for kick-starting the engagement of Brazilian libraries ahead of COP30!

Do you have ideas for getting involved with Climate in 2025? Get in touch: Claire.mcguire@ifla.org