Austria
Thanks to Angelika Derfler and SÜDWIND for this report from Brazil
For the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Südwind organized an official side event in the name of the Sublime SDGs project. The aim was to showcase, what the project does and how it is important for Agenda 2030 and climate justice.
The side event was scheduled for Thursday, 20 th of November at 13:15-14:45. So supposedly a good date, as it is in the second week, where even more participants are at COP than in the first week. To have several perspectives at this event, and also to have better chances to get approved, it was decided to merge the side event with two other organisations, where the content fitted nicely and makes an meaningful contribution to the overall topic.
The official description showed this: Local communities advocating for climate justice and Agenda 2030 Discussing the crucial importance of local and indigenous communities in the fight for climate justice; working on local level and connecting internationally. Networking between sustainable municipalities
and cities, local + indigenous communities on energy and transition for the SDGs.
Speakers: Angelika Derfler SUBLIME project of border municipalities for SDGs, Austria Manasiti Omar, Spring of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SASAL) Sonia Giovinazzi, Smart Cities Coordinator, European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) Doreen Naiga, AMREF Africa, Youth ambassador Sublime project
Unfortunately Manasiti Omar had to cancel very last minute her speech due to health reasons and couldn’t send a replacement, so unfortunately this input was highly missed. It started with an introduction by Angelika Derfler, who also facilitated the panel – at first she introduced the topic and the panel, what we might hear today, and then also spoke about the Sublime SDG project and the importance of local communities in this regard in general.
After that it would have been for Manasiti Omar to bring in a local perspective from Kenya and views from pastoralist communities. Instead she gave the word to Sonia Giovinazzi, who spoke on behalf of the European Energy Research Alliance and talked about what is important in regard to energy transition for local communities and what her organization is doing. She highlighted also some best practise examples.
After that the word went to Doreen Naiga, youth representative of the Sublime SDGs project. She was talking about her journey as the youth ambassador for Sublime, but also how she experiences climate change in her community in Uganda. She highlighted the importance of youth voices to be heard at COP30 and also how important the exchange between youth from Global South and Global North is.
After Angelika Derfler made a conclusion how important local communities are, also seen from different perspectives and that it is crucial to include them in climate policies, as they are the ones who are already doing adaptation work but it is also the place where ideas are born. She then highlighted once again the importance of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs as they are all connected and it is important to not single one out and only try to achieve that, but all of them to really not leave anyone behind.
After that the floor was opened for a few questions, a questions rose, how climate justice is defined. All of the panelist spoke about their work and how they use this phrase. After that the side event was closed. All in all about 20 people attended the event (coming and going). It was said only in the end, that during this side event, the fire broke out in another area of the COP30 venue, where people were told to get evacuated. The side event area was safe, and only a few minutes after the side event ended, the people there got evacuated as well.
So all in all it was a successful side event, considering all the difficulties faced, with health troubles, fire outbreak etc. and it could really show the strength of the Sublime project.
