— Renato Rallo, Carmelite NGO Observer
We have arrived at COP30 in Belém, Brazil!
The first impression upon arrival is that logistics are not easy this year. The few hotels in the city are very expensive, so everyone has had to be "creative" with their plans. At the conference venue, there is a constant loud background noise from the air conditioners. In addition, from time to time, usually in the early afternoon, it starts to rain heavily and the raindrops rumble on the tents. You can hardly hear anything.
However, this "problematic background" is important for the participants: it allows all delegates to experience what it is like to live outside the world's major cities or developed countries. These small inconveniences can help them to put themselves in other people's shoes, in a process that is essentially cooperative, not competitive.
Expectations for this COP before it began were quite low. The international crisis and the weakening of multilateralism in the face of growing dualism (some call it G2) do not bode well. The main issues on which progress is expected are: biofuels (through the "Belém 4x" initiative); forest conservation; a common framework of criteria for evaluating adaptation initiatives (to climate change). Anything else will be a very welcome surprise.
In a climate of great uncertainty, which some see as the beginning of disenchantment, the Carmelite NGO is here to bear witness.
The Carmelite NGO is represented at the meeting (either in person or on-line) by Dr. Renato Rallo, Mechanical Engineer in Energy Resources and Environment; Alirio Cáceres, a deacon and eco-theologian from Bogotá, Colombia, working for CELAM; Abilio Peña from Bogotá, Councilor at SICSAL and the executive director of JPIC for the Franciscan Community of Our Lady of Lourdes; Sonia Olea Ferreras of the Caritas España Advocacy Team in Madrid; Environmental Engineer Miriam Montero Hidalgo, a researcher and lecturer at the Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid; Dr. Dennis Kalob, the Carmelite NGO’s Chief Administrative Officer; and Dr. Eduardo Scarel, O. Carm., the Vice President of the Carmelite NGO and director of the Department of Integral Ecology of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
