Anita Soina, a 26-year-old Kenyan activist from the Maasai community with a large social media following, traveled to Belém, Brazil, for COP30 as one of Africa’s bright environmental voices. She describes how deforestation in Kenya exacerbates drought, hunger and water shortages and says COP30 feels like a rare opening for the Global South. Her optimism is tempered by experience: previous promises have not halted the crisis, and she points to weak political will as a key reason climate resources are often diverted from their intended uses.
Maurice K. Nyambe, executive director of Transparency International in Zambia, also attended the summit. He emphasized that commitments must come with enforceable oversight: whether the conversation is about climate finance or carbon markets, transparency and accountability must be built into new mechanisms so funds and trades actually benefit vulnerable countries.
Why COP30 matters
COP30 is the annual Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). For the first time the talks were held on the edge of the Amazon, and this session reviews progress on the 2015 Paris Agreement — including emissions reductions and finance commitments to countries in the Global South. Many of those pledges remain unfulfilled, and Africa remains among the regions most exposed to climate impacts: worsening droughts, floods and shrinking agricultural productivity already threaten millions of people and food security.
These realities explain why young African activists have become louder and more visible in international fora, insisting that climate justice be more than rhetoric and that wealthy nations deliver funds and fair decision-making.
Voices from the frontlines
Brazil’s president used the opening session to warn that climate change is not a future threat but a present tragedy, a sentiment echoed by delegates who highlighted the immediacy of damage being experienced by the world’s poorest communities.
Ugandan campaigner Hilda Nakabuye, attending her fifth COP, said the milestone year for the Paris Agreement makes this summit particularly important. Nakabuye works to advance the rights of youth and women and opposes the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which would cross ecologically sensitive areas including Murchison Falls National Park and the shores of Lake Victoria. Critics warn the project could inflict long-term harm on biodiversity and water resources relied upon by millions. Nakabuye says she is at COP30 to amplify the voices of communities that did little to cause the crisis but bear its worst effects, and to push for a just energy transition centered on the needs of marginalized people.
Local engagement and formal recognition
Activists at COP30 stressed that empowering communities to know and assert their rights is crucial. Simon Peter Longoli from Uganda joined discussions on how local groups can better participate in UNFCCC processes. Working with pastoralist populations devastated by repeated droughts, Longoli welcomed progress toward formally recognizing pastoralists and other indigenous groups as local communities within the UN framework — a step he hopes will be codified so those most affected can take part in climate decision-making.
What young leaders want
Across conversations in Belém, African youth pressed for concrete outcomes: new and reliable climate finance, mechanisms to ensure money reaches projects on the ground, and stronger inclusion in policymaking. They demand accountability measures that prevent corruption or misallocation and insist that climate action includes support for adaptation, food security and locally led development.
There was also an appeal for solidarity among Global South nations. Activists argued that cooperation between the Amazon region and Africa, and broader South-to-South collaboration, can strengthen bargaining power and create shared solutions tailored to frontline realities.
For many young delegates, being present at COP30 is both symbolic and strategic: a demonstration that they will not be sidelined, and a direct appeal to world leaders to turn promises into verifiable action. Time, they warn, is running out — and COP30 must yield implementable results, not just words.