Guaranteeing a seat at the table at COP30 for voices on the climate emergency’s frontlines

The LEAD coalition, supported by Global Witness and over 100 organisations, has proposed a set of rights-based recommendations for the COP30 Host Country Agreement (HCA). These proposals aim to safeguard civic space, ensure unrestricted observer access, and protect frontline climate defenders from retaliation and surveillance during the event in Belém, Brazil.

• The Host Country Agreement (HCA) is the legal accord between the UNFCCC and the host government that determines the civic space available for civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and human rights defenders by governing security, visa access, and freedom of assembly.
• The LEAD coalition recommends that the COP30 HCA include explicit guarantees for peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, alongside non-retaliation clauses to prohibit the detention, surveillance, or reprisal of participants.
• To ensure transparency and accountability, the recommendations call for the mandatory disclosure of all sponsorships, a ban on sponsors with environmentally harmful records, and a public conflict-of-interest policy for organisers.
• The proposals advocate for operational safeguards including human rights training for security personnel, a ban on excessive force, the deployment of neutral observers to document abuses, and a rapid response protocol for at-risk defenders.
• The recommendations demand fair and non-discriminatory access to the conference through free and fast visa issuance, affordable lodging for participants from the Global South, and the immediate public disclosure of the full HCA text without redactions.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). Guaranteeing a seat at the table at COP30 for voices on the climate emergency’s frontlines. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/guaranteeing-a-seat-at-the-table-at-cop30-for-voices-on-the-climate-emergencys-frontlines/

Chicago

Global Witness. Guaranteeing a seat at the table at COP30 for voices on the climate emergency’s frontlines. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/guaranteeing-a-seat-at-the-table-at-cop30-for-voices-on-the-climate-emergencys-frontlines/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Global Witness |title=Guaranteeing a seat at the table at COP30 for voices on the climate emergency’s frontlines |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/guaranteeing-a-seat-at-the-table-at-cop30-for-voices-on-the-climate-emergencys-frontlines/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{globalwitnessndguaranteeing, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Guaranteeing a seat at the table at COP30 for voices on the climate emergency’s frontlines}}, publisher = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/guaranteeing-a-seat-at-the-table-at-cop30-for-voices-on-the-climate-emergencys-frontlines/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }