Women Push for Gender Justice as COP30 Talks Drag On

Demonstrators protest during the “End of the World Market” action at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

On the scheduled final day of COP30 in Belém, tense negotiations have stretched into Friday afternoon as divisions persist. Amid the ongoing talks, one message is cutting through the noise: there can be no climate justice without gender equality.

Women’s voices are rising with clarity and urgency, urging negotiators to ensure the conference delivers meaningful progress on the link between gender and climate policy.

At the centre of the discussions is the Belém Gender Action Plan – a proposed framework recognising that climate change disproportionately affects women and outlining measures for financing, training and leadership roles.

“Climate justice only exists when gender equality does too,” says Ana Carolina Querino, Acting Representative of UN Women in Brazil, echoing a sentiment heard throughout the summit since it opened last Monday, 10 November.

If adopted, the plan would run from 2026 to 2034, embedding gender-responsive approaches into just transitions, adaptation and mitigation strategies, and mechanisms for addressing loss and damage.

Waste pickers on the frontline of emissions cuts

In the streets of São Paulo, Nanci Darcolete has worked as a waste picker since 1999. Today, she leads Pimp My Carroça, an organisation advocating for the rights of workers who turn discarded materials into resources, preventing mountains of waste from being dumped or burned.

Waste pickers, she says, played a historic role at COP30 by demonstrating how their work cuts emissions and reduces pressure on natural resources.

“We now see how important it is for waste pickers to also work on composting organic waste,” she explains. “That’s going to save municipalities money, provide income for waste pickers, and capture tons of gases, delivering major mitigation by removing heavy pollutants from the environment.”

Women leading the recycling chain

In Brazil, women make up the majority of waste pickers and lead most cooperatives. Yet they still face racism and gender-based violence on the streets, often while managing responsibilities at home.

For Nanci, climate change is making their work harder. Rising heat and flooding hit low-income neighbourhoods the hardest, worsening already difficult conditions. She wants COP30’s adaptation agenda to recognise waste pickers as “agents of transformation,” with better urban logistics, hydration points and paid contracts.

Litigation as a weapon for climate justice

Across the Atlantic, 24-year-old Portuguese lawyer Mariana Gomes is using the law as what she calls “the most important tool” to fight the climate crisis. She founded Último Recurso, the group behind Portugal’s first climate litigation case, and now leads more than 170 lawsuits.

Mariana believes litigation can transform political commitments into binding action, especially following the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) recent advisory opinion requiring states to act to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

“I believe that in the future we’ll see many lawsuits against states, especially those that must raise ambition, adopt climate laws and align their targets with the Paris Agreement. Because now, more than ever, we are carrying on our backs the weight of the International Court of Justice,” she says.

The right to a clean, healthy environment

Mariana argues that citizens have the right to demand that their governments guarantee a clean, healthy environment and a stable climate. In Portugal, she is advocating for Municipal Climate Action Plans to help local authorities prepare for droughts, wildfires, floods and other climate-driven disasters.

For her, adaptation and mitigation efforts must recognise that climate disasters hit women hardest, increasing the risks of gender-based violence, displacement and care burdens. Litigation, she says, can do more than reduce emissions or halt extractive projects – it can unlock funding and compensation for affected communities, helping protect women’s rights along the way.