Political Science Commons^™

Protecting Children's Rights In The National Climate Policies In Greece, Elpis Rerra

COP30

This paper aims to address the question, “How can we ensure that children’s rights are protected in national climate policies?” Ιn the broader field of climate justice, ecocide, and security, the theme of this study is children’s rights in the context of climate change and how the government can truly include them in the climate policies. This paper begins by highlighting the importance of addressing the issue of protecting children's rights from the impact of climate change. Moreover, it underlines the critical and urgent nature of children’s vulnerability to climate change. The paper also examines Greek climate policies and whether …

Cross-Border Climate Adaptation – Transboundary Agreement For Climate Justice & Security, Andre Ferreira

COP30

This policy paper shall highlight the need for COP30 negotiators to adopt a Transboundary Adaptation Compact (TAA), a rights-based framework meant to coordinate climate adaptation across shared resources, mobilize finance, and manage the growing challenges of ecocide risks/cross-border migration. While shared bodies of water provide crucial resources for billions of people globally, their international governance is often fragmented. The climate crisis is compounding already existing tensions over water allocations that emerge from lack of cooperation between nation-states, threatening ecocide in river deltas, wetlands, and mangroves. Therefore, this paper aims to draw from existing case studies of successful regional cooperation, such …

Justice In Transition : Emphasizing Indigenous Leadership, Rights And Fair Access To Finance, Mariam Medhat Adel Ghazy

COP30

As the international climate crisis amplifies, solving it through only decreasing emissions is no longer efficient. Climate justice acknowledges that environmental change unequally impacts low income groups - despite these communities being the least contributors to the issue (What Is Climate Justice? - UC Center for Climate Justice, 2022). This paper aims to explore the challenges that must be confronted to make climate justice applicable : including indigenous people into climate finance and governance ; and holding transnational corporations responsible for climate – interconnected human right violations and ecocide. Drawing on case studies from Canada and Indonesia, the paper will …

Conflict Emissions And Environmental Destruction: Exacerbating Insecurity And Exclusion Among Vulnerable And Indigenous Communities In The Absence Of Inclusive Climate Governance, Mariem Yasser

COP30

This policy paper highlights that Indigenous and marginalized communities who manage an estimated 80 % of world biodiversity have access to less than 1 % of climate funding and are sidelined in national level decision-making (Rights and Resources Initiative, 2021). At the same time, armed conflict contributes an estimated 5.5 % of global CO₂-equivalent emissions that affects Indigenous peoples in fragile rural areas. (IPCC, 2022). Unlike failure of REDD +program in the Amazon region of Colombia, which excluded Indigenous governance and permitted deforestation to increase exponentially, DRC has developed community forest concessions integrating Indigenous and community management into climate governance …

Deep-Sea Mining In The Pacific: Climate Justice, Ecocide, And Security In Nauru And Kiribati, Zeyad El-Sayed

COP30

This policy paper explores how the growing international controversy over deep-sea mining (DSM) can be addressed under the considerations of climate justice, through analyzing two case studies, Nauru and Kiribati, of Pacific islands. Both states are highly vulnerable to climate change and economic instability, yet have adopted different strategies. Nauru has improved and enhanced its DSM plans in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone to ensure its sovereign development rights and economic needs. On the other hand, Kiribati has taken more mechanisms that are cautious measures to temporary pause the DSM negotiations in response to public pressure and environmental concerns. These cases show …

Climate Justice And Global Accountability: The Case Of Sudan And Pakistan, Mohamed Hatem

COP30

The impact of climate change is disproportionately distributed over developing and developed countries. Developing countries are the most vulnerable since they suffer from socio-economic disparities and the dominance of agricultural sectors. Floods, droughts, and extreme weather result in casualties, displacement, and economic devastation. Developing countries have utilized COPS to address this climate injustice through global institutional frameworks. Setting the USD 100 billion annual aid for developing countries and establishing the loss and damage fund are two important achievements. However, the implementation challenge remains present. Sudan and Pakistan are two clear cases of how climate injustice can increase the vulnerability of …

Indigenous Leadership In The Fight Against Environmental Racism And Ecocide: Advancing Climate Justice And Human Rights, Carlos Matheus Matos Santos Dos Santos

COP30

Climate change intensifies social, economic, racial, and gender inequalities, disproportionately affecting historically marginalized communities, such as indigenous peoples, black populations, and riverine communities. In Brazil, practices of environmental racism and actions that constitute ecocide (such as the installation of large enterprises, illegal mining, and predatory exploitation of natural resources) compromise ecosystems and traditional ways of life. Cases such as the Belo Monte Power Plant and the expansion of mining on indigenous lands illustrate the inadequacy of socio-environmental protection mechanisms and the implementation of necropolitical policies that remove or expose communities to environmental degradation. The analysis highlights the need to integrate …

Toward A More-Than-Human Climate Diplomacy: Reclaiming Justice Beyond The Western Gaze, Leandro Gabriel Caporale

COP30

This policy paper interrogates the structural injustices embedded in the COP negotiation system, arguing that global climate governance remains constrained by colonial legacies, epistemic hierarchies, and an anthropocentric diplomatic model. Despite its stated goals of inclusivity, the UNFCCC process continues to marginalise Indigenous, Global South, and alternative voices, reinforcing power asymmetries that shape both participation and outcomes. Based in case studies from Ecuador and Bolivia—where rights of nature and Indigenous governance have been integrated into legal frameworks—this paper examines how alternative systems of environmental stewardship and political subjectivity can inform a more just diplomatic architecture. It proposes pragmatic, system-oriented reforms …

Indigenous People Integration Into National Climate Decision Making Process, Omnia Ahmed Ayoub Ahmed

COP30

Our policy paper here is going to explore the urgent need to recognise and enhance the participation and integration of indigenous communities in global climate cases and discussions in decision making processes , despite their contribution now….we are focusing on their case now because they are the most Affected by its impacts , due to their strong connection to natural eco systems , their traditional knowledge and their practices are essential for the biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management but , unfortunately there was a systemic exclusion due to some factors and limiting and representation in in climate conferences such …

Ecocide In The War On Gaza: An Environmental Crime That Affects The Whole World, Yazan A. Albatta

COP30

Environmental destruction in conflict zones is an escalating global crisis that directly undermines climate justice and ecological stability. This policy paper examines the concept of ecocide through the lens of the war on Gaza, where the deliberate or reckless targeting of natural resources has caused severe and lasting damage to water, soil, air, and biodiversity. The Gaza case reveals how warfare can accelerate climate change, destroy carbon-absorbing ecosystems, and leave communities with uninhabitable land and poisoned water supplies. Using Gaza as the primary case study, and drawing comparisons to environmental impacts observed during the Iraq war, the paper analyzes the …

The Formalisation Of The Judiciary In The International Climate Governance Vis-À-Vis A Solution For The Accountability Gap In Political Institutions, Shristi Gautam

COP30

The international governance of climate change has historically been led by political institutions operating under multilateral frameworks, such as the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. Under these frameworks, the mitigation ambition and implementation of NDCs remain subject to state discretion, with no binding consequences for non-compliance, creating an enduring enforcement deficit. The paper examines the increasing judicialization of climate governance as a means of addressing this deficit, positioning the judiciary as an active enforcer rather than a passive adjudicator. Drawing on Urgenda v. The Netherlands, Leghari v. Pakistan, Milieudefensie v. Royal Dutch Shell, and the 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion, the …

Tackling Gaps In Action For Climate Empowerment Through Subnational Ace Hubs, Kim Jessica Wahnke

COP30

Key notes

Context: Climate scepticism and misinformation have become more rampant than ever, political will and popular support is eroding

Problem: National efforts on ACE remain under-resourced, disorganised and fragmented

Precedent: The NRW ACE Hub pilot builds on the strength of subnational governments but has work to do with regards to accessibility and past activity integration

Solution: Subnational ACE Hubs are regional platforms for the coordination of local actors and the co-design and integration of past ACE activities

Impact: Reduce divisions between stakeholders, close education gaps, advance community-driven climate ACE action

Call to Action: Implementation of ACE hubs through coordinated …

The Usability And Implementation Of Flood Prevention Strategies In Response To An Evolving Climate With Insights From Hurricane Harvey And The Kerala Floods., Morgan Greenleigh

COP30

This literature review combines literature on global flood prevention, hard engineering, Nature-Based Solutions, IFRM and policy to examine current strategies and case studies. It begins by examining the key role that hard engineering plays in the current main forms of flood prevention and then analyses its weakness when it comes to the increasing frequency and severity of weather events. The review then explores the growing importance of NBS and how its development can significantly reduce flooding whilst also having a plethora of other benefits. A portion of the review is dedicated to emerging technologies such as EWS and IFRM. The …

The Role Of The Private Sector In Climate Change Adaptation For Agriculture And Water Management, Esperanza Hughes-Salinas

COP30

This report investigates how small to large agricultural enterprises can be encouraged to promote adaptive practices in agriculture to align with the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda (SAA). Without global food and agricultural systems adapting to climate change, the risk of malnutrition, hunger and death increases dramatically, Two main issues account for the slow scale-up of adaptive practices in this sector: the astronomical gap in financing, and the education gap in farmers with small to medium-sized holdings. The SAA highlights that the private sector has a significant role to play in adaptation, and the World Bank has identified that the agricultural …

A Global Mutirão In The Classroom: A National Curriculum Policy For Bangladesh To Build Youth Capacity For Green Jobs In Alignment With The Saa And Ace, Shariful Islam

COP30

As one of the world's most climate-vulnerable nations, Bangladesh faces a serious threat that widely impacts its large youth population. This policy paper points out a main gap: the country's national curriculum does not properly teach students about climate change. This makes young people unprepared for the future and for new jobs in the green economy. This paper looks at successful climate education programs in other developing countries, like Kenya and the Philippines, and suggests a new policy for Bangladesh based on those examples. The paper recommends a strategy that combines a national law with local, hands-on learning. The main …

Moving Toward Net Zero: Transforming Global Transport With Clean Technologies, Kareem Abdullah

COP30

The transportation sector is one of the main and indispensable causes of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 23% of them. It is one of the fastest-growing sectors, and action must be taken quickly [1]. In this paper, we will discuss the current challenges in this sector and propose some solutions to reduce emissions in the context of sustainable development and climate action. First, we will discuss the reliance on biofuels, particularly successful policies in the European Union and Brazil. Second, we will discuss the use of renewable energy and EU legislation. Finally, this paper will present a core recommendation: using …

The Mediterreanean We Share: Enhancing The Eu-Mediterranean Cooperation In Education And Capacity Building For A Resilient Climate Action, Achref Ininou

COP30

The Euro-Mediterranean region is facing growing inequalities, and regional resilience is being put to the test as we deal with escalating climate challenges. Although the significance of education and capacity building is emphasized by frameworks like SDG 4 and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, regional efforts are still dispersed, short-term, and frequently not monitored and evaluated. Through inclusive education, the development of green skills, and regional cross-border collaboration, this policy paper highlights that people, especially youth, must be at the center of climate strategies. Strong monitoring and evaluation systems are necessary, though, to guarantee the long-term viability of these …

Young Indigenous Women And The Low-Carbon Future: Female Political Representation And Knowledge In The Energy Sector In Brazil, Fernando Da Gama

COP30

The transition to a low-carbon economy is an ethical imperative in the face of the climate crisis, demanding actions that encompass social justice, gender equity, and Indigenous leadership. It is therefore urgent to include young Indigenous women in the design and implementation of sustainable energy solutions, as demonstrated by case studies in the Brazilian Amazon. Despite the central role of Indigenous peoples in environmental protection, international climate finance still overlooks community-based initiatives, allocating less than 1% of global resources directly to these populations. Indigenous women face additional challenges due to gender and technical access barriers. There is a clear need …

"From Global Stocktake To Global Delivery: A Policy Roadmap For Cop30 Implementation" How Can We Hold Stakeholders Accountable And Foster Global Collaboration?, Joshua Underhill

COP30

The Earth is facing a climate catastrophe. According to NASA (2024), the Earth's average surface temperature in 2024 was the warmest on record. The same article outlines that the Earth is about 1.47 degrees Celsius warmer than the preindustrial period1. A core mechanism designed to address this challenge, and other key concerns, is the Global Stocktake GST, which is a process within the Paris Agreement assessing collective progress towards key goals.

This policy paper will primarily focus on the history of the global stocktake, before delving into the future of the GST, the NDC, and global mutirao, all with the …

Accountability Systems For Post-Gst Implementation: Strengthening Global And National Governance To Ensure Transparency, Compliance, And Equity In Delivering The Paris Agreement, Binama Nyacyesa

COP30

This policy paper, developed by the Rwandan delegation in the COP30 Simulation, proposes the establishment of a comprehensive accountability architecture in order to translate the outcomes of the Global Stocktake (GST) into transparent, equitable, and enforceable climate action. Building on this year's COP Presidency's emphasis on mutirão, which is inclusive collective action, this paper outlines different governance mechanisms that could strengthen compliance, both at global and national levels, integrate Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) into their monitoring frameworks, and embed adaptation tracking in line with the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda (SAA). Using Rwanda's track record in governance and regional leadership …

Strengthening Climate Empowerment In Pharmacy Education And Practice: A Literature Review, Hend Ahmed

COP30

Pharmacists are increasingly acknowledged as essential contributors to climate resilience as climate change poses ever-increasing challenges to global health. Within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) provides a framework that is focused on capacity building, public engagement, and education. The application of ACE principles to pharmacy practice and education to advance sustainability is examined in this article. It looks at national projects that support ACE objectives like Kerala's pharmacy-led waste management campaign and the Greener-NHS programme. The review finds gaps and opportunities for incorporating climate action into pharmacy through …

The Climate League: A Competitive Governance Model To Enhance Ndc 3.0 Ambition And Delivery, Mohamed Noby

COP30

The first Global Stocktake (GST) has confirmed that the world is off-track; where current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are far from sufficient to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. Despite decades of climate negotiations, an ambition gap, implementation deficit, and climate finance shortfall continue to hinder meaningful progress; driven largely by a focus on securing commitments rather than ensuring their implementation and real-world impact. This policy paper identifies the governance gap at the heart of these failures and proposes a new framework: The Climate League. which aims to transform climate action into a dynamic competitive process by ranking countries based …

Youth And Gender Equity In Decision Making, Nada Chaabene

COP30

With the COP30 choosing “mutirão”, which means collective community work, as their central theme (COP30, 2024), the president of the conference in Brazil emphasizes that it’s an opportunity to connect global actions and create a mobilization chain of the expertise of people from various communities and from different sectors to move from negotiation to concrete action (COP30, 2024). This cannot be done without a proper representation of all the underrepresented communities of young people and women, as discussed in the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda (SAA).

This paper explores the ongoing challenges of inclusive representation in decision-making spaces like the COP. …

Non-State Actors: Opportunity Or Challenge To Ace And Capacity Building Under Cop30 Mutirão Action Plan, Youssef Moftah

COP30

This policy paper focuses on the role of non-state parties in climate action under COP30. The paper highlights clearly the gap of state actors’ action and their inability alone to meet their requirements in order to make clearly effective steps in their climate change agendas. Following on from previous work frames of the UNFCCC and its subsidiary bodies alongside national and local initiatives the paper shows the past efforts linking them with this year’s presidency and its action plan of "mutirão". The focus of this paper is on building ACE capabilities especially axes of training, public participation, and international cooperation …

Open-Source Hardware For Renewable Energy Workforce Development, Mohamed Abbas

COP30

The renewable energy markets are undergoing significant developments; there is a considerable gap between the industry requirements and the available skillful workforce. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA, 2024), the renewable energy industry globally employed 16.2 million people in 2023, with estimates showing a significant increase to around 40 million by 2050, depending on the achievement of a 1.5°C scenario. Though the continuous expansion of the workforce continues, there is still a shortage that will be difficult to fill. This shortage is a serious problem, especially in developing countries, where climate change is prompting the establishment of new …

From Awareness To Action: The Educational Pillar Of Capacity Building And Ace, Eman Akrout

COP30

Education has always been identified as the most potent medium for sustaining long-term climate action by helping students, teachers, and communities understand climate risks and participate in solution building. This literature review will therefore focus on how education helps build capacity and contributes to Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE). As recent reports indicated by IPCC and UNESCO have also highlighted, climate education heightens the level of awareness supportive of green jobs while improving the resilience of a community. However, there is a lack of climate material in most schools with untrained teachers posing a huge gap in the international efforts …

Sparking Change: Building Local Technical Capacity For Climate Resilience And Energy Access, Elena Sales

COP30

Globally, 666.5 million people still lack access to electricity, the vast majority residing in rural areas in the Global South. The same communities are also among the most vulnerable to climate change, facing rising temperatures, extreme weather and environmental degradation - yet they lack the energy resources needed to adapt and build resilience. Community-led distributed renewable energy (DRE) systems, from household solar to community mini-grids, can help accelerate the global adoption of renewable energy while empowering the most marginalized communities to have the capacity to lead the transition. For these systems to be sustainable, communities must be paired with direct …

Climate-Ready Health Systems: A Regional Strategy For Building Climate-Health Capacity In North Africa, Donia Khaled

COP30

North African nations are highly exposed to the climate-health crisis, facing combined risks that greatly impact vulnerable groups. These include repeated climate-related disease outbreaks, plus more heat waves and droughts. Existing health education and infrastructure aren't ready to handle these issues. A dual-track strategy to build regional climate-health capacity is proposed in this policy paper: A) integrate climate-health education into medical and public health curricula at all universities across North Africa; and B) launch a multilingual Continuous Professional Development (CPD) platform will develop health workers and students, adaptation through knowledge sharing, building local leadership, and ensuring fair access to resources. …

From Ndcs To Gdcs : Reforming Carbon Markets For A Just Net-Zero Transition, Tolojanahary Andriantsoavina

COP30

The climate crisis is here, and it demands that we act together — and act now. The reality is deeply unfair: the Global South, which contributes the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, is paying the highest price for climate change. Communities face floods, droughts, and other devastating impacts, yet they have the least access to the resources needed to adapt. Current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are falling short, held back by gaps in fairness, accountability, and real action on the ground. Shockingly, less than 10% of international climate finance reaches the local communities who need it most. This paper …

Driving Climate Mitigation And Health Equity In Rapid Test Diagnostics (Rdts): A Sustainable Biodegradable Patch Solution, Sarah Abozeid

COP30

Total energy-related CO2 emissions increased by 0.8% in 2024, hitting an all-time high of 37.8 Gt CO2, driven primarily by energy, transport, and industrial sectors. The healthcare sector, often overlooked in mitigation discussions, contributes 4.4% of total global GHG emissions, a footprint exceeding that of many countries. Disposal of petroleum-based plastics—especially through incineration—emits approximately 2.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per tonne of plastic burnt. Production itself accounts for around 2.5 tonnes CO2 per tonne of

plastic, making the combined lifecycle emissions significant when including end- of-life incineration or decomposition. Around 16,000 tonnes of plastics are

produced globally for rapid …