A little over two months ago, I received a surprising message from DFAT's Climate Change Diplomacy Branch, requesting I write and perform a poem at the request of the Brazilian Government. I had been writing and publishing 'climate poetry' in Australia since 2019 and, before that time, the poems I was writing I've often referred to as "poems that explore the clash between humans and the rest of the natural world." The poem requested by Brazil was to be written for the Global Ethical Stocktake (GES) event for the Oceania region, held in Sydney on Sep 15th ahead of COP30 in November. My mission, if I chose to take it, was to attend the GES in Sydney where a range of speakers on the climate crisis were gathering from various countries across Oceania. I was to compose and perform a poem at the conclusion of the day’s speeches that summarised the concerns and ideas presented. With only a week and a half’s notice, I prepared to head to Sydney, wondering if the assignment was even within the realm of my creative capacity. While I wasn’t entirely sure I could execute the task, I was not about to say no.
COP30 in Belém, Brazil has been described by many in the climate change space as the most critical COP yet. The need for collective action to confront the climate emergency is now deemed urgent, with the window for staying under 1.5°C warming shrinking. The Global Ethical Stocktake series is one of the four pillars of the COP30 presidency and has been held in every region globally. Its purpose is to produce a set of dialogue introducing ethical, cultural and human rights aspects into the climate agenda. The perspectives provided are hoped to influence COP30 commitments made by world leaders this November.
The Oceania GES in Sydney that I attended consisted of a select group of policy experts, industry executives, activists, economists, lawyers and Indigenous community members. All were given five minutes to make their contribution. Jacinta Ardern, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, was zoomed into the gathering. The only poet in the room, I sat silently with pen in hand, a notebook and a headset mic beside me that I would wear when I performed the poem I was yet to write. Several cameras were set up, as the event was being filmed by the Brazilians for a documentary to be submitted to the UN at COP30. I was informed that the text of my poem will be displayed in the Oceania pavilion during the 12 days of COP30 in Belém. No pressure. Think determination mixed with anxiety combined with imposter syndrome, and a passion to communicate the climate impacts of the region.
I soon noticed there was a complete lack of political speak or climate delay tactics here. This was a room full of individuals with practical and ambitious solutions that were clear, planned, costed and well thought out. They spoke with more conviction and humanity than any politician I had heard, and each focused on improving life for people on the ground and on the coasts who were experiencing undeniable climate impacts.
Among the most passionate of the speakers was an economist. Contrary to the dryness I was expecting, here was someone armed with facts and the will to do something. A lawyer, who had worked in Pacific Island communities and was close to tears, delivered a heartfelt yet pragmatic speech containing real answers to the various legal issues of the climate crisis. Among the most moving speakers were the voices of Indigenous community members from the Torres Strait, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and other Island nations. For the first time, I was in a room with people whose homes were being swallowed by rising seas. By mid-Century, their islands will be underwater and uninhabitable. A relocation program to Fiji from neighbouring islands was referenced and the need for Australia to play its part. A global appeal was made in relation to supporting climate refugees. There was a call for more balanced participation, a collective effort, and courageous and concrete solutions.
I heard many staggering statistics, including that in 2021, 22.3 million people were displaced by climate change globally. Despite these numbers, these individuals are not currently defined as refugees and therefore fall off legal tracks. These refugees often suffer human rights violations in their attempt to cross borders, and an appeal was made to provide climate refugees with proper protections. Referred to many times was the fact that those under constant threat of climate change impacts are not the populations that have caused the problem. These Islander refugees or soon-to-be refugees face the loss of language, culture and belonging.
There were inspiring stories of Australian communities taking matters into their own hands, working on transition initiatives and saving themselves. I heard about a mining town in Mount Iza in Queensland, who have created a roadmap to ween off their reliance on gas. I also learned of a farming community in Hay in Western NSW, who are coming together to implement renewable energy projects in a way that fully engages and improves liveability for the whole community. The values of justice, care and creating an economy based on wellbeing were talked of frequently. The need to get comfortable with change. The fact that we belong to each other; that collaboration and a sense of solidarity will be required.
COP30 (the 30th session of the UNFCCC ‘Conference of the Parties’) begins on Monday 10th November and will run until Friday 21st November with heads of state, government ministers, national negotiators, observer organisations and business leaders in attendance. A major shift is expected and there is a hope that leaders will move beyond commitment setting to demonstrating how they will deliver these commitments in terms of finance, policy and pragmatic action. It will require a new kind of political courage and a moral conviction that goes beyond symbolic promises and greenwashing. It will require a willingness to break with business as usual, respect the needs of developing countries, and negotiations that involve empathy and humility. A sincere and solid willingness to protect human life and the ecosystem that supports our very breath will be needed most of all.
Amanda Anastasi is a poet from Melbourne, Australia. She was Poet in Residence for three years at the Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub (Monash CliComm) and her poems have been featured in Best Australian Science Writing.
Amanda's poem, 'The Last Call', will be displayed in the Oceania pavilion at COP30 among other contributions, and presented to the UN as part of the region’s Global Ethical Stocktake. The COP30 Oceania Pavilion is located in the Blue Zone of the Hangar Convention and Fair Centre of the Amazon in Belém, Pará, Brazil.
