My name is Natalia Figueiredo. I’m from World Animal Protection, based in Brazil. delivering this statement on behalf of one of the ENGOs, the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice DCJ:

We are pleased that the online portal is open to observers and urge considerations to make it more accessible – including more translations and ensuring quick uploads onto the portal. We also would like to urge the joint work to add a moderation function to the portal so voices and solutions are equally represented, and conflict of interests prevented.

Civil societies should not just be observers but active participants in this process, as our networks represent frontline groups, we have both the expertise and legitimacy for this. We are looking forward to using the portal and sharing case studies of small food producers, with gendered approaches and community-led solutions. These solutions have been created, tested, and implemented by frontline groups relying on agriculture for their livelihoods. We urge the joint work to make these solutions central to the workshops 

As we speak, the climate crisis is devastatingly impacting the global south. In my country, Brazil, we continue to suffer from its impacts, with fires in the Cerrado, droughts in the Amazon, and floods in big cities, which have had disastrous consequences for our lives. 

We urgently need agreements on the portal’s modality, including measures to avoid conflicts of interest, so we can move on to meaningful conversations about the workshops in the lead-up to COP30 in Belem.