COP das Quebradas - Opening and Panel on Climate Justice

The Climate Vulnerability Map of Belo Horizonte shows that the regions with the highest socio-environmental vulnerability are concentrated in the city’s peripheral areas, where villages, favelas, and informal urban settlements are located. These territories are more susceptible to extreme events such as floods, landslides, heat islands, and deficits in urban infrastructure. At the same time, these communities face limitations in accessing public policies and climate adaptation tools. The Environmental Vulnerability Study of Belo Horizonte (PBH/WayCarbon, 2020) indicates a low adaptive capacity in these areas. In this context, it is essential to promote spaces for listening and popular participation that strengthen climate justice and ensure that the voices of the peripheries are heard in institutional decision-making spaces. The “COP das Quebradas” [Cop of the Peripheries] is a direct response to this urgency, connecting local knowledge with public policies in a collective effort to develop resilience proposals for the city. Our goal is to collaboratively build public policy proposals for climate resilience based on the input of peripheral populations, to be presented as Belo Horizonte’s contribution to COP30. The proposals and recommendations will be compiled in an official document – the “Charter of the Peripheries”.