COP30 opens new path, connecting small, fragile wins for culture in climate policy

There was great anticipation from culture advocates as COP30 opened in Belém, Brazil on November 10. For two years, experts commissioned by the Chairs of the UNFCCC subsidiary Bodies (under the UAE-Belem work programme) had worked tirelessly to end the over 40 years’ history of no culture in climate policy. The experts worked to develop indicators to measure progress towards the seven thematic (one of which related to the intersectionality of culture and climate change) and four-dimensional targets of the Framework for Global Climate Resilience (FGCR).

The experts presented about 100 indicators, eight of which culture related, that were central in the negotiations. As state parties eliminated indicators they deemed more burdening in terms of reporting and considered unmeasurable, it became increasingly doubtful if culture related indicators would survive the axe.

In the end, what seemed impossible became a reality as cultural heritage became operationalized in international climate policy. The adoption of 59 indicators for measuring progress against the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA)’s 11 targets, inclusive of five indicators for measuring progress on cultural heritage (Target 9g) is an important milestone that builds on the Climate Heritage Network (CHN)’s advocacy work that begun at COP26. The new cultural heritage indicators measure adaptation implementation for tangible and intangible heritage, digitization, emergency preparedness, training, and community engagement.

Additionally, state parties adopted the Global Climate Action (GCA), a five-year plan developed by the UNFCCC Climate High Level Champions aimed at accelerating implementation. The GCA includes the COP30 Presidency-led Plans to Accelerate Solutions (PAS), of which seven are aimed at accelerating initiatives focused on intersectionality between culture and climate change. They include:

1. Cultural power: catalyzing narratives for change, led by Creatives for Climate, UN Climate ECCA and their partners
2. Accelerate the integration of cultural heritage considerations into National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), led by the Group of Friends for Culture-Based Climate Action (GFBCA) and its partners
3. Capacity building for adopting cultural practices and heritage sites, led by Heritage Adapts! 3000 heritage sites x 2030 initiative implemented by Preserving Legacies and its partners, including Climate Heritage Network)
4. Locally-led adaptation, led by the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO and its partners
5. ICOM award for sustainable development practice in museums, led by ICOM
6. Capacity building for policy makers to integrate heritage solutions into built environment mitigation policy, led by Decarbonizing The Built Environment through Heritage (DBTH implemented by Architecture 2020 and Climate Heritage Network)
7. Decarbonising creative influence, led by Creatives for Climate and its partners.

Both Heritage Adapts to Climate Alliance (HACA) that played a great role in supporting with the development of the culture-related indicators, and now metamorphosing into Heritage Adapts! 3000 x 2030 (PAS 3) and DBTH (PAS 6)’s work were supported by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation as part of the Climate Heritage Network’s “Imagining Low Carbon, Just, Climate Resilient Futures through Culture and Heritage” project.

“We are excited that UNFCCC is steadily recognizing the vital role of cultural heritage in adaptation and are proud to see heritage-centric initiatives on the action agenda, which align with the GCA’s call for increased ambition to protect cultural heritage and offer concrete ways to achieve that,” observed Simon Musasizi, the Co-Chair for the Climate Heritage Network (CHN) Africa and Arab States Region.

HACA’s press statement issued at the end of the conference highlights that the COP30 decision invites all nations to integrate the GGA’s cultural heritage target into their planning processes. This critical provision is a much-needed wake up call to all adaptation planners and policy makers to weave culture into adaptation planning at local, regional, and national levels, including National Adaptation Plans and NDCs. It also invites the Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund, and the Adaptation Fund to support developing countries in implementing the cultural heritage target and other elements of the GGA. These provisions unfold against the backdrop of a broader COP30 deal on adaptation finance ambition. Culture and heritage have long been excluded from climate finance, forcing reliance on limited culture budgets to fund adaptation measures. To realize the potential of the GGA, finance organizations will need to provide targeted outreach to the cultural heritage sector linked to the GGA’s thematic targets. 

Despite the above gains, the press statement further notes that the failure of the new indicator texts adopted in the waning hours of COP30 to address ethical and equitable engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities whose knowledge is to be used; impractical over-use of percentage-based indicators; unanswered questions on how culture will be factored into other thematics; inattention to maladaptation, and other issues, creates implementation challenges.  

“Indicators alone won’t unlock adaptation action. Opportunities are also presented by the new mandates contained in the Decision to the Adaptation Committee as well as the new Baku Adaptation Road Map work plan on strengthening implementation of the GGA targets; enhancing knowledge-sharing; and ensuring access to means of implementation for the targets more generally. However, support will be needed to bring cultural heritage voices to these complex, new processes” notes Andrew Potts, Preserving Legacies’ Director of Community.  “Ultimately, the test of these indicators and processes will be whether they deliver additional support, finance and access to local custodians and advocates working in their communities to protect their heritage places and cultural practices from climate change.” 

The Climate Heritage Network and its initiatives including HACA welcomes further and continuous refinement of work on the indicators by the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies at SB64 in June 2026 in Bonn, as well as the new the two-year Belém–Addis Vision on Adaptation Policy aimed at developing guidance for operationalizing the Belém Adaptation Indicators.

“In truth, the only real gain left to us in this COP30 outcome is the quiet but formidable right to hold state parties to their own promises, to compel them to walk the talk through the GGA indicators and work in WIM review,” notes Moussa Elimane Sall, the CHN Africa and Arab States Coordinator for the Francophone region. “This means we may have to break through closed doors when necessary, or gently take their hand when needed, so that the design of the indicators can finally carry our expectations, our hopes, and the realities of our communities. In the world of climate negotiations, there is no such a thing as total victory. Progress is made through a constellation of small, fragile, patient wins that, when woven together, become the thread of ultimate success. That is why we need the patience of builders, the intelligence of tightrope walkers, and the strategy of seasoned travelers, to slowly give shape to the future we demand, despite the imperfections of this political package.”

As we look toward the road ahead, cultural advocates are optimistic that more gains will be in Turkey, the cradle of Mesopotamian memory, and Ethiopia, the land of origins. Both nations carry cultural legacies that resonate far beyond their borders; heritage is not just their identity, it is one of their greatest political assets.

“We should guide them to see that making culture a central driver of their upcoming presidencies would not only honor their history but also offer them a powerful, unifying signature in the global process. Each presidency seeks to bring something unique, something transformative. For Turkey and Ethiopia, elevating culture, its resilience, its knowledge systems, its capacity to anchor adaptation could become that defining contribution,” Elimane notes.