PhD candidate Mathilda Lorkin reflects on her COP29 experience ahead of COP30

7 November 2025

Queen Mary University of London is sending a delegation of five researchers to Belém, Brazil, to participate in COP30, the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. Set in the Amazon from 10 to 21 November 2025, this year’s summit is expected to emphasise forests, biodiversity, climate security and policy, and Indigenous peoples, and to turn the Paris Agreement’s global progress review into action. 

Ahead of COP30, we’re delighted to hear from PhD candidate Mathilda Lorkin who shares her experience at COP29, how the first year of her PhD has gone, and what hopes she has for COP30.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you’ve been at Queen Mary?

Hello! I have been at QMUL for a while now, as I did my undergraduate studies there. I am currently starting the second year of my PhD, which focuses on the land-grabbing of Indigenous territories in international law. Before that, I specialised in international environmental law during my graduate studies. I also worked alongside French youth NGOs, on conflicts of interest within COP meetings and Indigenous rights in climate change negotiations.  

Describe your average day/week.

It always changes, but I teach tort law to undergraduate students on Mondays – it’s an early start and sometimes I have to prepare my classes over the weekend. On Tuesdays, I usually go to the British library to work with friends. On Wednesdays I work from home – I am actually writing a chapter of my PhD, on the right to self-determination of Indigenous peoples. On Thursdays, I focus on preparing my fieldwork – I am reaching out to Indigenous organisations, to understand how they use and perceive law. Any contacts are welcome! The ethics committee application is pretty daunting, so that’s what I have been doing on Fridays. In between all of this, I go climbing in Mile End, have NGO meetings, do gardening and go to the cinema on weekends!

Are there any key projects you are currently working on that you’d like to highlight? 

Right now, I am looking to establish long-term collaborations with Indigenous peoples in Brazil – the aim would be to value Indigenous cultures and amplify their voices, to reinforce international solidarity with their struggles. Sometimes, it can be hard to see the links between how we live in the UK and the impact of our life-styles, laws etc. on their lands. The aim would be to make people more aware of this.

We are also working (with the Cambridge Indigenous Studies Discussion Group) to organise a series of events, including one on Indigenous participation at COP30. We'll have more information coming soon, so follow the @idsgcambridge instagram to keep up to date!

Last November you attended COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. One year on, how do you reflect on the experience and its impact?

I think that COP meetings are very mediatised now, which brings a lot of attention to them. It is a good place to witness the entanglements between politics and law-making. As an academic, I did not feel useful there. Civil society organisations on the other hand, do impressive work – especially taking into account that for every Indigenous representative, you have an average of 7 industrial representatives attending. Thus, there are strong imbalances in who is represented and listened to. A lot of informal meetings take place and it is hard to track influence on political decision-making. So, COP is a good place to understand these dynamics, which then make the role of these meetings clearer and gives critical insight on why there is such limited progress. Again, there have been calls to reform their structure, because COP meetings have clear failings. There is also a lot to be said on the way in which we frame ‘climate change’ and the lack of honesty on its human causes – not everyone has the same degree of responsibility for what is going on.

What expectations or hopes do you have for COP30?

COP30 will be in Belem, Brazil. My hope is that, given the favourable Brazilian political context and the first ever Ministry of Indigenous Affairs (brilliantly led by Indigenous activist Sonia Guajajara), there will be space for Indigenous activists and pro-environment/human rights civil society representatives. There is hearsay that this is going relatively well. It’s also encouraging to see that civil society delegations are travelling by boat rather than plane to Belem – both from France and from within the Amazon for example.

Again, expectations should be, in my view, adjusted to the empirical reality of what COP meetings actually are. There are powerplays which are hidden from the public eye. There is lobbying by a range of different actors and for a lot of different interests, at national level and internationally. The political orientations of heads of government are also crucial – in Baku, Trump’s election was strongly felt and nearly paralysed the US negotiating team. Lack of funding by governments is also an important factor, to understand how trained the negotiators are – for example, during the COP28 (Dubai) pre-negotiations, a negotiator (which I will not name) started reading the wrong plea and no one noticed for a solid twenty minutes. This gives you a hint of how technical these negotiations sometimes are and how little people actually understand them, even within governments. Again, funds and NGO trainings exist for the negotiators of countries which have little resources. I will let you guess where some (not all) of this funding comes from and who has an interest in training whom on which topics – just have a look at which negotiation topics impact private actors. On the bright side of things, the more lobbying there is, the higher the potential for change – otherwise there would be no interest in COPs.    

You also started your PhD last year. What are some of the highlights from your first year as a postgraduate researcher?

I did! I think that it was really great to find people with whom I had intellectual affinities, this kept my passion for the PhD project going.  I am very grateful for the solidarity found with other PhD students and academics who always agreed to discuss my project with me. Also, what a privilege to be able to have so much time to read and think – I can’t believe that I am paid to do this!

What’s your favourite place on any of our campuses?   

Definitely the Canal! I love working there or just sitting by the water, especially in summer. It feels special to be able to have such a quiet and beautiful place within campus.

Do you have any hobbies, pastimes outside of work?

Yes! I love bouldering, so I often go to the Mile End climbing wall. Maybe we could set up a PGR climbing group! I love cooking also, so we often do big dinners with my flatmates and friends, which are always lovely. I also walk a lot around the different canals and write stuff next to the water, it’s very calming. I also love exploring the different beaches along the Thames, the sunsets there are beautiful.

Are there any Queen Mary activities you’d recommend staff getting involved with/is there any training you have done with Queen Mary or externally that you’d recommend?

I would recommend engaging in the interdisciplinary networks (on race, climate etc.) and just throwing ideas out there. It’s such a shame to not talk between schools/departments when we might have so much in common, in terms of research and beyond! I would love to create some inter-departmental activities – if you are a PhD rep from another school, feel free to reach out to me and we can talk!