Queen Mary delegation puts culture and engagement at the heart of COP30

At the centre of Queen Mary’s programme was a high-profile side event led by Dr Ben Neimark, Reader in Geopolitical Ecology at the School of Business and Management. Co-hosted with partners from Sweden, Colombia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the UK, ‘Monitoring and Addressing Climate Impacts Across the Conflict Cycle’ explored how every stage of war – from military build-up to post-conflict reconstruction – drives emissions and environmental damage. 

The session highlighted practical tools that can be used by governments to track and reduce these impacts, including better data on military emissions, accountability mechanisms for environmental harm, and ways to embed climate considerations into peace agreements.  

Speaking on the event, Dr Ben Neimark said: “In a year of escalating geopolitical tensions, talking honestly about the military’s climate footprint is no longer optional, it’s urgent. What Queen Mary brought to COP30 was an evidence-based, collaborative space where researchers, NGOs, and those living with conflict could engage with each other and design solutions together. We weren’t just presenting research; we were co-producing a new agenda for climate and security.”  

Throughout COP30 and across the city of Belém, Queen Mary’s People’s Palace Projects (PPP) led a wide-ranging engagement programme on culture and climate action. Working alongside Indigenous partners and cultural organisations, PPP hosted daily activities on Indigenous knowledge, climate justice, environmental activism and more.  

Among their activities, the team presented ‘Kamukuwaká: A Call of the Forest’, a VR experience developed with Studio Kwo, which amplifies Indigenous voices on the threats of climate change facing their lands in the Xingu region. They also shared ‘Culture is Climate’, an educational booklet developed with partners in Brazil that explores how culture shapes responses to the climate crisis.  

Discussing their activities, Yula Rocha, Communications and Indigenous and Climate Manager at PPP, emphasised: “For more than a decade, PPP has worked side by side with and engaged with Indigenous communities in the Amazon, using art to protect land, language and memory. At COP30, our message was simple: culture is not a ‘nice-to-have’ add-on to climate policy; it is infrastructure for climate action. Culture has been finally integrated into the COP30 process after decades of long-term, patient collaboration and engagement with communities.”  

The delegation also showcased Queen Mary’s strengths in climate science, sustainable business and  governance, working with international partners, NGOs, policymakers and UK parliamentary representatives to turn this research into practical tools that shape real-world climate decisions.  

Dr Fernando Barrio, Reader in Sustainable Business and Policy, and co-Director Centre for Environmental Change and Communities at Queen Mary, concluded: “For us, the clear purpose for being at COP30 was to contribute evidence, knowledge and data that strengthen decision making in a world under accelerating climate stress. Queen Mary attended alongside partners whom they have long been working and engaging with, to shape climate solutions across the Global South, and to showcase research that can inform how we understand risk, governance, conflict and justice as the planet warms.  

“Our role is not to speak on behalf of communities, but to engage with and stand alongside them, ensuring that their experience and expertise are supported by rigorous analysis and carried into the policy processes that matter so that we can be confident the solutions and policies we propose work for everyone.” 

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