Zim signs Belém Declaration on people-centred climate action

Staff Writer

Zimbabwe joined a significant international coalition, formally endorsing the Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty, and People-Centred Climate Action during the recent Belém Climate Summit in Brazil.

The declaration, signed on Friday, November 7, by leaders from 43 countries and the European Union, places the humanitarian and social impacts of global warming at the forefront of climate negotiations.

“Climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss are worsening hunger, poverty, and food insecurity,” states the text from the declaration.

“They are also compromising access to water, deteriorating health indicators, and increasing mortality rates. These issues are deepening inequalities and threatening livelihoods, with a disproportionate impact on those already living in poverty or vulnerability.”

In response, the declaration recommends that countries continue to invest in mitigation, while giving greater priority to adaptation—particularly human-centred measures such as social protection, crop insurance, and other instruments that strengthen community resilience.

Additionally, the document calls for climate finance to focus on projects that generate opportunities, jobs, and livelihoods for smallholder farmers, traditional communities, and forest peoples. Investments should be designed to promote a just energy transition for these populations.

To monitor countries’ progress under the agreed terms, the text proposes eight measurable goals across the covered areas.

Among them are increasing social protection coverage by 2% per year and expanding the number of countries capable of assessing and anticipating short- and long-term climate vulnerabilities.

The declaration was announced during the closing session of the Belém Climate Summit. The moment is especially significant, coming just days after the first meeting of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty leaders in Doha, Qatar—an international commitment proposed by Brazil’s G20 presidency in 2024.