Latin American Waterkeepers Call for Stronger Climate Action at COP30

A coalition of Latin American Waterkeeper groups, with support from Waterkeeper Alliance, have submitted a new declaration (Spanish, English) and an open letter (Spanish, English) to world leaders convening at the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. Held in the heart of the Amazon from November 10 to 21, 2025, COP30 highlights the urgency of protecting water, climate, and biodiversity.

This effort was led by Bocas de Ceniza Waterkeeper, who organized the participation of fellow Colombian Waterkeepers: Cartagena Waterkeeper, Río Cravo Sur Waterkeeper, Río Inírida Waterkeeper, Río Meta Riverkeeper, Río Pauto Waterkeeper, and Río Bogotá Waterkeeper, as well as Río Ozama Waterkeeper from the Dominican Republic, Guanabara Baykeeper from Brazil, Maule Itata Coastkeeper and Futaleufú Riverkeeper from Chile, Guayllabamba Waterkeeper from Ecuador, and Lake Atitlán Waterkeeper from Guatemala. Peru’s Río Mapacho Waterkeeper, and Waterkeeper groups from Mexico—Cabo Pulmo Coast Waterkeeper, Los Cabos Coastkeeper, Tijuana Waterkeeper, San Quintín Bay Waterkeeper, Loreto Coastkeeper, Río Verde Waterkeeper, and La Paz Waterkeeper—round out this impactful coalition.

The documents were formalized last week during a symbolic signing at Waterkeeper Alliance’s 2026 Latin America Regional Summit in Oaxaca, Mexico. Now formally submitted to world leaders attending COP30, they urge stronger, fairer, and coordinated climate action by 2030 and call on countries to meet their Paris Agreement commitments. According to the IPCC, human-caused warming has already reached approximately 1.1°C and is likely to exceed 1.5°C in the 2030s, driving more extreme events. Every fraction of a degree increases risks, and irreversible damage is already underway.

This latest action build on a formal declaration submitted last year at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, which called for the protection of water and biodiversity across Latin America.

Through this united front, which is also being supported by Dr. Rosalia Arteaga, former president of Ecuador and a Waterkeeper Alliance Global Ambassador, Latin American Waterkeeper groups continue advocating for policies that protect water, foster biodiversity, and support sustainable livelihoods for regional communities that are deeply connected to these fragile ecosystems. Check out the complete spoken declaration from the Latin American Waterkeepers!