Perspectives from the Global South on the Anthropocene at the SB62 Climate Conference
Members of the research team attend the 13th meeting of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform in Bonn
The 62nd sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Implementation and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice took place from June 16 to 26, 2025. This international event is attended by well over 5,000 people, and includes negotiations leading up to the COP30 in Belém, Brazil later this year.
Key topics this year include enhancing adaptation goals, securing finance for climate action, and advancing a just transition. Although the Subsidiary Bodies do not make binding decisions, they are essential to the overall functioning of the international climate governance framework. Their agenda includes technical-level negotiations -overseen by the chairs of each Subsidary Body - as well as mandated events such as in-session workshops and dialogues. At SB62, negotiators will engage in several parallel processes to draft preliminary conclusions, which will later be refined and potentially adopted as official decisions during the COP30.
Within this framework, Dr. Verónica Zuccarelli Freire, a member of the Perspectives from the Global South on the Anthropocene team, was nominated by the RINGO constituency (Research and Independent NGOs) to attend as an observer at the 13th meeting of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. This meeting addressed a range of crucial topics and resulted in key decisions aimed at strengthening the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in climate action.
“Through this engagement, it was possible to closely follow the negotiations, contribute perspectives from our research, and ensure that our project remains informed by and aligned with the main priorities being discussed under the UNFCCC in the lead-up to the upcoming Conference of the Parties,” says Dr. Zuccarelli Freire.
The upcoming COP30 aims to align with UNFCCC decisions that emphasize the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ culture and knowledge in effective climate responses. Since the Paris Agreement, the UNFCCC has urged Parties to actively involve Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the design and implementation of climate policies.
Indigenous Peoples make up 6.2 percent of the global population and are responsible for safeguarding approximately 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reported that integrating the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities can help address interconnected challenges such as climate change, food security, biodiversity conservation, desertification, and land degradation, while also enhancing pathways toward climate-resilient development.
Aligned with this vision, the Perspectives from the Global South on the Anthropocene project brings together a panel of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (MPI-GEA) and other institutions and initiatives. The team focuses on the Anthropocene framework, paleoecological reconstructions, biodiversity management, and heritage protection to confront urgent Anthropocene-related issues.
Furthermore, as part of the Max Planck’s delegation, the project was presented at the Action for Climate Empowerment poster session. The poster can be accessed here: https://unfccc.int/documents/648001
