Brazil’s decision to host COP30 in Belém is framed as a symbolic gesture: a summit in the heart of the Amazon, where delegates can experience the urgency of climate change firsthand. But this gesture is pure climate theatre. What good is symbolism when the people most affected by climate change are priced out of involvement?
Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an historic advisory opinion affirming that nation states have legal obligations to protect the climate system and that failure to act may constitute an internationally wrongful act. This resonates deeply with the arguments I presented earlier this month. My paper explored how climate negotiations function as symbolic performances, shaped by contested meanings, strategic political ambiguity, and internalized institut
