Mutirão at COP30: “Working Together” (November 21)

• By: AWMA
• On: 11/21/2025 16:21:29
• In: COP 30
• Comments: 0

While I'm waiting for the next update of major consensus agreements at the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, I'm reflecting on the most important lessons learned during COP30 on November 10-21, 2025. Probably the most relevant lesson I learned involved a new word, used frequently throughout COP30 presentations, describing a vital process: Mutirão. This photo is one example of many that included mutirão in the presentation topic.

"Mutirão" is a Portuguese word that refers to a communal effort or collective work, often for a specific purpose or project. It's a tradition where people come together to help each other, usually in rural or indigenous communities. The word "mutirão" has its roots in the Tupi language, spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil. In Tupi, "motirõ" means "working together" or "collective work". The Portuguese colonizers adopted this word and incorporated it into the Brazilian Portuguese language.

In many Brazilian communities, especially in rural areas, mutirão is an important cultural practice where people gather to work on a project, like building a house, harvesting crops, or celebrating a festival. It's a way of strengthening social bonds and getting things done through collective effort.

The word "mutirão" is pronounced as "moo-chee-RAH-oo" in Brazilian Portuguese. The stress is on the last syllable (RAH-oo).

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva emphasized the urgent need for climate action during a speech on September 24, 2025, ahead of the COP30 climate summit. He stressed that the world must work together to combat climate change, highlighting the importance of presenting Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to tackle this global issue. Lula da Silva urged world leaders for collective mobilization and cooperation to address this pressing issue.

President Lula da Silva used the term "mutirão" to emphasize the collective effort needed to address climate change. He said, "No Brasil, quando queremos mobilizar esforços em torno de um objetivo comum, utilizamos uma palavra de origem indígena chamada 'mutirão'. Queremos fazer da COP30 um grande mutirão em prol da implementação dos compromissos climáticos."

(Translated into English: "In Brazil, when we want to mobilize efforts around a common goal, we use a word of indigenous origin called 'mutirão'. We want to make COP30 a great collective effort in favor of implementing climate commitments.")

In this context, Lula da Silva was calling for global cooperation and collective action to tackle climate change, highlighting the importance of working together to achieve ambitious climate goals. It remains to be seen if true mutirão will be achieved by COP30.

Ram Ramanan and Merlyn Hough, as official A&WMA observers of COP30, will be communicating back to the A&WMA members in real time through a blog that will be available to all members through the Association website. Posts from COP30 and previous COPs can be found on the A&WMA blog page at: https://www.awma.org/blog_home.asp?Category=12