SNV at COP30: Driving locally led, globally backed climate action
From 6 to 21 November, SNV colleagues will participate in the 30th UN Climate Conference, COP30, which will take place in Belém, Brazil.
During the conference, we will focus on rethinking climate action with locally led, globally backed approaches.
Smallholders and local actors contribute the least to the climate crisis yet face its harshest impacts. They produce a third of the world’s food, carry generations of ecological knowledge, and pioneer solutions, from climate-resilient crops to regenerative farming. But these locally driven innovations urgently need greater support and scale.
SNV is calling for climate action that bridges global ambition and local leadership. This means making finance more accessible, integrating food, water, and energy systems, and centring equity, inclusion, and local ownership to deliver lasting impact.
Venue: Hangar Convention and Fair Centre of the Amazon, Belém, Brazil
Action on Food Hub
At COP30, SNV is partnering with the Action on Food Hub, a coalition of changemakers reimagining how food systems can drive climate action.
Together with leading international food organisations, we’re turning trade-offs into opportunities to accelerate the shift towards healthy, resilient, and equitable food systems.
The Hub brings diverse voices—farmers, pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, and local businesses into dialogue with climate negotiators to drive locally led, globally backed climate action.
Explore SNV’s thematic sessions COP30
See our agenda and thematic focus areas during COP30 or jump straight to the highlights:
Locally accessible global finance
Roundtable
Delivering on food system climate finance: Value for farmers, impact for the planet
Thursday, 13 November | 16:30–17:30 UTC−3
Global food systems must transform to meet the challenges of a changing climate and build resilience for farmers and communities. Yet, the finance and support needed to enable this transformation are still not reaching the farmers who produce our food. This roundtable will explore practical, scalable mechanisms that strengthen resilience, enhance climate outcomes, and deliver tangible value to producers. Learn more.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Organisers: CA4SH, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), IDH, SNV
UNFCCC Official side event
Connecting the Rio Conventions through landscape action: Governance and finance in practice
Thursday, 20 November | 15:30–16:30 UTC−3
Through integrating landscape approaches, the session will explore how: inclusive decision-making and community monitoring strengthens accountability and policy coherence; innovations in climate finance and emerging systems for monitoring and transparency help advance the goals of the three Rio Conventions.
Location: Side Event Room 1
Partners: Commonland Foundation, EcoAgriculture Partners, The Proforest Initiative, Rainforest Alliance
Plenary
Climate finance for soil health
Friday, 14 November | 14:00–15:00 UTC−3
This session will explore why the soil health finance gap persists and how to close it. It will bring together diverse stakeholders to examine where private and public finance can most effectively drive soil health outcomes, and where each sector faces limitations. Discussions will highlight innovative, farmer-centered finance models, such as blended finance, and enabling conditions, such as policy incentives that de-risk investments, ensuring resources can reach farmers on the ground. Learn more.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: CA4SH, CIFOR-ICRAF, GIZ (Lead), SNV, One Acre Fund
Food, finance, and climate: Overcoming barriers and unlocking solutions to scale agricultural adaptation
Tuesday, 18 November | 14:00–15:00 UTC−3
This side event will examine how climate finance - in particular finance for adaptation and climate justice can converge to accelerate the transformation of global food systems.
The discussion will bring together voices from science, development organisations, and financial institutions, to explore solutions for equitable, scalable, and resilient pathways for financing the agricultural transition and shaping the future of food and climate action.
Location: CGIAR Food & Agriculture Pavilion
Partners: Alliance CIAT-Bioversity, IFD, WWF
Financing resilient landscapes: Catalysing partnerships for irrigation, land reclamation, and climate resilience in Africa’s arid & semi-arid regions
Wednesday, 19 November | 10:30–11:45 UTC−3
Kenya’s National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan (NISIP) is transforming irrigation through five pathways, from farmer-led models to corporate and community-driven investments. Central to this effort is the Mapping of Community-Based Irrigation Schemes (MCBIS), a digital platform supported by AGRA that identifies opportunities for climate-smart investment.
During this session, AGRA and the Government of Kenya will present the MCBIS initiative to the international community, with SNV joining as a partner to explore opportunities for collaboration, co-financing, and scaling resilient irrigation across Africa’s drylands. Learn more and live stream the event here.
Location: Water for Climate Pavilion
Partners: Ministry of Water, Kenya, SNV
Integration of food, water and energy
Plenary
Resilient futures at the agri-energy nexus: Building adaptation through food–energy collaboration
Thursday, 13 November | 12:00–13:00 UTC−3
This high-level roundtable will spotlight the COP30 Action Agenda Plan to Accelerate Regenerative Agriculture for Healthy Soil and Healthy Diets, a tactical, time-bound roadmap to move from ambition to implementation. It will bring together diverse stakeholders to co-design pathways to scale regenerative agriculture that nourishes both people and the planet — linking science, policy, and finance to build healthy soil, improve diets, and transform food systems from the soil to the plate. Learn more.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: SNV EDF ILRI
Policy workshop
From silos to synergies for a cohesive food & climate agenda
Wednesday 12 November | 14:00–16:30 UTC−3
This workshop would focus on the need for integrated and collaborative policy-making across different sectors and conventions. The goal is to move beyond siloed discussions to create a more unified approach to climate, food, and biodiversity. Learn more here.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: ILRI, CIWF, GPC, Bread for the World, SNV
Grasslands in the climate-biodiversity-land restoration nexus: integrating policy across the Rio Conventions
Thursday, 13 November | 10:45–11:45 UTC−3
This session will present and discuss a unified approach for integrating native grasslands into global frameworks under UNFCCC, UNCCD, CBD, SDGs, and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and highlight actionable recommendations stemming from the WWF Policy Paper on Grassland’s role in global climate mitigation. Learn more.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: WWF, ILRI, SNV
Roundtable
Nature-based solutions for soil health, community resilience, biodiversity, and climate action
Thursday, 13 November | 15:15–16:15 UTC−3
Global food systems must transform to meet climate targets—yet the finance to enable this transformation isn't reaching the farmers who produce our food. This roundtable session will identify practical, scalable climate finance mechanisms that deliver tangible value to producers while advancing mitigation and adaptation outcomes. Learn more.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: CA4SH, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), IDH, SNV
Inclusive and locally owned approaches to change cooking behaviours
Tuesday, 18 November | 10:00–11:00 UTC−3
Traditional cooking stoves and fuels cause severe health risks, particularly for women and children, while driving deforestation and emissions. Clean cooking offers a transformative solution that connects energy, climate, and community wellbeing. This session highlights locally led approaches where schools, communities, and young women are championing clean cooking—changing behaviours, creating livelihoods, and building a healthier, more sustainable future.
Location: INCLUDE Pavilion
Partners: SNV, SEforALL, Gender & Energy Compact
Agrivoltaics and decentralised renewables: Bridging mitigation, adaptation, and climate resilience in food systems
Tuesday, 18 November | 16:30–15:30 UTC−3
Renewable energy is transforming how we grow, process, and power food systems. This session explores how agrivoltaics and decentralised renewables link climate mitigation and adaptation—boosting productivity, resilience, and rural livelihoods. Drawing from global success stories, it highlights practical solutions to scale renewable integration across agriculture, energy, and finance, turning the tripling renewables ambition into local action.
Location: IRENA Pavilion
Partners: GSC, GOGLA and CorpsAfrica
Bridging local evidence and global action: Biodiversity for climate-resilient and nutrition-secure food systems
Wednesday, 19 November | 09:00–10:00 UTC−3
Biodiversity underpins climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and nutrition security. This session explores how embedding biodiversity in food systems strengthens ecosystems, productivity, and equity. Drawing on insights from farmers, researchers, and policymakers, it highlights locally grounded evidence and practical pathways for scaling nature-positive, inclusive agricultural transformation—linking community action to global commitments within the COP30 agenda.
Location: CGIAR Food & Agriculture Pavilion
Partners: Netherlands Food Partnership
Centre equity, inclusion and local ownership
Plenary
Climate and nutrition: Safeguarding traditional food systems for a resilient future
Friday, 14 November | 16:30–17:30 UTC−3
This session explores how traditional food systems—rooted in local knowledge, biodiversity, and cultural heritage—can integrate scientific insights on climate change to drive adaptation and improve nutrition. It will highlight locally led approaches that lower the environmental footprint of food production and strengthen policies and financing that make nutritious, climate-resilient diets accessible to all.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: Global Citizens, Mercy Corps, SNV
Roundtable
Regenerative agriculture for healthy soil and healthy diets
Thursday, 13 November | 10:45–11:45 UTC−3
This high-level roundtable will spotlight the COP30 Action Agenda Plan to Accelerate Regenerative Agriculture for Healthy Soil and Healthy Diets, a tactical, time-bound roadmap to move from ambition to implementation. It will bring together diverse stakeholders to co-design pathways to scale regenerative agriculture that nourishes both people and the planet — linking science, policy, and finance to build healthy soil, improve diets, and transform food systems from the soil to the plate. Learn more here.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: CA4SH, CIFOR-ICRAF, GIZ, SNV
Roundtable: The hidden middle of food systems: Driving climate action and just rural transitions beyond the farm
Wednesday, 12 November | 10:45–11:45 UTC−3
As countries move from the UAE Declaration to delivery under their NDCs and NAPs, this session asks: how do we make the hidden middle more visible and investable in these commitments? Drawing on examples from across Africa and Latin America, speakers will explore how blended finance, inclusive market systems, and renewable energy that powers food systems can drive just rural transitions beyond regenerative farming practices—creating green jobs, reducing food loss, cutting emissions, and building resilience across the entire chain from production to consumption. Learn more (insert link)
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: MercyCorps, SNV
Policy dialogue: Ensuring a just transition and inclusive governance in food and agriculture policies
Friday, 14 November | 09:30–11:30 UTC−3
A just transition in the food sector must align climate goals with food security and justice, livelihoods, and rural development, particularly in Low and middle income countries. Linking lessons from the energy sector, this dialogue will examine how policies can support shifts toward food systems while empowering local communities. Learn more.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Organisers: ILRI, YOUNGO, SNV World Animal Protection, CA4SH
Valuing pastoralists for the future as a climate action and food systems
Friday, 14 November | 10:45–11:45 UTC−3
Rangelands and pastoralist ecosystems are valuable food production systems, critical for local livelihoods and offer huge potential for climate action. By valuing pastoralists and rangelands as essential to global sustainability, this session will make the case for greater policy support, financing, and recognition.
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: ILRI, SNV, Mercy Corps, International Land Coalition
Inside the COP30 Green Zone:
During COP30, SNV will participate in Green Zone discussions to explore what works, from local leadership to integrated solutions that bridge climate ambition and impact.
