Beyond COP30: AFP’s Year-Round Global Climate Coverage

COP30 will take place from November 10 to 21, 2025, in Belém, in northern Brazil. For the first time, the annual United Nations climate negotiations will be held in the heart of the Amazon – a region essential to the planet’s future and at the center of major political, economic, and environmental stakes. 

AFP will deploy a full team of climate reporters, photographers and video journalists to Belem, despite the high prices of accommodation. Our journalists will follow negotiations behind the scenes, drawing on trusted sources within national delegations, observer groups and other key stakeholders. “Being on the ground throughout the event is essential to track every twist in the talks” explains Ivan Couronne, Editor-in-Chief, Future of the Planet – Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Central Desk) (see his interview at the bottom of this article). For the first time since Glasgow in 2021, large-scale demonstrations and civil society events are also expected. AFP will be there each day to capture the story in images, including with daily live video.

"For COP30 in Belém, AFP went all in—starting preparations a full year in advance from our Rio bureau. This isn’t just another climate summit. It’s the first COP ever held in the Amazon, and we saw an opportunity to offer our clients something truly exceptional: an immersive, multi-format journey into the heart of the world’s largest tropical forest—a region vital to the planet’s future, yet still shrouded in mystery.

With a dedicated team of video, photo, and text journalists, we launched three expeditions deep into the Amazon, producing a rich series of reports that we began rolling out in early 2025.

Examples from the reports: 

- We revealed how the carbon market is booming in the region, with heavyweight investors like Google betting big on its green potential.

- On Marajó Island, we spotlighted grassroots efforts to sustainably harness forest resources — like rubber— showing how local communities are innovating for a greener future.

Amid the logistical chaos of hosting thousands in Belém, we hit the ground to capture the pulse of the city and amplify the voices of its residents:

And we’re not done yet. In the coming weeks, AFP will publish a groundbreaking investigation that tackles a burning question: Who is really behind the fires that ravage the Amazon each year? This six-month deep dive—led by five journalists—combines field reporting, exclusive interviews, and data analysis to uncover the forces driving deforestation from the shadows.”

AFP’s climate coverage is not limited to COP summits. Across the globe, AFP's journalists document both the threats and the solutions linked to the climate crisis. 

Sara Hussein, “Future of the Planet” reporter for Asia, has been with AFP since 2009 and has reported from more than a dozen countries:

“My job has two main pillars: coordinating and supervising Asia’s coverage of climate change and environmental issues, and reporting on those subjects myself. It is a broad remit, so it requires me to be well-read on the way these issues are playing out in very different contexts in Asia. The region ranges from Afghanistan to New Zealand, so the challenges and responses vary enormously. I try to ensure our coverage offers clients an in-depth view of the situation in a given country, while also explaining why that situation is relevant or applicable elsewhere. There are also common themes across these very different contexts, including the trade-off between immediate economic benefits and long-term sustainable growth, and the struggle to transition economies to renewable energy. Environmental issues can be sensitive, especially where they run up against powerful economic interests. This is a concern in many of the countries in the region, and is something we have to consider when reporting. We benefit from having bureaux and staff throughout the region, offering context and nuance. We can bring clients reporting from areas others may not be able to access.

Some recent examples of the work we have done that illustrates our commitment to climate coverage:

- Travelling deep into rainforest in Indonesia to meet some of the country’s last hunter-gathers, whose land and way of life are threatened by nickel mining; 

- Reporting from Afghanistan looking at water shortages and how climate change and water shortages now drive more migration than conflict; 

- Reporting from Pakistan on how the Indus delta is disappearing. 

It is important to also show what is being done to tackle environmental challenges. Two recent examples: Survey work uncovering new species in Cambodia’s threatened karst landscape and nest boxes being placed in Hong Kong to help endangered cockatoos."

What does it take to cover a COP well? 

The first priority is to report from inside the negotiations between nearly 200 countries, drawing on sources within delegations, observer groups and other stakeholders. This requires months of work by our climate reporters to build and maintain contacts. The second task is to provide rich visual coverage, particularly of the many demonstrations and civil society events expected in Belém. Finally, we work before the COP to anticipate what the meeting’s main themes will be so we can offer our clients original reporting on the ground about these issues, as well as relevant stock images. These could be on fossil fuels, adaptation to climate disasters, or the issue of finance. 

What do you expect at COP30 in Belem? 

President Lula’s symbolic decision to host COP30 in Belém in the Amazon makes this summit one of the defining diplomatic events of the year. A high turnout of presidents, prime ministers, and monarchs is expected at the leaders’ summit on November 6-7. China’s role will be particularly intriguing to watch throughout the negotiations, especially against the backdrop of Donald Trump pulling the United States out of the Paris agreement. But the steep cost of accommodation in Belém is also shaping up to be a major storyline: with hotel rooms running several hundred dollars a night, many delegations and NGOs simply cannot afford to send their usual teams.

Is COP the peak of AFP’s climate coverage? 

COP coverage goes hand-in-hand with our daily climate reporting from around the world. It is the natural extension of our coverage of extreme weather events and field reporting on forests, energy, transport, and so on. There are plentiful examples of this, including stories on air conditioning from India to the UK, or climate change responses in agriculture, from apricot growers in Tajikistan to the rise of exotic fruit cultivation in Albania.