What I learned in Belém: Teresa Themudo's reflections on COP30
Taking part in COP30 in Belém do Pará, representing GRACE - Empresas Responsáveis, was a profoundly remarkable experience. Not just because of the scale and complexity of this conference, but because we were acutely aware that we were in the heart of one of the most critical regions for the planet's climate and ecological balance. Seeing, hearing and feeling the Amazon so close gives added weight to the words "responsibility", "urgency" and "action".
I come home from Belem transformed - professionally and personally - and with a renewed sense of the role GRACE has in supporting Portuguese companies that want to be an active part of the solution.
To represent GRACE at a COP is to bring with us the stories, challenges and conviction of our member companies. It means bringing to a global stage the reality of those in Portugal who work every day to integrate sustainability into their strategy, operations and organizational culture.
In Belém, I felt the force of that responsibility. GRACE is not at COP30 to be present: it is there to build bridges, to translate international trends into Portuguese business reality, and to ensure that our companies have direct access to the knowledge, networks and opportunities that are shaping the next decade of environmental and social policies.
I also realized that the collaborative way we work in Portugal - bringing together companies, academia and civil society organizations - is viewed with great respect. In various conversations, I heard that this national "cooperation ecosystem" is an inspiring example. This has given me enormous confidence that we are on the right track.
No photograph, documentary or report can truly prepare you for the feeling of being so close to the Amazon. There is something vast, fragile and deeply symbolic about that forest.
And it's impossible to ignore the exciting and painful contradiction of being at a multilateral climate event in a territory where so many communities live the consequences of deforestation, climate change and social inequalities on a daily basis.
This physical proximity made all the discussions more urgent.
Hearing about biodiversity when you're just a few kilometers from the largest reservoir of life on the planet is different. The subject takes on a "face", a smell, a temperature. You realize, with an almost uncomfortable clarity, that the loss of nature is a collective - and irreversible - loss.
For me, this experience has reinforced a deep conviction: we can't talk about climate without talking about people, justice, communities and nature. Everything is interconnected.
One of the most significant moments of my participation in COP30 was the event organized by GRACE at the Portuguese Pavilion. The round table "Nature and Biodiversity in Action" was not just a technical discussion. It was a clear demonstration that Portugal has the capacity to lead the way in integrating science and business practice.
I heard organizations that are already taking action. I heard professionals who bring the rigor and depth of those who have studied these issues for decades. Above all, I heard a joint desire to do more - and to do it collaboratively.
Seeing these synergies materialize has reinforced something essential for me: the transition will not be made by isolated sectors. It will be done together - or not at all.
COP30 was a space for dialog, contrast and inspiration. Between the hustle and bustle of the pavilions, the formal meetings, the negotiations, the technical debates and the spontaneous conversations in the corridors, I came away with several reflections:
Business action is indispensable, not just as a complement to public action, but as a driver of innovation, scale and real impact.
Biodiversity has taken center stage - and this will require new metrics, new data and new skills on the part of companies.
International cooperation will be increasingly critical, especially for countries like Portugal, with great potential in renewable energies, the blue economy and marine conservation.
The social dimension of sustainability cannot be forgotten, especially in a context of just transition, equity and protection of vulnerable communities.
Companies need predictability, which is why the work of platforms like GRACE - which interpret and translate global trends - is increasingly essential.
The future of business competitiveness will be the future of environmental regeneration. These are not different agendas; they are the same agenda seen from different angles.
Representing GRACE at COP30 was an immense honor. But it was also an exercise in humility. Among world leaders, negotiators, scientists, young activists and Amazonian communities, I realized that the climate transition is both a technical and a profoundly human challenge.
And that's where I feel GRACE has a unique role: helping companies connect the "how" to the "why"; the technique to the purpose; the strategy to the real impact.
I return from Belem with more questions, more concern - and more motivation.
But I also return with the certainty that we are not alone. We are part of a national and international community that wants to change the course of history.
And as a GRACE representative, I feel a renewed responsibility: to transform this experience into knowledge, inspiration and concrete opportunities for all our Members.
COP30 was an intense journey. But above all, it was a commitment.
And it's this commitment that I take with me to work every day.
