Choosing Yourself at COP 30: How to Stay Healthy and Well While Creating the World We Want

It has been five years since I committed to a genuine journey of wellbeing. I’d dabbled in it before — but the real work began at the lead‑up to COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021. That moment forced a choice: Do I choose myself or not? Do I honour my needs or let them go unspoken? Do I love myself or keep pushing harder?

Working in climate, building movements, advocating for vulnerable communities, taking part in high‑stakes events like COP—these roles often reward self‑sacrifice. Starting out means funding is thin, hours are long, and the idea of “taking time for yourself” can feel like a luxury you cannot afford.

When I helped launch the Loss and Damage Collaboration, we were starting from zero. I did consultancy work to pay bills; I built websites, managed emails, juggled so much in order to carve out space. I lost a website once because I was juggling too many things. Building new things takes practice, perseverance, and an enormous amount of patience.

Choosing yourself in those moments is not easy. The opportunity cost of self‑care can feel overwhelming when you’re trying to build something meaningful, something that matters. But the cost of not choosing yourself becomes heavier and heavier. Eventually I reached a breaking point—not because work was unimportant, but because I’d swallowed down too many truths about exhaustion, worthiness, and rest.

Before COP 26 I just couldn’t anymore. And in that moment a friend said to me: “You don’t have to go.” That simple sentence felt revolutionary. Ultimately I chose not to attend COP 26 in person, despite being in the host country. That decision shaped everything that followed.

From that point I began doing different things: spending more time in nature, making space for meditation and mindfulness, moving my body in ways that felt good rather than tasks that felt forced. Saying no to meetings. Protecting the edges of my schedule. Listening to my body when it said “no”.

Last year I skipped COP 29 because my body and mind were telling me to stop. I worried: “Is it okay not to be there in person to support the teams I love?” And the answer was: yes. Because rest is part of the work.

This year at COP 30 it feels different. My team is bigger, responsibilities are more distributed. The workload is still intense, but I’m better at recognising when I need to pull back. And guess what? That means I show up more fully when I do show up.

I feel excited about being in Belém for COP 30. And I’m ready. I’m following the Global Goal on Adaptation with renewed interest, working to strengthen synergies between adaptation, loss and damage, and funding action for climate‑vulnerable countries and frontline communities. I’m thinking about how local, national and global efforts connect. I’m shaping mindsets and hearts through the work.

Because I’m choosing myself, I give myself permission to zoom out. To see the big picture. To remember that being whole matters for contribution. I’m honoured to work with an incredible team of young climate leaders from the Global South—cohort 4 of the Climate Leadership Initiative. That’s not a burden. That’s energy. Being in the world of change has become a place where I feel alive. Because I learned to choose myself—and mostly stopped feeling guilty for doing it.

Privilege is real: I know I’m extraordinarily privileged in many ways. But worthiness? That’s available to all of us. The journey will look different for everyone—but we can all choose ourselves in tiny moments every day.

So: here’s my simple advice for staying as healthy and well as possible at COP 30. Choose yourself in the small moments:

• Take a detour to fill your water bottle on the way to a meeting.
• Do five minutes of meditation in the morning—just enough to settle your mind.
• Take two deep breaths when you feel your nervous system tipping.
• Eat nourishing food when you can (not just whatever’s convenient).

Also: remember that COP is a unique time of year—it demands more, pushes further, stretches more. We made the journey here. We owe it to the people we serve—and to ourselves—to make it count. A world in which all humans, all species, and all ecosystems are thriving on a healthy planet is not just possible—it’s happening. And when we choose ourselves, when we accept our worthiness, when we know we are enough—it comes faster.

One of my colleagues told me yesterday: “I feel very optimistic about this COP. I’m manifesting it into being.” I loved that. And yes—I’m doing that too. Amid everything going on, I’m optimistic about COP 30 because I know how powerful we all are. I hope you feel that too.

As I’ve written before: what we focus on becomes real first in our imaginations. So in those quiet moments—take that breath. Visualise a world in which every being, every place, every ecosystem is thriving. Use your five senses: what do you see? Hear? Smell? Feel? Touch? Be there. And then let’s move toward that world—together.

---