Dear Friends of the Cryosphere Pavilion and Cryosphere Capsule Readers-
As many of you no doubt saw on media, a fire interrupted COP30 on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 20, including the opening remarks of Iceland Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson at the Cryosphere Pavilion, in a side event focused on latest research around the risks and potential impacts of shutdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The fire broke out about 50 meters from the Cryosphere Pavilion, the entire COP venue was evacuated; and although we did not know this until later, that AMOC event was our last live sending from COP30, as Brazilian fire authorities shut down the pavilions area for the remainder of COP30.
AMOC event participants felt this important enough however that several speakers recorded their presentations or remarks virtually in the hours after the fire. The link to this recording (including the live beginning at the Pavilion) is below, featuring Minister Jóhannsson, Professor Stefan Rahmstorf of Potsdam University, and comments from UK Science Climate Science Adviser Kate Fearnyough and ICCI Director Pam Pearson; with beginning moderation by Advisor to the Minister Jóna þórey Pétursdóttir.
AMOC Event: From Fire and Floods to AMOC Shutdown
We very much regret this sudden end to the COP30 Cryosphere Pavilion! but most importantly, aside from some impacted by smoke inhalation, no one was seriously injured in the fire or subsequent evacuation. Four events remained on the schedule, and we will record and post these on the ICCI YouTube page, as well as alert Capsule readers here when they are uploaded. In addition, some of the Week 1 onsite events could not be livestreamed due to lack of working internet; these also will be uploaded in coming days.
We want to thank all of our many Partner organizations as well as Pavilion sponsors; the governments of Ambition on Melting Ice (AMI) Co-chairs Chile and Iceland, with whom we shared this space; and our wonderful team of early career researcher volunteers; without all of whom the COP30 Cryosphere Pavilion would not have been possible! Despite sometimes difficult conditions — including two flooding events at the Pavilion, in addition to the fire — everyone remained committed to moving forward in support of cryosphere science and climate ambition both.
We’ll alert you here when all “missing” events are uploaded! This is the COP30 Cryosphere Pavilion team, saying “obrigado e até logo,” thank you and farewell, from Belém.
By Science Writing Intern Haily Landrigan, Global Outreach Director Amy Imdieke, and ICCI Director Pam Pearson.
Published Dec. 11, 2025 Updated Dec. 11, 2025 10:12 pm
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