Don’t Panic : The First Issue

This special magazine is a guide for climate activists — and for anyone feeling anxious in the face of the climate crisis.

Published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation East Asia Office, the team behind The Brazilian Amazon Atlas, Don’t Panic connects Belém, Brazil — the host city of COP30 — with Korea and Japan through a rich tapestry of stories.

Featuring contributions from over ten artists and writers, Don’t Panic brings together diverse perspectives from Japan and Korea, weaving connections between the climate crisis, international negotiations, and the city of Belém. Each piece offers a fresh lens and a moment of calm reflection in turbulent times.

A magazine to listen, feel, and connect — calmly, yet urgently — at this pivotal moment.
Download and explore Don’t Panic now.

Interview with the Planner

Kunwoo Ro, Project Manager Ecology of Heinrich Boell Foundation East Asia Office

Q. Could you briefly explain what COP is?
 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established after the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, where countries promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent climate change. Since then, representatives from all over the world have met every year to check whether those promises are being kept — it’s like a global team project review. These meetings discuss issues such as national emission reduction targets, progress evaluations, and financial support mechanisms.

Q. What inspired you to create this magazine in time for COP30?
 I first attended the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) in 2018, held in Poland. At the time, I was studying in Germany, and with a few friends, I carpooled for hours to reach Katowice, a city once at the heart of the coal industry. I wanted to spend a week on the frontline of climate negotiations — to understand the real progress being made and find some grounds for optimism. But on the way back, all I felt was helplessness. The venue was hierarchically divided, and the most critical decisions were being made in rooms we couldn’t access. There were countless people and organizations, but it was difficult to follow the flow or even sense any real change.

Q. So that feeling of helplessness became the starting point for this project?
 Yes. But in hindsight, I think there was no need to be entirely pessimistic. Like any international negotiation, COP is a space where progress in one area is often accompanied by unresolved challenges in another. It’s the “ordinary” rhythm of global diplomacy. I was just too quick to despair.
This year, once again, hundreds of government negotiators, industry representatives, and civil society activists from Korea and Japan will travel to Belém, Brazil. But because each group has very different interests and the climate agenda has become so fragmented, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. If we don’t prepare to engage with agendas beyond our immediate fields or national interests, we may end up feeling the same kind of helplessness I once did.

Q. Then is this magazine intended for activists attending COP for the first time?
 Not exactly — it’s for all of us affected by the climate crisis. For most people, COP is the one time of year — every November — when climate issues are even slightly more visible in the media. I thought it would be valuable to provide a good curation for citizens who want to go beyond the headlines and understand the broader context of these discussions.
I wanted to create a medium that helps readers find a balance between pessimism and optimism — the very place where I once stumbled. Don’t Panic is meant to be a kind of “guidebook” for everyone doing their part in responding to the climate crisis. For policymakers, it offers the perspectives of civil society; for activists, it provides the context of negotiations; and for citizens who won’t set foot in the conference hall, it offers a wider view of the diverse positions and issues at stake.

Q. Why did you plan it as a Korea–Japan joint project?
 Korea and Japan are both advanced industrial economies and rank among the world’s top ten carbon emitters. That means both countries have a significant historical responsibility and capacity for climate action — and also many shared challenges. Yet there have been very few opportunities for the two to engage in joint climate discussions.
Today, leadership from the U.S. and Europe — once the driving forces of climate diplomacy — is increasingly uncertain. That’s why this is the right moment for East Asian countries and civil societies to take responsibility, build solidarity, and play a new role together. This magazine is an experiment in that direction — two neighboring yet distant countries looking at the same global issues, in each other’s languages.

Q. Lastly, is there a message you’d like to share with the readers?
 International conferences like COP may seem distant — and this year, it really will be happening on the other side of the planet — but their outcomes are closely tied to our daily lives, from weather to the price of goods. Don’t Panic is also a phrase I repeat to myself as I live through the climate crisis. Let’s try to find balance between easy pessimism and lazy optimism, and imagine the future not in black and white, but as a spectrum — like a rainbow.
I hope we can all stay calm in our own ways — and keep moving forward, together.