22 November 2025
Climate Action Network International (CAN) welcomes the adoption of the #JustTransition mechanism as one of the strongest rights-based outcomes in the history of the UN climate negotiations. At the same time, CAN warns that #COP30 has produced weak outcomes in the very areas that are critical to ensuring justice for vulnerable and frontline communities. A dangerously weak outcome on Adaptation finance leaves little hope for impacted communities.
Further adding to this injustice, governments did not deliver a concrete global response plan to address the ambition gap, and only agreed to have further processes to address this gap including on a just, equitable and orderly transition away from #FossilFuels – while welcome, we need more than a process. We need implementation that includes #Finance to urgently address the root cause of the climate crisis.
The real faultline running through COP30 was the refusal of developed countries to agree to the provision of finance across all areas. Their blocking of commitments on #Adaptation finance, mitigation ambition, and the transition away from fossil fuels directly weakened the overall outcome. By once again failing to meet their climate-finance obligations – obligations grounded in historical responsibility – developed countries have undermined trust and fairness in the process and limited what this COP could have achieved.
A Breakthrough for Rights and Justice
The Just Transition mechanism stands as the major achievement of COP30 and for workers and communities across the world. More ambition on climate is possible if we put social justice at the heart. No COP decision has ever carried such ambitious and comprehensive language on rights and inclusion: human rights; labour rights; the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-decendants; and strong references to gender equality, women’s empowerment, education, youth development, and more.
This outcome did not happen by accident. This is the result of the hard fought struggles and collective power of trade unions, communities, social movements, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, and civil society over many years and especially escalating this year for an outcome at this COP.
The Just Transition mechanism, popularly known as the Belém Action Mechanism or BAM, by activists and chanted in the COP30 halls, also opens promising discussions on support for Just Transition pathways: a clear reference to additional, grant-based finance and recognition of the barriers that prevent Just Transition efforts.
A first victory in this process, this is by no means the end. Movements will remain active and determined to secure their seat at the table and ensure the agreed operationalisation of the mechanism by next year.
Adaptation: A Grim Outcome
In stark contrast to the Just Transition mechanism victory, the Adaptation outcome falls far short of what climate-vulnerable countries and communities urgently need – and expected from COP30.
The watering down of the obligations of developed countries to provide Adaptation finance, and pushing the time-lines to deliver the tripling of finance to 2035 is a betrayal of vulnerable and impacted people in the Global South and driven mainly by the EU and Japan. In addition, the absence of any reference to the Global Goal on Adaptation contributes to the weakness of this outcome on Adaptation.
Fossil Fuels: A Deep Disappointment
The final COP30 decision contains no mention of a just, equitable and fully-financed transition away from fossil fuels – an essential response to the ambition gap. Given that oil, coal and gas remain the root cause of climate breakdown, this omission represents a severe failure for COP30. However, the adoption of the Just Transition mechanism, which secures the interests of workers and communities in the energy transition, provides a pathway for countries to transition away from fossil fuels in a just, equitable and orderly manner, even if the political signal was lacking in the final decision.
Process Concerns: A Worrying Trend?
COPs must deliver concrete outcomes, not sink into cycles of dialogues, roadmaps, and reports. For this reason, CAN is concerned about the direction of recent COP processes.
COP29 in Baku was deeply challenging; Belém has not been much better. The growing presence of fossil fuel lobbyists and the persistent lack of transparency as negotiations increasingly take place behind closed doors, risks the erosion of trust in the process, already at low levels. The current trends are worrying and a review of the process and its governance is needed to ensure that the response to the global climate crisis meets the urgency and ambition needed.
Going forward, this process needs to be held accountable. Civil Society will hold governments to account at home and in these halls. Those governments who continue to hold back real progress will be called out. COP Presidencies have an important role to play in ensuring inclusivity, transparency and the meaningful participation of civil society.
Final Word
COP30 delivered a historic victory with the Just Transition mechanism – a breakthrough civil society, workers, and frontline communities fought for and won. But the broader Justice Package remains unfinished. Adaptation is weakened, and fossil fuel action is absent.
We will keep fighting.
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network International, said: “We came here to get the Belém Action Mechanism – for families, for workers, for communities. The adoption of a Just Transition mechanism was a win shaped by years of pressure from civil society. This outcome didn’t fall from the sky; it was carved out through struggle, persistence, and the moral clarity of those living on the frontlines of climate breakdown. Governments must now honour this Just Transition mechanism with real action. Anything less is a betrayal of people – and of the Paris promise.
“Civil society held steady at this COP – together with frontline countries and movements who refused to let justice be pushed aside, even as some developed countries dug in their heels and tried to block agreement.
“We will continue to fight for Adaptation – that is essential for protecting people by investing in their resilience to climate impacts, securing the resources they need to withstand rising risks, and ensuring no community is left exposed. Without Adaptation finance and a just, equitable, and fully funded plan to transition away from fossil fuels, governments are not confronting the root cause of the crisis. We have a win for justice from COP30, but we keep fighting.”
Anabella Rosemberg, Just Transition Lead, Climate Action Network International, said: “Workers and environmental activists are united! The creation of a Just Transition mechanism is a significant achievement for social justice and climate justice, the people and the planet. The Just Transition mechanism comes with the most progressive rights-based framing we have ever seen in a COP decision. For the first time, labour rights, human rights, the right to a clean environment, Free, Prior and Informed Consent, and the inclusion of marginalised groups are all recognised as core to achieving more ambitious climate action. This didn’t come from nowhere. Social movements mobilised, organised, and put real solutions on the table. This is our victory, carved out despite all odds.
“But a mechanism grounded in rights is only powerful if it delivers. A Just Transition is not a side-chapter of climate policy – it is the lens through which the entire implementation of the Paris Agreement must now be guided. Now that the mechanism exists, governments must fill it with ambition, finance, and cooperation. Workers and communities have waited long enough – and we will keep fighting to ensure this mechanism which is for the people reaches the people.”
Contact: media@climatenetwork.org
Quotes from Climate Action Network members
Mohamed Adow, Founding Director, Power Shift Africa, said: “COP30 kept the process alive — but process alone will not cool the planet. Roadmaps and workplans will mean nothing unless they now translate into real finance and real action for the countries bearing the brunt of the crisis.
“Despite calling themselves climate leaders, developed countries have betrayed vulnerable nations by both failing to deliver science-aligned national emission reduction plans and also blocked talks on finance to help poor countries adapt to climate change caused by the global north.
“Rich countries cannot make a genuine call for a roadmap if they continue to drive in the opposite direction themselves and refuse to pay up for the vehicles they stole from the rest of the convoy.”
Avantika Goswami, Programme Manager, Climate Change, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) India, said: “The outcome on just transition was a win for civil society and developing countries, while the adaptation finance goal remains vague. The collective strength of G77 and China was on display ensuring that these issues remain front and center. However the disruptive tactics that played out in Belem particularly by developed countries show that the COP process and Paris Agreement face a huge crisis of legitimacy. We have to ask who they serve and whether they continue to be fit for purpose.“
Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid International, said: “COP30 in Belém has gifted the world with a major legacy, a new mechanism on Just Transition. It’s a huge win for the workers, women, and civil society groups who came to COP pleading for a framework to ensure climate action also protects jobs and makes lives better. It can offer real support to countries so that they can better tackle knotty issues such as the transition away from fossil fuels. Amid growing economic insecurity and climate scepticism, this is exactly the signal needed to get the planet back on track to addressing this global crisis.
“This has been a really challenging COP to negotiate, however. A lack of climate finance is throwing a spanner in the works of climate progress. Global South countries are already carrying the costs of the climate crisis they have not caused, and desperately need support from rich countries if they are to take on any more commitments. Nowhere was this more stark than on the issue of fossil fuels, where specific text once again ended up unfunded and on the cutting room floor.”
Shailendra Yashwant, Senior Advisor, Climate Action Network South Asia, said: “The most alarming signal from COP30 is the failure to deliver credible progress on adaptation finance, the reduced numbers and extended deadlines are a glaring betrayal of the Glasgow promise and a dangerous blow to countries already on the frontlines. Wealthy nations continue to dodge responsibility, pushing loans over grants and refusing clear commitments for a fossil fuel phase-out, deepening the trust deficit. South Asia cannot survive on half-measures. We need urgent, grant-based, accessible finance that reaches communities now. Yet amid the setbacks, civil society’s persistence has secured one real step forward, the Belém Action Mechanism for a Just Transition, a hard-won gain worth building on.”
Sriram Madhusoodanan, Director of Climate Advocacy & Policy, U.S. Climate Action Network said: “Despite the absence of the United States at COP30, its mantle of obstruction was taken up by a host of Global North countries. Just as some governors of U.S. states at COP claimed to be climate champions while expanding fossil fuels back home, their Global North counterparts from the European Union and United Kingdom claimed to champion a transition away from fossil fuels, while failing abysmally to walk the talk at home and watering down their obligations on finance for adaptation in Belém. This moment calls for concrete action, not more empty rhetoric and flashy promises.”
Denise Cauchi, CEO, Climate Action Network Australia, said: “For too long, workers and communities have managed the transition away from fossil fuels with no formal support or plan. The new Just Transition package agreed at COP30 will unlock the resources they need to build thriving new economies and community-led adaptation and resilience.
“We celebrate the recognition of free, prior and informed consent and the rights of Indigenous Peoples embedded in the Just Transitions package.
“To establish credibility leading COP31 negotiations, Australia must focus on keeping the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 goal alive. Australia must engage with Brazil’s fossil fuel phase out roadmap and lead wealthy fossil fuel producers to phase out coal, oil and gas first, and deliver climate finance enabling transition for all.”
Erika Lennon, CIEL Senior Attorney, said: “The truth at COP30, dubbed the ‘COP of Truth,’ is that countries are failing their legal duties. The International Court of Justice confirmed that keeping the temperature rise to below 1.5 °C is a legal benchmark. It’s not a slogan or words on paper, but a necessity for billions, and failure is measured in lives. Without a commitment to a full and equitable fossil fuel phaseout and adequate public climate finance, this COP30 deal disregards the law. Petrostates and industry lobbyists use the consensus rule to block action and ambition. We now need to reform the UNFCCC so the global majority can act, starting with conflict of interest rules and allowing majority voting.”
Martina Bogado Duffner, Senior Climate Adviser, Save the Children, said: “We welcome the increased recognition of children in climate decisions, but the commitment to protect the climate system for present and future generations rings hollow without concrete action from Belem to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. We are incredibly disappointed by the lack of real progress on adaptation finance at COP30. This is completely at odds with an escalating climate crisis that threatens every single aspect of children’s lives from their health to their education.”
Claudio Angelo, head of International Policy, Observatório do Clima, said: “The awful geopolitics and the sheer material fatigue of the UNFCCC process have set us up for one more COP that has failed to address the causes of climate change, fossil fuels and deforestation. However, Belém must be judged by the huge political movement it set in march on a roadmap for fossil fuel phase-out. This began with the support of one country and now has more than 80. This conversation has become inevitable, and we must ride this wave now, beginning in April with the phase-out conference in Colombia.”
James Trinder, International Climate Policy Coordinator, Climate Action Network Europe, said: “We welcome the agreement on the Belem Action Mechanism – a long overdue home for Just Transition in the UNFCCC and a vital institution to accelerate climate action grounded in equity, solidarity, shared opportunity, and human rights. But the wider COP outcome was deeply disappointing: an untransparent process, injustice for impacted communities, injustice on finance provision, and a failure to reflect the real-world urgency by ending fossil fuels. We will be back – fighting for civic space, for accountability, and for the full implementation of the Paris Agreement. The BAM is a hard-won victory for people-centred climate action, but the struggle for a just and liveable future continues.”
Chiara Martinelli, Director at CAN Europe, said: “Delivering BAM was a major civil society win, it creates a coordinated institutional home to drive forward progress on the Just Transition. Beyond this success though, COP30 leaves us with a grim picture when it comes to the whole justice package we came here for. Adaptation was sidelined, and fossil fuels were erased from the outcome. Ten years after Paris, we expected courage. Instead, world leaders delivered the bare, bare minimum.
“The EU came to Belém speaking the language of leadership, but too often acted like a procrastinator, swooping in at the last minute with meek proposals. Europe cannot claim to defend multilateralism while playing tactical games that undermine trust and weaken ambition. The EU was not alone in blocking ambition, but the block created an easy hiding place for others.”
Demet Intepe, Adaptation and Resilience Expert at Practical Action, said: “COP30 delivered progress on adaptation but still falls short of what frontline communities deserve. The adoption of the GGA text means work on indicators can finally move forward with support from the Adaptation Committee and the LDC Expert Group.
“However, the absence of any reference to the GGA in the wider political outcome weakens the overall package. The commitment to triple adaptation finance by 2030 is the minimum needed, yet without baseline or predictable grant-based support this remains uncertain. A NAP decision and stronger gender language are welcome, and Practical Action stands ready to support locally grounded adaptation action.”
Salomé Lehtman, Advocacy Advisor at Mercy Corps and the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance says: ‘Ten years after Paris, COP30 should have delivered a justice package for communities suffering from the climate crisis. Instead, we got a hollow adaptation finance ‘commitment’ with no obligations for developed countries, no baseline, and delivery kicked to 2035. The European Union, alongside other rich countries, refused to put any money on the table, despite clear duties under the Paris agreement. This is a failure of climate justice. The outcome on adaptation finance is weak, and people’s lives are on the line. It is time governments are held accountable and deliver sufficient and quality adaptation finance, not more empty promises because communities cannot adapt to inaction.’
Susann Scherbarth, Head of Climate Justice, Friends of the Earth Germany: “The end of COP30 in Belém feels like a ship sailing into a storm and throwing away its compass. No outcome on the long-discussed roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels and no progress toward a fair, fully financed phase-out—a bitterly disappointing result. And yet there was finally momentum again to make the phase-out of fossil fuels a reality. Now it’s a clear free pass for the fossil fuel industry and a hard blow for those who suffer most from the climate crisis and a goodbye to the 1.5 pathway. Rich countries such as Germany or the EU must not continue to shirk their responsibilities at the expense of poorer ones.”
Susann Scherbarth, Leitung Internationale Klimapolitik, BUND e.V.: „Das Ende der COP30 in Belém wirkt, als würde ein Schiff in einen Sturm fahren und den Kompass wegwerfen. „Kein Hinweis auf den lange diskutierten Fahrplan zum Ausstieg aus den Fossilen und keinerlei Fortschritt hin zu einem fairen, finanzierten Ausstieg – ein bitter enttäuschendes Ergebnis. Dabei gab es endlich wieder Momentum, den Ausstieg der Fossilen zu konkretisieren. Nun ist es ein klarer Freifahrtschein für die fossile Industrie und ein harter Schlag für jene, die am stärksten unter der Klimakrise leiden. Es ist eine Verabschiedung vom 1,5 Grad-Pfad. Reiche Staaten wie die Deutschland oder die EU dürfen sich auch weiter nicht auf Kosten ärmerer aus der Verantwortung stehlen.“
Stephanny Ulivieri, Secretary General, Youth and Environment Europe, said: “We came with a clear goal: to ensure young people’s voices and lived experiences shape UNFCCC decision-making. We, the youth, who contributed least to the triple planetary crisis, are and will suffer the most. With allies worldwide, we pushed for a justice package centered on a just transition, science, and climate-justice-based decisions on adaptation, finance, and the ambition gap. Today, we leave Belém with bittersweet feelings. The decision to develop a Global Just Transition Mechanism, a major cross-constituency rights-based achievement, passed, but other negotiations saw no real progress. Fossil fuel ambition weakened, climate finance stagnated, and the ambition gap remains. Our fight continues. There’s no time to waste. Governments, especially in the Global North: we are watching.”
Rachel Cleetus, Senior Policy Director of Climate and Energy, Union of Concerned Scientists, said: “The barely adequate outcome salvaged in the final hours of COP30 keeps the Paris Agreement alive but exposes the monumental failures of rich countries—including the United States and European Union nations—to live up to their commitments. Despite many wealthy countries claiming to uphold the 1.5 C climate goal, their hypocrisy was on full display as they refused to follow through on necessary actions and funding to transform those words into reality. Adaptation finance was also lowballed and a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels did not make it into the text. People deserve much more from their leaders to confront the climate crisis and build a thriving clean energy economy.”
Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada, said: “For the first time at COP30, the world has committed to center justice for workers and communities in the UN climate talks. Our movements’ efforts have paid off: the Just Transition decision has the most ambitious language on rights and inclusion that we have ever seen at a COP, recognizing marginalized groups like women, youth and Afro-descendant people. It also calls for the respect and promotion of the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, including their self-determination and right to free, prior, and informed consent, affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. There’s a lot of work ahead to turn these principles into reality—but today, we celebrate this big step towards connecting climate action with people’s lives.
“The Just Transition decision shows us what’s possible—while the weak outcomes on finance, adaptation and implementing the transition away from fossil fuels shows that the world will continue to slip closer to disaster until rich countries like Canada live up to their responsibilities. The last two weeks have made it clear: Canada is entering an era of weakened presence on the global climate stage, and our allies are noticing.”
Matilde Angeltveit, senior climate policy adviser at Norwegian Church Aid, said: “This agreement fails to respond to the severity of the climate crisis. Climate-vulnerable people deserved a fast, fair, and fully funded phase-out of fossil fuels, paired with a major scaling-up of climate finance to the Global South. This COP did not deliver that. In Norwegian Church Aid we have worked with climate adaptation for many decades, and we know that the solutions exist. But the Global North is not stepping up to the challenge, and recognizing their historical responsibility to increase support. This needs to change, starting with national policies to increase ambition on a globally just transition.”
Barbara Rosen Jacobson, Senior Advocacy Advisor, Mercy Corps, said: “This year, we needed a strong and ambitious outcome on adaptation. This COP offered a critical chance to elevate adaptation for communities already facing escalating climate impacts. Unfortunately, the result falls short. While the outcome includes a commitment to triple adaptation finance, it lacks a defined baseline, does not clarify who will pay, and delays delivery to 2035; far too late for those on the frontlines. Still, throughout this COP, it became crystal clear that more and better-quality adaptation finance is needed, even if the outcome fails to reflect it. We must build on this and continue pressing governments for real, urgent action.”
Friederike Strub, Climate Finance Campaigner, Recourse, said: “The decision to develop a just transition mechanism is a crucial win for workers and communities and shows the power of civil society organising. But to make the just transition happen we need public finance backing, systemic economic reform, and a clear roadmap to end fossil fuels. Rich countries at COP30 have done everything in their power to dilute their financial obligations, refuse to pay their climate debts, and undermine the necessary deep structural changes to a climate and development finance architecture that has thus far failed to deliver justice. Global South countries cannot act on climate within a system of debt, tax and trade governance that is stacked against them and traps them in cycles of debt, dependency, austerity and extractivism. In response, rich countries have been peddling false finance solutions – from debt swaps to private finance for adaptation – and pushing unaccountable, undemocratic international financial institutions to the centre. Multilateral development banks’ failed “billions to trillions” agenda and community-bulldozing “green” infrastructure projects, together with the IMF forcing debt-burdened countries into climate denying pathways and greenwashed austerity, will not deliver a just transition. We need rights-based, gender-responsive, people-centred climate and development action, and a global finance architecture that enables this.”
Jean Su, Center for Biological Diversity’s Energy Justice Director, said: “It’s a big win to have the Belem Action Mechanism established with the strongest-ever COP language around Indigenous and worker rights and biodiversity protection. The BAM agreement is in stark contrast to this COP’s total flameout on implementing a funded and fair fossil fuel phaseout. Even without the Trump administration there to bully and cajole, petrostates again shut down meaningful progress on a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels with necessary funding for poorer countries. It’s critical that countries lock down some meaningful, funded game plan for a fossil fuel phaseout. In just a few years, we expect the U.S. to be back in these talks. We should have an agreement that binds the U.S. to provide funding and technology to poor countries in line with its role as the largest historical emitter.”
Ean Thomas Tafoya, Vice President, GreenLatinos, said: “And just like that, BAM, a victory for Just Transition. Communities arrived at COP30 demanding equity, protection, and inclusion, and we delivered the most ambitious just transition framework yet. The Belém Action Mechanism marks a historic step forward and proves that when communities speak and governments listen, victories follow.”
Francisco Ferreira, President, ZERO-Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável (Portugal) said: “Just transition stands as a historic win, the most ambitious rights-based language ever secured in a COP text. Yet this breakthrough sits alongside weakened adaptation ambition, lost finance commitments, and a troubling silence on fossil fuels. These gaps leave us on a 2.5ºC trajectory, underscoring how hard we must fight to defend real progress from those determined to delay it.”
Laura Restrepo Alameda, Advocacy officer, Climate Action Network Latin America: “We welcome the language and creation of a Mechanism for Just Transition and the recognition of rights at the heart of it. A big step in the right direction for people and communities. Yet we leave Belém facing a clear dilemma: a COP that speaks of justice but avoids mentioning Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, and a process that claims inclusiveness while keeping observers and civil society in the dark for days. This combination—political hesitation and procedural opacity—undermines trust and weakens the very foundations of the Convention. These two gaps only reinforce our resolve to continue the fight, not only at future COPs but across all UNFCCC bodies, demanding both transparency and real ambition.”
Madeleine Alisa Woerner, Global Energy and International Climate Policy Officer at Misereor said: “With temperatures rising at an unprecedented pace, the world needs a fossil detox more urgently than ever. At the 30th World Climate Conference, at least 80 parties — championed by countries like Colombia — committed to this goal, even though the final declaration collapsed under resistance from a small group of resource-dependent nations. While COP30 fell short of a decisive step toward a full ‘fossil withdrawal,’ it strengthened the coalition of the willing. The momentum, though not fully realized, helped push the fossil detox agenda forward, inspiring replication in other multilateral forums such as the G20 and upcoming climate conferences.”
Kumi Naidoo, President of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative: “The COP30 outcome fell far short of what the world needs in this time of multiple crises. The UNFCCC rules of procedure are clearly broken. We cannot afford to wait another year for another weak political signal while communities burn and drown. That’s precisely why Colombia and the Netherlands launched a parallel conference next April for those willing to tackle these issues head on and help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, including by discussing pathways to a Fossil Fuel Treaty. The Treaty proposal is the highest-ambition roadmap available – one that centres justice, equity, finance and urgency. Any nation serious about upholding the 1.5°C limit and supporting a just transition away from fossil fuels should join this courageous group.”
Amiera Sawas, Head of Policy and Research of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, and Co-Chair of the Civil Society Working Group on the Just Transition Work Programme, said: “We welcome the fact that parties heard what communities, Indigenous peoples, women, workers were calling for to bring justice into the heart of this process. Our collective efforts were integral to developing and campaigning for the proposal and its components. The Just Transition mechanism is a step in the right direction to help achieve equity and justice, which is what countries actually need in order to phase out fossil fuels. However, we cannot sugarcoat the reality: global emissions and fossil fuel infrastructure are heading in the wrong direction, and this COP has done little to stop them.”
Denise Abdul-Rahman, CEO & FounderBlack Sun Light Sustainability, an Indiana project fiscally sponsored by Movement Strategy Center said: “Our state of Indiana is blanketed with fossil fuel refineries, power polluting plants, and now we are an AI data center ally, which is operating as a means to prop up false solutions. Indiana is the home of false solutions from geotechnology, like Carbon capture sequestration, Small modular reactors and Hydrogen hubs.
“We are here as a microcosm of Black Lives impacted by climate emergency, rising heat and rising electric energy costs. Our lives are most vulnerable with the lack of resilience infrastructure and high energy burden due to old housing stock. This is true of our Black Lives in Indiana and systemically across the Global Black Diaspora.
“This COP is most disappointing because my developed nation of the USA was not a committed and dedicated member of the COP 30 negotiations, People of African Descent are not acknowledged, and this COP 30 has a high number of fossil fuel lobbyists.”
Gaïa Febvre, Head of International Policy, Climate Action Network France, said: “For two weeks, we spoke of a ‘COP of truth’. And the truth is not a pleasant one: multilateralism is in distress, and the diplomacy conducted largely behind closed doors has not helped rebuild trust in the COP process. We needed more transparency, but also more honesty.
“Along with other developed countries, the European Union held the finance outcomes hostage until the very last moment, which, after numerous betrayals, did nothing to restore its credibility or strengthen its relationships with vulnerable countries. The disruptive tactics of several groups and of the Presidency weighed heavily on the process. Despite all these obstacles, a new mechanism on Just Transition has been agreed. This is a major victory for workers, young people, women, and all the civil society organisations who came to the COP demanding a framework that ensures climate action also protects jobs and improves people’s lives.
“Let us never forget that those who always pay the price of these blockages are the people and the most vulnerable.”
Fenton Lutunatabua, Pacific Team Lead at 350.org, said: “With the Belem Action Mechanism, we‘re seeing progress. But without a transition away from fossil fuels, we’re stagnating at a time when our islands can’t afford even a small amount of delay. The COP30 statement does not mention a plan to end fossil fuels, nor does it allocate sufficient finance for frontline communities, and that casts a shadow over our time here in Belém. We need to address the obvious cause of the climate crisis and make sure everyday people are able to survive it. The closing window on 1.5℃ means we’re walking a fine line here between survival and climate catastrophe.”
Ilan Zugman, 350.org Latin America and Caribbean Director, said: “In Belém, Indigenous peoples, traditional communities and frontline leaders made the message clear: real climate action means ending fossil fuels and delivering the finance figure that communities need to survive. The lack of concrete commitments in the final text of COP30 shows us who is still benefiting from the delay: the fossil fuel industry and the ultra-rich, not those living the climate crisis every day. Yet the courage on the streets of Belém and the world has ignited global momentum: what began as a single country, Brazil, calling for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels has grown into a coalition of almost 90 countries pushing for it. The momentum is now unstoppable, starting with the fossil fuel phase-out conference in Colombia next April.”
Sinéad Loughran, Climate Justice Policy & Advocacy Advisor, Trócaire, said: “COP30’s outcome fails to even acknowledge the stark and devastating neglect of rich, historically-high polluting states to deliver on their loss and damage finance obligations. The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage remains critically underfunded, resulting in a denial of basic human rights. Communities are facing droughts, floods and other extreme weather events, causing loss of homes, lives and livelihoods, and are owed remedy for this harm. As long as big polluters, states and corporations alike, fail to deliver adequate climate action including a fair and funded fossil fuel phase out, communities will continue to experience escalating losses and damages.”
Rachel Simon, International finance Policy Coordinator at CAN Europe said: “Along with developed countries, the EU held finance outcomes to ransom until the last moment, which has hugely damaged its credibility and relationships with climate vulnerable countries. The new at least tripling adaptation finance target may sound significant, but it’s riddled with weaknesses.
“As the International Court of Justice’s recent Advisory Opinion sets out, finance provision to support developing countries to achieve Paris Agreement goals is a legal obligation for developed countries. The EU needs to set out a path forward to dramatically scale up adaptation finance – so sorely needed by countries in the Global South and to support global stability – focusing on grants, access and contributions to the UNFCCC climate funds.”
Dr. Katie Huffling, Executive Director, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, said: “For far too long climate negotiations have failed to deliver what the scale of the climate crisis requires – an end to our dependence on fossil fuels. Nurses came into this COP with a strong call to move from discussions to agreement on a roadmap for implementation and adequate finance to support a phase out of fossil fuels – centering health and grounded in equity and justice. While nurses applaud the launch of the Belém Health Action Plan, without adequate means of implementation and climate finance, it will remain solely a commitment. Nurses will continue to push global leaders to deliver action that provides the health protections our communities and future generations deserve.”
Louise Hutchins, Convenor, Make Polluters Pay, said: “The climate arsonists – the fossil fuel giants – were finally in the crosshairs at COP30. And that genie isn’t going back in the bottle. Over 80 governments are now backing a global phase-out of oil, gas and coal. President Lula has vowed to keep pushing, and an April summit led by Colombia and the Netherlands will ramp up pressure for a fair, cooperative transition.
“But real climate progress remains out of reach until richer nations put money on the table – and until oil companies and the wealthy finally pay up. The political space is open. Now we must turn it into a real fire escape to a safer world.”
Kelly Dent, Director of External Engagement, World Animal Protection, said: “The ‘COP of truth’ turned its back on the climate destruction and suffering caused by industrial animal agriculture. Big agribusiness won at COP30, while wildlife and farmed animals were reduced to commodities and excluded from any climate action. For a COP hosted in the Amazon, it’s devastating that deforestation took a back seat. Wildlife, indigenous people and traditional communities who call the forest home deserved far better. The UNFCCC must act decisively to curb the influence of ‘big ag’ and tackle emissions from food systems if it hopes to salvage credibility ahead of COP31 in Türkiye.”
Nakfote Dabi, Climate Policy Lead, Oxfam International, said: “COP30 delivered both a spark of hope and a heavy dose of heartbreak. The creation of a just transition mechanism is a genuine breakthrough — if done right, it can ensure no country and no worker is left behind as the world moves away from fossil fuels. If delivered with ambition, it has the potential to build a better future for all.
“But celebrations are muted as rich countries have once again strangled the lifeline of climate action: finance. Without finance, climate commitments are nothing more than a mirage and Global South countries cannot meaningfully cut emissions or protect their communities from the worst climate impacts. COP30 cannot claim success while the world’s most climate-vulnerable are left to weather the crisis alone.”
Marlene Achoki, Global Climate Justice Policy and Advocacy Lead, CARE International, said: “This outcome is a failure — and failure to act is negligence. Communities are already living the climate crisis, and millions are paying the price. Adaptation is essential to protect lives and safeguard economies, yet at a COP30 billed as the ‘COP of Truth,’ outcomes fall far short. There is no clarity on how much money is channelled to adaptation, where it will come from, its quality, or how progress will be measured. Without adequate, public, grant-based finance and ambition, climate change will keep multiplying poverty and deepening inequality, especially for women and girls fighting daily for safety and dignity.”
Mariana Paoli, Global Advocacy Lead at Christian Aid, said: “Brazil said this would be the ‘COP of truth’ – but the truth is, this was a disappointing outcome with only mild gains made in tackling the climate crisis. The elephant in the room was the lack of finance from rich countries to fund the energy transition away from fossil fuels and help vulnerable communities adapt to a climate crisis they have done nothing to create.
“If rich nations had been willing to meet their finance obligations, a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels would have been on the cards. But without the money that became an impossible task.
“While there was a positive outcome at COP31 in the form of the Just Transition Action Mechanism to ensure the global shift from dirty to clean energy doesn’t hurt workers in the fossil fuel industry, meaningful outcomes on helping vulnerable countries adapt to climate change were missing.
“Overall it feels like this year’s summit was a missed opportunity for a COP taking place in the Amazon to step up to meet the climate challenge head on. Without a better vision for what is required, poor and vulnerable people will continue to suffer from a problem they didn’t create.”
Tracy Carty, Climate Politics Expert, Greenpeace International said: “At a moment when the world needs bold urgent action on emissions, this COP30 outcome feels like we’re treading water in a rip tide. These negotiations were derailed by inadequate climate finance, weak leadership from G20 nations – particularly developed ones – and the heavy hand of fossil fuel interests. The fossil fuel industry managed to dodge a phase out roadmap, but COP30 saw more countries than ever back it, and made clear that the momentum and pressure is rising. And after two weeks of fierce negotiations and calls for a robust adaptation finance goal to deal with escalating climate impacts, developed countries only agreed to a pathetically weak target.”
Erica Martinelli, COP30 Coordinator, Generation Climate Europe (GCE), said: “COP30 was presented as the COP of implementation, yet its outcome falls short of 1.5°C science and states’ legal obligations under the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion. It advanced justice by calling for a just transition mechanism grounded in human rights, but it failed to deliver a time-bound fossil fuel phase-out roadmap and increased grant-based public finance. As this COP showed, ambition is sidelined when fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber vulnerable communities. With tipping points approaching and lives at risk, we demand greater ambition, real finance, and a time-bound fossil fuel phase-out to keep 1.5°C alive.”
Ann Harrison, Climate Justice Advisor, Amnesty International, said: “All eyes will now be on COP31. Türkiye and Australia who are sharing presidency duties must demonstrate climate leadership by taking decisive and transparent actions to tackle climate change in line with their international obligations, as well as facilitating meaningful COP outcomes that actually deliver a full, fast, fair and funded fossil fuel phase out, and delivery of support for adaptation. The two countries must also ensure an inclusive and accessible COP where the rights of all are protected and respected before, during and after the conference. The lived experiences and solutions of Indigenous Peoples, affected communities, women, children and youth, people of African descent, people living with disabilities and workers must be central to moving forward to achieving climate justice at the scale and pace needed. Australia must deliver on its commitment to work closely with Pacific nations, who continue to face the most immediate and existential threats posed by the climate crisis, to ensure their needs and priorities are no longer ignored.”
David Knecht, Program Manager Climate Justice, Fastenaktion Switzerland, said: “Climate action must be people centered. It is good to see that COP30 brought us a step closer to a just transition mechanism. We have to celebrate this! At the same time, countries were unable to address the glaring gap in ambition and implementation of the Paris Agreement. COP30 does not deliver a plan on how countries will concretely work towards more climate action, socially just and funded climate action. This is a lost opportunity. We need the COP30 and COP31 Presidencies to focus and to deliver an actionable response plan.”
Alexandra Azevedo, Head of National Board of Directors, Quercus, said:“The world hopes for a fair and fast phase-out of fossil fuels, shown by science to provide the best economic gains while also protecting our lives and planet. Yet, growing numbers of fossil-fuel lobbyists are working from within to slow this progress and developing countries have taken on heavy debt to support global climate efforts without enough help from the richest economies. Still, civil society’s presence at COP continues to rise and this year’s decision demonstrates that by having included the strongest language yet on human rights, labour, gender, youth, education, ecosystems, and biodiversity.
“Colombia and the UN had key roles in presenting and supporting respectively the urgent need for a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels and to tackle climate misinformation. We entered with giant steps and left with baby ones but progress remains. Next time we shall make longer strides.”
Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy lead at Oil Change International, said: “The rich polluting countries that caused this crisis have blocked the breakthrough that we need. Amidst this flawed outcome, there are glimmers of real progress. The Belém Action Mechanism is a major win made possible by movements and Global South countries that puts people’s needs and rights at the center of climate action. The EU, UK, Australia and other wealthy nations are to blame for COP’s failure to adopt a roadmap on fossil fuels by refusing to commit to phase out first or put any public money on the table for the crisis they have caused. We didn’t win the full justice outcome we needed in Belém, but we have new arenas to keep fighting. We look forward to Colombia’s first international conference on fossil fuel phase out to rally more countries behind this push that science, equity, and international law demand.”
Felix Finkbeiner, Founder of Plant-for-the-Planet, said: “Brazil’s proposal to establish binding roadmaps for phasing out fossil fuels and ending deforestation could have created a powerful and enforceable international process capable of driving real global progress. Instead, the final COP30 decision introduces only a voluntary ‘Global Implementation Accelerator’, which merely supports existing national plans and echoes earlier commitments, including the goal of ending deforestation by 2030. This watered-down compromise lacks clear obligations, timelines, and accountability, making meaningful impact unlikely. The official process failed to deliver anything meaningful on deforestation. The only reason any progress was made on deforestation at COP30, were voluntary efforts (TFFF, Congo Basin Pledge, and the Forest and Land Tenure Pledge).”
Marie Cosquer, Advocacy analyst on food systems & climate crisis, Action against Hunger, said: “Although agriculture is not mentioned in the Mutirao text, smallholder farmers, rural economies and food production are recognised in the context of the Just Transition. Together with the agreement of the BAM, this is a major step towards justice for small-scale food producers who are on the front line of the climate crisis. What is missing for climate justice at the heart of the COP30 outcome, is significant public finance for the adaptation of those most affected. Only 1.5% of public climate finance is currently dedicated to agroecology or sustainable food systems, although this is the way forward to realise the right to food for all, including for future generations.
Amanda Cahill, Founder, The Next Economy, said: “A mechanism to ensure all countries have access to the resources and expertise they need to operationalise their national climate plans and decarbonise the global economy in a just and inclusive way is the missing piece that translates ambition into action.”
Avril De Torres, Deputy Executive Director, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), PHilippines, said: “Historical polluters are still blocking progress in ending the era of fossil fuels by refusing to pay up their climate debt to the Global South on all fronts. While we welcome the acknowledgement of the interlinked crises of climate and biodiversity and inclusion of a critical new mechanism on a just transition, these are gravely undermined by a failure to stop destruction from coal, gas, and oil. The greatest win out of Belem comes from communities who stood up for their people, and from Global Southern leaders who called for a fossil-free future beyond official texts. We have hope for an era of real action and accountability even outside of the COPs. We simply cannot wait while our peoples drown and the world burns.”
Mamadou Ndong Toure, Thematic lead for Climate and Resilience, Practical Action in Senegal, said: “We welcome the launch of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, an important step for communities on the front-line of the climate crisis. But this cannot distract from how weak the adaptation package has become: the pledge to triple adaptation finance has been reduced to a doubling, the timeline pushed from 2030 to 2035, and grants-based support removed.
“In Senegal and across the Global South, where farmers are already coping with unpredictable rains, rising temperatures and declining yields, these decisions have real consequences. Communities cannot strengthen their crops, water systems or early-warning capacities without predictable support. Adaptation cannot be built on shrinking commitments; people need clarity, reliability and the means to act.”
Camial Mercure, Climate Policy Coordinator, Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN), said: “From Belém, we celebrate a historic win: the Belem Action Mechanism finally anchors rights, equity, and community voices at the heart of climate action. For Latin America, this recognition matters; transitions must be people-centred and protect our territories. But the truth is unavoidable: without a clear commitment to transitioning away from fossil fuels and without acknowledging the social and environmental risks of new energy supply chains, justice remains incomplete. Our communities cannot face another extractive cycle disguised as climate action. We leave Belém with progress, but also with a renewed determination to secure the full justice agenda.”
Colette Pichon Battle, Esq., Vision and Initiatives Partner at Taproot Earth said: “COP30 delivered language on rights through the Belém Action Mechanism, but we know there’s work to do and frontline communities continue to have the solutions. Our communities in the Gulf South and Appalachia bear the burden of the excessive fossil fuel industries, and 20 years after Hurricane Katrina, we know the cost of delay. True progress demands bold climate finance solutions that move us toward Global Climate Reparations for the frontlines. We will continue to stand with Black, Indigenous and all frontline communities who protect the land and still face the greatest exclusion. While the US government did not show, the people did, and the people will continue to implement and show the way forward.”
Isa Mulder, global carbon market expert, Carbon Market Watch, said: “A bad outcome for Article 6, which would have further weakened the already inadequate rulebook, was mostly avoided at COP30 – despite concerning efforts from some countries and market players to prioritise commercial viability over integrity. Nevertheless, the Article 6 framework remains ill-suited as a tool for meaningful climate action, which is made worse by the decision to extend the window for CDM-quality credits to flood the market.”
Johannes Wahlmüller, Climate and Energy Campaigner, GLOBAL 2000/Friends of the Earth Austria, said: “Belém has produced a lot of hot air, but little real progress. The climate plans presented by the states are completely inadequate, and there is still no clear plan for phasing out fossil fuels. On the other hand, global progress in the energy transition gives cause for hope. Eighty states, including Austria, called for a phase-out of fossil fuels in Belém. They can start implementing this in their countries immediately and thus provide the right response to the climate crisis.”
In German: „Belém hat viel heiße Luft, aber wenig echten Fortschritt produziert. Die von den Staaten vorgelegten Klimapläne sind völlig unzureichend und ein klarer Ausstiegsplan aus fossilen Energien fehlt weiterhin. Hoffnung machen dagegen die weltweiten Fortschritte bei der Energiewende. 80 Staaten, darunter Österreich, haben den Fossil-Ausstieg in Belém eingefordert. Sie können sofort beginnen diesen in ihren Ländern umzusetzen und damit die richtige Antwort auf die Klimakrise geben.”
Harjeet Singh, Founding Director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, said: “We leave Belém with a historic victory for people power, but a devastating failure of political will from the Global North to deliver climate ambition and finance. We celebrate the decision to develop the Just Transition mechanism and the announcement of a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels as a win for workers and communities. But without a concrete commitment to robust public funding, the transition to a greener future remains a mirage.
“With the U.S. absent, the European Union had a chance to lead; instead, they stepped into the vacuum as the primary obstructionist, playing a cynical blame game while the planet burns. We have the architecture to address the crisis, but by withholding the finance to power it, rich nations are setting the Global South up to fight an inferno with a water pistol. This is a betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable.”
Raj Patel, IPES-Food panel expert and professor at the University of Texas said: “Food systems – which governments claimed were central to climate action – have been erased from these negotiations. Not by accident. Industrial agriculture holds extraordinary power over this process, and it shows. Two years ago, 160 countries signed a Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture with great ceremony. Today they cannot bring themselves to mention the word ‘food’ in the Muritão decision.
“This is not failure. This is capture. And until we name it for what it is – until governments choose people over corporate interests – these negotiations will continue to betray the very communities they claim to serve.”
Elisabetta Recine, IPES-Food panel expert, and president of the Brazilian National Food and Nutrition Security Council (Consea) said: “Food solutions were on display everywhere around COP30 – from the 80 tonnes of local and agroecological meals served, to concrete proposals for tackling hunger – but none of this made it into the negotiating rooms or the final agreement. Despite all the talk, negotiators failed to act, and the lived realities of people most affected by hunger, poverty, and climate shocks went unheard.”
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead and COP20 President, said: “As COP30 ends, the reality is clear: bold titles and grand promises have not translated into meaningful action. The ‘COP of Truth’ produced no roadmap, only a weak document shaped by forces resisting ambition. Hope was promised but not delivered; fossil fuels remain unaddressed, and political will is absent. Countries are failing science, people, and Paris commitments. Yet civil society and frontline communities show that change is possible. Empty gestures must end—the world needs concrete, implementable action now. With determination and unity, we can still turn the tide and keep hope alive for a safer, more resilient future.”
Fernanda de Carvalho, WWF Global Climate and Energy Policy Head, said: “COP30 delivered some positive news, particularly through the renewed Action Agenda and the innovations created for broader engagement, such as the Global Ethical Stocktake and other circles. The COP30 Presidency came to Belém with three aims: reinforcing multilateralism, connecting adaptation to people’s lives and accelerating implementation. We got a just transition mechanism that connects to the second aim, and this is important. But there are no significant advances on adaptation and that is a lifeline for the most vulnerable countries. Finance as an enabling condition was also absent in texts. To claim that multilateralism was reinforced we would need the roadmaps on transitioning away from fossil fuels and halting and reversing deforestation. The Presidency announced such roadmaps as presidential initiatives, which generates significant momentum. However, we can’t say that the direction of travel that was set by the global stocktake in 2023 has been set yet. It is a sombre celebration of 10 years of the Paris Agreement.”
