BY AKITUNDE AKINYEMI OLUWASEUN
As the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came to a close on Saturday, November 22, 2025, observers contend that the global summit ended with new promises but no plan to deliver fossil fuel phase-out, and that adaptation finance is still inadequate.
They point out that, at COP30, the world received another set of new words and promises, but still no plan to deliver on what science demands, communities need and what countries have already agreed upon during previous negotiations.
The outcome, they say, contains positive elements regarding the climate justice that communities have long fought for, including guidelines for a just and orderly transition to renewable energy with the establishment of the Belem Action Mechanism (BAM), including strong language on Indigenous rights.
They stress that 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.
“This is an important signal that multilateralism can deliver – but a time-bound plan to wind down coal, oil, and gas is also urgently needed.”
They lament that, once again, countries leave with pledges on paper instead of the clear pathways, timelines, and funding required to get there and protect communities impacted by the climate crisis today; whilst rich countries avoided concrete commitments and refused to end their dependence on fossil fuels.
The activists welcome the adoption of the Just Transition mechanism as one of the strongest rights-based outcomes in the history of the UN climate negotiations but warn 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, they say, 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 fossil fuels – while welcome, we need more than a process.
“We need implementation that includes finance to urgently address the root cause of the climate crisis,” they submit.
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, Activists are 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.
Finance: When It’s Time to Pay Up, Ambition Disappears
Despite soaring rhetoric, wealthy countries failed to provide clarity on adaptation finance, the most urgent lifeline for communities already facing climate impacts. There is still no figure, no baseline, no guarantee of public finance, and now the timeline has been pushed back to 2035, making the balanced finance goal adopted last year even harder to achieve.
Frontline communities, including Indigenous and traditional peoples, are also and once again left waiting for direct access to finance while the EU, Japan, and Canada stalled progress. The EU in particular positioned itself as a climate leader while refusing to deliver on adaptation finance and even threatening to walk out when asked to do its fair share.
People Power and Global Momentum: The Bright Spot of COP30
Outside the negotiating rooms, Indigenous peoples, traditional communities and youth made themselves impossible to ignore. Their leadership was one of the strongest forces at COP30. They showed what real climate leadership looks like.
Momentum for a fossil fuel phase-out is also accelerating rapidly. What began with Brazil calling for a roadmap has grown into support from almost 90 countries, backed by civil society and business leaders.
Now that this coalition exists, the next step must be turning momentum into a plan. The Colombia fossil fuel phase-out conference in April and the Colombia-Netherlands-Brazil process must deliver the substance, benchmarks, and institutional backing needed to shape a credible global phase-out roadmap.
Ilan Zugman, Director for Latin America and Caribbean, 350.org: “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.”
Andreas Sieber, Associate Director Policy and Campaigns, 350.org: “Belém didn’t stumble. COP30 was steered into a shortfall. President Lula and Minister Marina Silva showed real leadership on confronting fossil fuels. But the Presidency negotiating team retreated behind closed doors, smothering the multilateral spirit needed for higher ambition, while wealthy countries refused to put real finance on the table.
“Yet momentum was unmistakable: nearly 90 countries demanded a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, and the Just Transition Mechanism proved multilateralism can still deliver. Those roadmaps now need institutional backing. Brazil must work transparently with Colombia and Pacific hosts ahead of Pre-COP to turn momentum into substance. The world was ready to turn the page on fossil fuels; a few parties were not.”
Fanny Petitbon, France Team Lead at 350.org: “In Belém, rich nations showed their unbearable hypocrisy: demanding ambition from those least responsible for the climate emergency, while systematically refusing to pay up their historical climate debt. The commitment to triple adaptation finance is weak, vague, and tragically late. When cyclones and droughts strike now, a 2035 deadline is a cruel joke.
“Self-proclaimed climate leaders like the EU, Japan, and Canada failed to adequately deliver for those already suffering, proving their leadership is hollow. In the meantime, they continue to pour billions of dollars into fossil fuel subsidies and to protect the privilege and interests of climate wreckers – the fossil fuel industries and the super-rich – by refusing to tax them to fund urgent climate action, despite strong public support.”
Fenton Lutunatabua, Pacific Team Lead at 350.org: “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 that 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”.
Masayoshi Iyoda, Japan Campaigner at 350.org: “COP30 in Belem is yet more proof that Japan fails to contribute to achieving the Paris 1.5 goal and protect Japanese people from the risk of climate disasters and the social and economic loss caused by addiction to fossil fuels. Japan did not play a role in supporting the transition away from fossils but instead offered up greenwashing technologies and false solutions. Japan must immediately start increasing its climate finance support for adaptation, loss and damage, and tripling renewables.
“A lack of ambition in Japanese climate policies is shown in Belem again and with the new coal-fired power plant project, GENESIS Matsushima, they are travelling in the wrong direction. A just roadmap of transitioning away from fossil fuels is what we need to respond to the science – not more investment in the most polluting industries.”
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.”
Mohamed Adow, Director, Power Shift Africa, said: “With an increasingly fractured geopolitical backdrop, COP30 gave us some baby steps in the right direction, but considering the scale of the climate crisis, it has failed to rise to the occasion. Among the green shoots to emerge was the creation of a Just Transition Action Mechanism – a recognition that the global move away from fossil fuels will not abandon workers and frontline communities.
“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. Belém restored some integrity to the Global Goal on Adaptation, removing dangerous indicators that would have penalised poorer countries simply for being poor.
“The slow pace of finance negotiations is worrying. The promise to triple adaptation lacks clarity on a base year and has now been delayed to 2035, leaving vulnerable countries without support to match the escalating needs frontline communities are facing. As it stands, this outcome does nothing to narrow the adaptation finance gap. COP30 was supposed to have a big focus on raising funds to help vulnerable nations adapt to climate change. But European nations have undermined these talks and stripped away the protections poor countries were seeking in Belem.
“Europe, which colonised much of the global south, and then imperiled it further through its industrialised carbon emissions, now works against even efforts to help it adapt to the climate crisis. Even though COP30 didn’t achieve what we hoped, the very fact that fossil fuels, trade and the needs of the vulnerable are on the agenda is welcome. These are urgent, real-world issues that will not go away until action is taken.”