![\"Global](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Peoples_COP_banner_mural.width-800.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe high ambition articulated by the Brazilian COP Presidency at COP30\u2019s opening had notably faded by the end of the second week, reflecting the sobering realities of consensus-based decision-making<\/p>\n
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Global Witness staff and partners hold a banner saying ‘People in, polluters out’ at the Cop do Povo in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n
Over 190 countries \u2013 with the notable exception of the US \u2013 convened in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, to advance the Paris Agreement. COP30 ultimately adopted the Mutir\u00e3o Decision<\/a> (a term used by the Presidency to signify a collective, community-driven effort in Brazilian Portuguese), along with 28 additional decisions.<\/p>\n If anyone was in any doubt about the summit\u2019s urgency, the elements will have provided a sobering reminder. Over two weeks, attendees reckoned with sweltering heat, torrential downpours and a dramatic fire (which symbolically underlined the climate destruction wrought by Hurricane Melissa only weeks before when it made landfall in Jamaica).<\/p>\n Yet, thanks to the influence of major polluters and petrostates, the Mutir\u00e3o Decision still falls far short of what is needed to reverse the climate emergency. It does not reference \u201cfossil fuels,\u201d nor does it deliver the required ambition on forest protection.<\/p>\n There were, however, important advances on other fronts, including tripling adaptation finance and agreeing to mobilise $1.3 trillion a year for climate action by 2035.<\/p>\n Historic gains were also made for human rights, with the rights of land and environmental defenders and Indigenous Peoples expressly recognised in multiple documents.<\/p>\n Outside the Green Zone at COP30, Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n COP30 remained a space of profound contradiction. The summit was heavily attended by agribusiness and fossil fuel lobbyists, yet it also showcased extraordinary leadership from Indigenous and community leaders around the world.<\/p>\n COP has been repeatedly obstructed by a coalition of nations with strong ties to oil and gas (reportedly led by Saudia Arabia, Russia and India), revealing the limits of consensus-driven negotiations. There is now growing global interest in accelerating climate action outside the formal COP process.<\/p>\n To break the stalemate at the end of the summit, the Brazilian Presidency announced two voluntary \u201croadmap\u201d initiatives \u2013 one on deforestation and another on transitioning away from fossil fuels. Their impact will depend on whether they can catalyse genuine, urgent climate action.<\/p>\n It is an unsatisfying result for what was branded the \u201cimplementation COP\u201d, with much action amounting once again to kicking the can down the road. But the mass mobilisation of civil society and defenders is one positive signal. We remain hopeful that climate solutions grounded in human rights, justice and equity will accelerate.<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s dive into the outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n While fossil fuel lobbyists were in COP30’s negotiating zones, protestors outside held a “funeral” for polluting industries. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n Knock-backs to the fossil fuel phaseout<\/p>\n Following last year\u2019s capitulation<\/a> to some countries\u2019 efforts to water down mentions of a fossil fuel phaseout, COP has once again failed to move the needle towards real action on ending the fossil fuel era.<\/p>\n The bar was set high when COP30 opened with President Lula da Silva\u2019s call for \u201croadmaps\u201d to transition away from fossil fuels. But within two weeks, that ambition was quashed by petrostates\u2019 recalcitrant resistance.<\/p>\n The heavily negotiated and diluted final text does not even mention \u201cfossil fuels\u201d \u2013 let alone a roadmap \u2013 and simply acknowledges the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n A roadmap would have helped to initiate vital conversations about precisely how states can begin moving away from oil and gas. Without it, the private interests of fossil companies and petrostates will continue to impede those efforts, no matter the cost.<\/p>\n In a year when global temperatures once again hit 1.5\u00b0C above baseline levels \u2013 adding to 2024\u2019s record-breaking temperatures \u2013 this outcome is disappointing, but not surprising, given the overwhelming presence of major polluter and fossil fuel lobbying interests.<\/p>\n It is telling that even Brazil, the summit\u2019s host, has granted dozens of licenses for new major offshore oil projects<\/a> in the Amazon basin. A serious conflict of interest still rests at the very heart of COP.<\/p>\n Though we welcomed the news<\/a> of new disclosure requirements for attendees, fossil fuel lobbyists have continued to flood the conference. We worked with Kick Big Polluters Out to reveal that around 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists were registered for the conference \u2013 around one in every 25 attendees, and the largest proportion of any COP analysed by KPBO<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even so, there were promising signs of political momentum. More than 80 countries backed Brazil\u2019s proposal for a fossil fuel roadmap, signalling a growing willingness among parties to confront fossil fuel pollution.<\/p>\n Responding to this support, the presidency announced the establishment of a new conference to address the phase out of fossil fuels, to be held in April 2026 in Colombia, a country that played a decisive and constructive role during the final stretch of negotiations.<\/p>\n Dinamam Tux\u00e1, lawyer, Indigenous activist, executive coordinator of APIB, speaks at an event at CCCA Climate Hub, during COP30, Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n Defenders raised their voices \u2013 but were they listened to?<\/p>\n Brazil presented COP30 as an inclusive summit where environmental defenders, Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities would take a central role in climate decision-making. Yet the reality in Bel\u00e9m revealed a more complex and often contradictory landscape.<\/p>\n In the early days of the conference, images circulated worldwide of armed security forces blocking Indigenous protestors from accessing COP zones, resulting in violent clashes.<\/p>\n Demonstrators were raising concerns \u2013 among other issues \u2013 about oil exploration in the Amazon and the urgent need for stronger community participation in decisions that shape their territories.<\/p>\n Inside the negotiations, defenders continued to face structural obstacles. They were largely absent from national delegations, received little institutional support for participation, and were offered limited avenues to influence discussions directly affecting their rights, territories and safety.<\/p>\n Yet across Bel\u00e9m, civil society created spaces that demonstrated what genuine inclusion can look like.<\/p>\n Global Witness supported the COP do Povo (People\u2019s COP)<\/a> at the Grassroots Movement for Climate Venue, a vibrant, community-led space where Indigenous Peoples, defenders, grassroots groups and social movements exchanged knowledge, articulated principles for a just transition, and presented local solutions to the climate emergency.<\/p>\n Inside the COP of People (COP do Povo) in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n The inclusive environment of Cop do Povo stood in stark contrast to the restricted atmosphere of the official UNFCCC venue and showed the leadership that emerges when frontline communities are at the centre of the conversation.<\/p>\n COP30 also marked an important milestone with the launch of LEAD \u2013 the Leaders Action Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders<\/a> \u2013 co-created by defenders, activists and civil society groups. LEAD establishes a platform to advance recognition, protection and meaningful participation of defenders in climate decision-making.<\/p>\n Another important outcome was the explicit inclusion of Afro-descendant communities in the final text. The mitigation decision further reaffirmed Indigenous Peoples\u2019 essential role in upholding the Paris Agreement, backed by new financial commitments and strengthened territorial protections.<\/p>\n One of the most significant advances appeared in the preamble of the Mutir\u00e3o Decision, which recognises not only the rights of Indigenous Peoples but specifically their land rights \u2013 a crucial acknowledgment that land demarcation is indispensable<\/a> for keeping the 1.5\u00b0C limit within reach.<\/p>\n The Bel\u00e9m Gender Action Plan also marked a shift by recognising Indigenous and local women as \u201cagents of change\u201d rather than solely as vulnerable populations. The plan calls for stronger safety and support for women defenders.<\/p>\n Taken as a whole, COP30 exposed the persistent challenges that defenders and communities continue to face, while also revealing the growing strength of grassroots movements in pushing global climate governance towards justice.<\/p>\n Global Witness staff call for responsible mining in the march for climate justice during COP30 in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n Gains for a just energy transition<\/p>\n Too often, the renewable energy transition comes at the expense of defenders and Indigenous Peoples, whose communities are frequently displaced \u2013 and violently threatened \u2013 by mining for critical minerals. Coordinated global action is needed to ensure that these communities are not harmed by the push for clean energy.<\/p>\n Global Witness joined calls at COP30 to establish a just transition mechanism (the so-called Belem Action Mechanism<\/a>, or \u201cBAM\u201d), which would create a set of shared values underpinning the just transition, encouraging collaboration between states, fostering knowledge-sharing and aligning finance with just transition goals.<\/p>\n We were delighted to see BAM pass and explicitly name Indigenous People\u2019s rights \u2013 including to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) \u2013 paired with their enshrinement in COP\u2019s final text.<\/p>\n Over the past year, Global Witness has also led a coalition campaigning to land language in COP\u2019s final text that is explicit about the material basis of transitioning to renewable technologies, and the need to avoid replicating the issues of the fossil age in critical mineral mining.<\/p>\n But while many countries and major negotiating blocs tabled strong proposals on minerals governance \u2013 including the UK, EU, the African Group of Negotiators and Colombia \u2013 China drew a red line against any reference, ultimately blocking inclusion in the Just Transition Work Programme.<\/p>\n Despite this setback, the issue has firmly entered COP\u2019s agenda, giving us a strong platform for the year ahead. And the just transition text contains many areas of entry for future work on the question of minerals, while seeing groundbreaking language about rights and inclusion.<\/p>\n Demonstrators march for the protection of forests and climate justice during COP30 in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n A lacklustre “tropical forests COP”<\/p>\n In keeping with the rest of the summit, what was hoped to be a transformative \u201ctropical forests COP\u201d (pointedly hosted at the mouth of the Amazon rainforest) has proven lukewarm, with the ambition of Brazil\u2019s flagship Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF)<\/a> still to be matched by country pledges.<\/p>\n When the TFFF officially launched at the COP30 leaders\u2019 summit, civil society organisations and defender groups expressed concern that it ties climate finance to financial markets and fails to prioritise Indigenous Peoples and local communities.<\/p>\n With around $6.6 billion pledged at COP \u2013 far short of the desired $125 billion \u2013 questions remain about how and when the fund can be operationalised, and key expected contributors, including the UK and China, did not pledge at all.<\/p>\n Yet while the TFFF is designed to address gaps in how global finance is mobilised to protect forests<\/a>, even its potential impact will be undermined if governments continue to allow trillions from banks and investors to flow<\/a> into activities that drive deforestation.<\/p>\n Global Witness’s call to end harmful finance may yet find life in ongoing negotiations, particularly in calls to make an open, fair, transparent economic and financial system that is aligned with climate goals.<\/p>\n The failure to agree a deforestation roadmap \u2013 in the heart of the Amazon, no less \u2013 is a dangerous step back, leaving forests and the communities defending them exposed to continued violence and destruction.<\/p>\n This risk of backsliding was mirrored in Brussels, where efforts to delay and dilute the bloc’s deforestation law<\/a> were pushed forward during the summit.<\/p>\n Combatting climate disinformation<\/p>\n Brazil\u2019s President Lula da Silva dubbed COP30 “the COP of truth\u201d in his opening speech, setting the tone for a climate summit that rejects the disinformation spread by the fossil fuel industry<\/a> and its allies.<\/p>\n That gauntlet was rapidly picked up by the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, which within days of the conference opening had launched the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change<\/a> \u2013 the first of its kind at the climate COP.<\/p>\n The declaration commits signatories to \u201c[p]romote the integrity of information<\/a> related to climate change at the international, national, and local levels,\u201d and calls on governments, the private sector and civil society to coordinate efforts to combat harmful denialism and greenwashing.<\/p>\n Key to these efforts, as laid out in the document, will be promoting a “diverse and reliable media ecosystem,\u201d fostering transparency around public data, developing policies that support information integrity, and pushing Big Tech companies to assess their own platforms\u2019 complicity in the dissemination of disinformation.<\/p>\n This is a crucial recognition of the strategic threat posed by disinformation to climate progress. As our polling<\/a> shows from earlier this year, defenders all too often suffer significant harms on social media, risking their wellbeing and activism, while climate scientists report<\/a> feeling discouraged to share their research online.<\/p>\n For now, the declaration has 20 signatories, including Brazil, Canada, Chile and France (although not the US, arguably the country with the most political sway over Big Tech, as the base to many of the world\u2019s most powerful platforms). It will take many more to meaningfully tackle the disinformation crisis that has taken hold of society across the globe.<\/p>\n Thousands march for climate justice during COP30 in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Fernanda Fraz\u00e3o \/ Global Witness<\/p>\n The road ahead<\/p>\n In her closing speech at the final plenary of COP30, Brazilian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva expressed her profound disappointment that the final document failed to even mention fossil fuels \u2013 the primary drivers of the climate crisis.<\/p>\n Silva\u2019s remarks echoed the frustrations that had built up throughout the summit. Without confronting the causes of this crisis head-on, the world risks deepening inequalities and exposing communities to irreversible harm.<\/p>\n Yet amid these challenges, progress was carved out thanks to the determination of those who refused to give up: Indigenous Peoples, environmental defenders, communities, youth and civil society groups, whose persistence pushed the process forward despite its structural limitations.<\/p>\n As Silva reminded the plenary, the path ahead is long and difficult \u2013 but it is sustained by those who continue to defend life, territory and climate integrity.<\/p>\n All eyes will now turn to Turkiye and Australia, who will co-host COP31 in Antalya. Whether COP can renew its fight to phase out fossil fuels under the stewardship of Australia (which continues to expand its fossil fuel operations) and protect civil society\u2019s participation inside Turkiye (where human rights protections, particularly the right to peaceful protest, are weak) remains to be seen.<\/p>\n COP is never an endpoint. It is a continuous line of demands, struggles and compromises, as the world\u2019s governments attempt to come together to tackle the emergency. COP30 made clear that while official negotiating spaces may fall short, transformative change for people, and for the planet, is driven from the ground up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The high ambition articulated by the Brazilian COP Presidency at COP30\u2019s opening had notably faded by the end…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-285637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Outside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/COP30_Belem.width-800.jpg\")
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