Just transition, finance and equity – that’s how we get COP30 to act on fossil fuels 

Brandon Wu oversees research, advocacy, coalition building and campaigning work for ActionAid USA.

Leaders are supposed to lead by example. If you broke it, you’re meant to fix it (or at least pay for it). You’re supposed to do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.

These and any number of other tired cliches are actually incredibly useful for describing the seemingly interminable deadlocks at UN climate negotiations like COP30.

There is a set of rich developed countries that call themselves “climate leaders.” They caused the climate crisis through their emissions, and they should be fixing it by zeroing out those emissions and paying for poorer countries to do the same. They should be treating countries and communities harmed by climate impacts with compassion and solidarity.

News flash: they aren’t doing any of those things. And somehow we act surprised that the climate negotiations haven’t yet produced the massive breakthroughs the world needs?

No transition without concrete support

It might be easy to blame certain countries for being unhappy with a proposed roadmap to end fossil fuels, backed by 80-90 nations at the talks. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that the wealthy countries that are pushing for the roadmap – the European Union most stridently – are themselves not anywhere close to being on track to phase out fossil fuels.

Just as importantly, developed countries as a whole have consistently refused to provide meaningful amounts of climate finance in line with needs, despite their extremely clear obligations and the practical realities of the need for support in developing countries.

COP30 Bulletin Day 11: With talks in “crisis”, countries urged to unite for COP30 deal

Of course we need a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels – that is what many of us are here to achieve. But if the transition away from fossil fuels is not just, it will not succeed. And if there is no support from developed to developing countries, not only will the transitions there not be just – in many cases they will not happen at all.

Just transition mechanism close?

To that end, at COP30, negotiators are getting tantalizingly close to an outcome on “just transition” – a framework to support countries to ensure their communities and workers are lifted up rather than left behind as they transition to a new and more sustainable economy.

Civil society has been pushing hard for a “Belem Action Mechanism,” or BAM, that would embed just transition principles into a coherent, practical and actionable system. The guiding principle behind the push for the BAM, and for just transition more broadly, is that without justice, any massive economic transition will fail, as it will be impossible to garner the necessary political support to implement it.

The BAM was the major priority for many activists and developing countries coming into this COP, and a great deal of open and transparent negotiations have gone into trying to make it a reality. In contrast, the fossil fuel roadmap – necessary as some form of it is – was dropped into the formal negotiations late, without any transparent process.

Rich nations push back on calls for new just transition mechanism

Developing countries need a comprehensive package

Between rich country intransigence and undemocratic processes, it’s understandable – and justifiable – that many developing countries, including most of the Africa Group, are uncomfortable with the fossil fuel roadmap being pushed for at COP30. It doesn’t mean they are all “blockers” or want the world to burn, and characterizing them as such is irresponsible.

The core package of just transition, public finance – including for adaptation and loss and damage – and phasing out fossil fuels and deforestation is exactly that: a package. The latter simply will not happen, politically or practically, without the former. 

If COP30 ends without a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels and deforestation, let’s make sure we keep the pressure on the real culprits: the rich countries that keep coming to these negotiations offering nothing but demanding everything.

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