WECAN Initial Statement: Wins, Losses, and What is Needed Beyond COP30

On November 22, governments finalized the outcomes of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference—COP30. Gathered in Belém, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon, these two weeks unfolded against the backdrop of the world’s largest rainforest and the frontline communities who defend it. We witnessed powerful Indigenous-led mobilizations, relentless civil society advocacy, urgent demands to phase out fossil fuels and keep 1.5°C within reach, climate-charged downpours flooding the venue, and a fire that broke out in the COP30 pavilion area. All the while, governments engaged in fierce negotiations over how—and whether—they will move from promises to real implementation of the Paris Agreement. 

In response to COP30, Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, stated: “After a strong push by civil society and Parties, we are leaving COP30 with a just transition mechanism and strong, rights-based language that demonstrates the courage and vision of movements to continue pushing this process forward. Communities bearing the brunt of climate impacts are showing up to demand more of those in power to secure commitments. While we celebrate several significant gains across negotiating tracks, the truth remains: COP30 did not deliver justice, nor did it deliver the scale of implementation, particularly on the profoundly critical fossil fuel phaseout required to confront the climate crisis. Indigenous Peoples were not at the decision-making tables as requested by them. Communities on the frontlines, ecosystems in collapse, and generations to come deserve far more. WECAN walks forward from COP30 unwavering in our commitment to fighting for our beautiful Earth.”

Please see below WECAN’s initial reflections on the wins, the failures, and the urgent work ahead.

The wins:

• In the Just Transition Work Program, Parties adopted a hard-fought-for just transition mechanism, which mandates the coordination and enhancement of international cooperation for just transition pathways. The outcome text of the Just Transition Work Program includes Indigenous rights, care and informal work, human rights, and grant-based finance. This win is by and for the movements that worked steadfastly for years to move the program from dialogues to implementation! 

• After a grueling two weeks, the 9-year Belém Gender Action Plan was approved, which contains essential language from the Women and Gender Constituency, including specific reference to women environmental defenders. 

• In the closing plenary, the COP30 Presidency announced further work on roadmaps to transition away from fossil fuels and to stop deforestation.   

• The COP Presidency also highlighted the upcoming April 2026 Conference on Fossil Fuel phaseout, hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands. This is building a bridge between discussions inside the UNFCCC and countries working on a concrete, parallel plan to phase out fossil fuels based on science and equity.

These victories come from the people’s movements, in solidarity with aligned countries, who have been pushing for action and justice within the UNFCCC. WECAN has been participating in the Women and Gender Constituency Just Transition Working Group for almost two years, and we are thrilled to celebrate the newly adopted mechanism, while recognizing the deep flaws that remain in the structure of the UNFCCC and failures at this year’s COP30. 

The failures:

• There were over 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30, and the impact was deeply felt. Across negotiations, language on the transition away from fossil fuels was heavily contested and—against the wishes of several countries and civil society—was excluded from all outcome documents. While 80 countries rallied for a concrete, binding plan to phase out fossil fuels within the UNFCCC process, fossil fuels were not part of the COP30 outcomes. Parties have a mandate from the COP28 UAE Consensus and a legal obligation from the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change to transition away from fossil fuels, but continue to stall forward progress. There is no habitable planet without an urgent, immediate phaseout of fossil fuels.

• Wealthy Global North countries continue to block and reduce their commitments to much-needed climate finance for adaptation, and to do so across agenda items. The Global South is owed climate reparations due to wealthy countries' outsized and historical contribution to the climate crisis. Further, there is no implementing the Paris Agreement or furthering ambition without climate finance. 

• Heralded as the “Indigenous COP”, Indigenous Peoples from across the Amazon called out the colonial practices of the UNFCCC, which denied many leaders access to the Blue Zone where decisions were being made about their territories and communities. In response to Indigenous led actions, the UNFCCC calls for increased military presence to quell Indigenous Peoples’ advocacy. While there were successes in the inclusion of Indigenous rights in the Just Transition Work Program, parties excluded text on the impacts of so-called critical minerals, which already are leading to Indigenous rights violations and environmental degradation. Further, in the Global Mutirão cover text, Indigenous Peoples were not included in the operational section. Indigenous rights are a climate solution and must be at the core of climate policy and programs, especially when they impact the territories and lives of Indigenous communities globally. 

The COP process has continued to allow bad actors to stall good progress. We need reform of the UNFCCC process to keep fossil fuel lobbyists out, increase Indigenous, civil society, and stakeholder engagement, and ensure transparency. Ultimately, we cannot achieve global climate action without multilateralism, and after 30 years, we know the UNFCCC must really consider what is needed to mobilize and implement the empty and growing pledges and promises from years past. 

The urgent work ahead:

• While we are excited about the just transition mechanism, the overall outcomes from COP30 do not deliver justice. In the next year, we will continue robust advocacy to hold governments accountable and to push the COP presidency to uphold its commitment to halting deforestation and phasing out fossil fuels.

• Without guaranteed funding and the political courage required to put commitments into practice, the progress made remains uncertain. Moving ahead, real resources need to be on the table, rights need to be secured, and a just transition needs to be defined by the leadership of frontline communities who are already taking action. We will be working toward these efforts.

• Serving on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Steering Committee, WECAN will be supporting and engaging in the Colombia conference on fossil fuel phaseout. 

We know that what has been delivered at COP30 is profoundly insufficient. It falls short for the millions of people already living through climate-fueled disasters. It falls short for the forests, waters, and ecosystems being irreversibly damaged by fossil fuel expansion, deforestation, and accelerating climate chaos. It falls short for the generations who will inherit a world shaped by decisions made today—decisions that should honor their right to a livable, just, and thriving planet.

Yet our deepest hope is rooted not in the halls of negotiation, but in the power of people’s movements across the world. Communities are rising with clarity and courage, demanding the future we deserve, advancing real solutions grounded in Indigenous knowledge, feminist principles, and frontline leadership, and insisting on a world shaped by care, consent, justice, and liberation.

WECAN is preparing a deeper analysis of the COP30 outcomes, as well as our experience in Belém outside of the COP30 space, organizing and strategizing with partners from many regions, which we will share soon. We look forward to offering a comprehensive reflection on the past two weeks—on what was won, what was denied, and what our movements will continue to fight for.