A week after the close of the COP30 climate summit in Belém (Brazil), we are left with mixed feelings. This event always generates high expectations because it is the only international forum for dialogue and decision-making where it is possible to define a global climate policy. And, even if slowly, we hope that each edition will bring some progress.
The proposed outcome document, ‘Mutirão: uniting humanity in a global mobilization against climate change’, gave us hope with its bold, inclusive narrative based on scientific evidence. The text recognized the urgency and reality of the climate crisis and the need for action, not just words, to limit global warming to 1.5°C (Paris Agreement, 2015).
It also put forward courageous proposals on financial mobilization to support climate change mitigation and adaptation for countries in the Global South, recognizing the historical responsibility of the Global North as a matter of climate justice, not charity. It should be remembered that some countries continue to claim that there is not enough public funding, when, in fact, reports show that more than $1 trillion could have been raised for climate action since 2015 through a surcharge on the profits of the fossil fuel industries.
In addition, the text presented a people-centered approach, very much in line with the values of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, without forgetting that the transition to an Earth-friendly economy cannot be made while ignoring human rights.
However, on the most complicated points of the negotiations, ambitious outcomes have been sacrificed in the final document in order to achieve consensus:
- Instead of setting a timetable for phasing out fossil fuels, it only talks about reducing greenhouse gases and achieving “net” zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. In this way, it focuses only on the symptom (CO2 in the air), but not on the cause (burning fossil fuels), which allows oil and gas to continue to be extracted, assuming that in the future some technology will make it possible to capture those emissions.
- Although it recognizes the need for $1.3 trillion to finance mitigation and adaptation to the climate crisis, it only sets a mobilization target of $300 billion, leaving a huge gap that will be felt by the most vulnerable populations on the planet.
The outcome of COP30 has not been everything we hoped for, but we must acknowledge some partial victories in the results and highlight the initiatives led by civil society. Some of the most notable are:
- The People’s Summit, which ended with the delivery of a collective letter calling for a just transition, beyond the shift to renewable energies, that guarantees access to fair working conditions, food sovereignty, and territorial rights for indigenous peoples.
- The Catholic Church, represented by an unprecedented diversity in this type of meeting, has also presented its own Declaration, continuing on from A Call for Climate Justice and the Common Home, by the Episcopal Conferences of Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which a few months ago invited us to ecological conversion, transformation, and resistance to false solutions to the climate crisis.
- The announcement by 62 religious institutions that they have decided to divest from fossil fuel companies, declaring that it is not only a financial decision, but a moral responsibility.
- The Laudato Si’ Movement, for its part, presented the People’s Determined Contributions (PDCs) to the COP30 Presidency, a document with more than 2,000 commitments already made by faith communities around the world. This initiative arose from the Raising Hope International Conference, where the concept of PDCs was first introduced as a global call from Pope Leo XIV for individuals, communities, and institutions to take concrete action in the face of the climate crisis.
We cannot wait until COP31 to try to take another step forward. We must demand that the measures agreed upon in the Belém Action Agenda begin to be implemented now.
We must also follow up on the initiative of the Santa Marta Conference, which will take place in April, where a bloc of 80 countries led by Colombia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands want to move toward a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Fossil Fuels.
As Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in his closing speech: “The fight against climate change requires the mobilization and contribution of the whole of society, not just governments. Your enthusiasm and commitment are contagious. You carry the strength and legitimacy of those who long for a better world.”
Author: Marta Santos, JPIC Office – CJ Spain
