The 30th iteration of the United Nations climate change conference, COP30, is poised to bring together parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, alongside thousands of experts, journalists, climate activists, and representatives from businesses and NGOs. Scheduled for November 10 to 21, 2025, this significant event will be held in Belém, Brazil.
COP30 will coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, a pivotal international treaty aimed at restricting the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. As the climate crisis accelerates, evidenced by 2024 being the warmest year on record, COP29 in Azerbaijan failed to achieve progress in limiting warming to below this crucial threshold.
This sets the stage for COP30 to serve as a critical juncture for addressing the climate crisis with ambition. Brazil, as the host nation, has the chance to reinforce multilateral efforts, ensuring the global climate response is rooted in human rights. Emphasizing the phasing out of fossil fuels, safeguarding land rights, and protecting forested areas, Brazil can guide negotiations toward meaningful outcomes that reflect the urgency of the climate crisis.
Countries are expected to present updated national climate plans detailing their emission reduction strategies through 2035. However, most countries have not yet submitted these plans, and many existing submissions do not align with the 1.5-degree Celsius limit. Governments are urged to adopt ambitious climate plans with clear milestones, such as halting new fossil fuel exploration, phasing out subsidies, and ensuring robust monitoring and accountability.
Following the unanimous advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on July 23, 2025, which confirmed states’ legal duties to protect the climate and cooperate, COP30 should compel governments to convert these obligations into actionable fossil fuel phase-out plans by 2035, including schedules for subsidy removals.
What can we expect on the transition away from fossil fuels at COP30?
Despite COP28’s historic commitment to transition from fossil fuels, COP29 saw little progress. Meanwhile, several governments plan to expand fossil fuel production, buoyed by ongoing subsidies. Fossil fuels are the leading cause of the climate crisis, responsible for over 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Human Rights Watch has documented the adverse effects on communities near coal, oil, and gas infrastructures.
At COP30, the focus should be on advancing the transition from fossil fuels. Brazil’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva suggested the summit could produce a roadmap for a “planned and just transition” away from fossil fuels. This roadmap might require countries to establish clear targets and timelines for phasing out fossil fuels, supported by relevant measures and policies.
Discussions at COP30, including the UAE dialogue on the Global Stocktake (GST) implementation and the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP), could be pivotal in moving these goals forward.
What would a “Just Transition” aligned with human rights look like at COP30?
Human Rights Watch advocates for adopting just transition principles that align with international human rights law, encompassing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, economic, social, and cultural rights, and the right to development.
The outcomes of the JTWP should integrate human rights standards, covering rights to social security, education, and healthcare. These principles should also consider the impact on Indigenous peoples and other communities affected by the extraction and processing of minerals essential for the energy transition.
Negotiators should draw from recent human rights analyses and standards, including the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ general comment 27, adopted on September 16, 2025, which states that a just transition towards a sustainable economy requires centering human rights and planetary well-being.
The JTWP decision should also promote the development of a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, with negotiations coinciding with COP30 in Nairobi. This convention, expected to finalize by 2027, could be crucial in mobilizing resources for a just transition. Moreover, countries should support the proposed Belém Action Mechanism under the JTWP to ensure meaningful participation from workers and rights-holders.
How can COP30 support forest protection and safeguard the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities?
COP30 should ensure that funding for forest protection does not support industries responsible for climate change and deforestation, such as fossil fuel expansion, monocultures, logging, or livestock rearing. These funds should also avoid financing gold mining operations, whether private or public.
How can COP30 address the needs of communities relocating on the front lines of sea level rise and other climate-related hazards?
At COP30, parties should develop indicators for a global adaptation goal, facilitating countries’ adaptation to climate change impacts. These indicators should consider human mobility dimensions, like planned relocation, recognizing its potential as a preventative measure against forced displacement or a durable response to it. However, inadequate planning and support can pose serious human rights threats.
Moreover, parties should integrate human mobility dimensions into their national climate and adaptation plans by 2035, incorporating strategies to prevent displacement while supporting displaced communities. Without measurable indicators and national planning inclusion, the complex risks and responses of human mobility could be overlooked or underfunded.
Original Story at www.hrw.org