{"id":25391,"date":"2025-11-24T17:57:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T16:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/?p=25391"},"modified":"2025-11-24T22:58:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:58:48","slug":"after-cop30-time-to-step-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/after-cop30-time-to-step-up\/","title":{"rendered":"After COP30 – Time to step up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After COP30:
Time for us to step up<\/h1>\n\n\n
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NOW IS THE TIME TO RAISE THE PRESSURE<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

COP30 and the Courage to Keep Talking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Eva-Maria McCormack<\/em><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This year\u2019s COP30 in Bel\u00e9m reaffirmed one thing above all: The era of simply waiting for the next global climate deal is coming to an end. Instead, what is emerging is a new phase \u2014 one defined by plurilateral initiatives, by coalitions of willing governments and actors who are moving faster than the full UN process. That shift matters. But as the focus moves to these smaller-group initiatives, civil society and grassroots pressure become more \u2014 not less \u2014 important.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A step forward: The modest wins of COP30<\/strong>
COP30 delivered some meaningful gains: Against the backdrop of new geopolitical realities, it was already a win that the 195 country delegations managed to reach a joint declaration at all. Considering the fact that one in every four participants<\/a> was a fossil fuel lobbyist, the nonetheless palpable presence of indigenous delegations<\/a> was a win, too. Interestingly, some analysts considered the absence of the US \u2013 the world\u2019s biggest polluter \u2013 as a \u201cblessing in disguise\u201d: It weakened the voice of the fossil fuel faction at the conference, Srinivas Krishnaswamy, CEO of the Indian Vasudha Climat Foundation, pointed out at a post-Bel\u00e9m briefing of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were concrete wins, too. The creation of the Bel\u00e9m Action Mechanism (BAM), which embeds the principle of a \u201cjust transition\u201d in global climate governance, is a breakthrough. There are advances in recognising Indigenous rights and frontline communities. The launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), which seeks to mobilize 125 billion US dollars to protect standing tropical forests as carbon sinks is an important step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stand-stills: Where Bel\u00e9m failed<\/strong>
But on the other hand, COP30 did not deliver what is needed to contain and mitigate the climate crisis. Yes, the uptake of renewable energies is breathtaking. They are competitive, benefit local environments and decentralize energy structures, as Kira Vinke pointed out at the DGAP\u2019s briefing. There is certainly no way back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, like previous summits, Bel\u00e9m also did not manage to agree on a binding roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. Adaptation finance remains inadequate. Many frontline communities are left with uncertainty rather than support. \u201cIn Bel\u00e9m, rich nations showed their unbearable hypocrisy: demanding ambition from those least responsible for the climate emergency, while systematically refusing to pay up their historical climate debt\u201d, Fanny Petitbon of the international climate organization 350.org<\/a> did not mince her words.<\/p>\n\n\n

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UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell at the opening plenary of COP30 in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, on Monday 10 November 2025. (Credit Kiara Worth)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The new age of climate action: Plurilateralism, its promise \u2013 and its price<\/strong>
Yet something else is moving. Amid the lack of ambition at COP level, \u201cplurilateralism\u201d became the new buzzword of climate action \u2013 that is, initiatives spearheaded by a \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d at state and other levels. From the Just Transition Mechanism to the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, from cross\u2011regional alliances to new South\u2013South coalitions, plurilateral initiatives are becoming the laboratories where climate ambition is tested \u2014 and sometimes achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be good news. Small groups can innovate faster than 198 states. If \u201ecoalitions of the willing\u201c move ahead, there can be more agility, less paralysis, more innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a danger too: When decision\u2011making moves into smaller rooms, the loudest voices tend to be the strongest \u2013 and those weakest and with most at stake risk being left in the corridor. The shift to plurilateralism can easily become a shift away from democratic participation and democratic scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is the time for civil society to step up<\/strong>
Civil society, communities and everyday citizens risk being spectators rather than co-creators of these processes. The shift to plurilateral processes means we cannot rely on \u201ctop-down\u201d global decisions by national governments any longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is precisely why now is the time for civil society to step forward \u2014 not step back. At Talking Hope, we define hope as the decision to act into the unknown \u2013 especially when the outcomes appear ever more uncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As climate negotiations move into pluralist spaces, we must mobilize, connect, engage \u2014 and bring in the voices often left out: especially communities who are marginalized, suffer from social disadvantages or do not have a powerful lobby to speak on their behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking to each other is not a luxury. It\u2019s a political act.<\/strong>
The climate crisis cannot be solved without strengthening social justice, democratic participation and our ability to understand each other across difference. This is not \u201csoft\u201d work. It is not secondary to climate policy. It \u201cis\u201d climate policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When citizens stop speaking across divides, fossil fuel interests thrive. When fear becomes louder than dialogue, justice shrinks. When politics moves to smaller tables, hope must move outward \u2014 into communities, caf\u00e9s, buses, classrooms, public squares and living rooms.

As plurilateral climate action grows, so must our plural societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need pressure \u2014 not polarisation.<\/strong>
Governments and businesses are entering a phase in which they can act faster, but also with less transparency. That means they will only move boldly if they feel sustained and informed human pressure \u2014 from unions, from students, from elders, from entrepreneurs, from faith groups, from neighbours, from each and every one of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressure does not even require shouting. Pressure is above all built through connection. It is built when we speak with those who disagree. When we ask, gently but firmly: \u201cHow do we actually want to live? What kind of future are we leaving behind for our children? Who gets to shape it? And who is being left out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope is not optimism. It is engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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COP30 Presidency Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples in
Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, on 13 November 2025. (Credit Kiara Worth)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Plurilateralism may accelerate progress, but justice will anchor it.<\/strong>
At COP30, one message echoed again and again from Indigenous leaders, youth movements and communities on the climate frontlines: \u201cWe cannot repair the planet without repairing our social contract.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sustainable future is not only about cleaner technologies \u2014 it is about fairer societies. It is about workers who are part of the transition, not casualties of it. It is about Indigenous rights being recognized in practice, not only in speeches. It is about global cooperation that includes, rather than sidelines, the communities who protect forests, water and land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plurilateralism may accelerate progress, but justice will anchor it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is equally true for our neighbourhoods and communities in Germany: for those, who are afraid of what the move away from fossil fuels will mean for their jobs, for those who stand at the sidelines of the energy transition because they simply cannot afford it, and for those who fear the transition because all they hear is what they \u201cmust do\u201d rather than what sustainable living conditions will offer them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our call: Engage widely. Talk boldly. Shape together.<\/strong>
If COP30 showed us anything, it is that the window for a liveable future is still open. Narrowing, yes. But open. And whether it widens or closes now depends less on summit declarations than on what we do between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History has proven time and again: All groundbreaking social innovations \u2013 whether the end of slavery and apartheid, workers\u2019 rights or women\u2019s rights \u2013 have come through bottom-up pressure. Governments are never innovators; they react to such pressure \u2013 to public opinion and what they perceive as voter wishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here is our invitation: This is how we can move forward and increase our handprint to effect change even in these difficult times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Let\u2019s break out of the bubble \u2014 and build real bridges.<\/strong>
    Let\u2019s connect. Let\u2019s listen. Let\u2019s question. Real change begins when we step outside our comfort zones. Let\u2019s talk to people who disagree, who hesitate, who see the world differently. Honest conversations travel farther than echo chambers ever will.
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  2. Let\u2019s turn global goals into local action.<\/strong>
    Let\u2019s act locally, yet with a view to the world. Big climate clubs and plurilateral initiatives only matter if people on the ground keep them honest and under pressure to deliver. Let\u2019s mobilize in our communities, speak up at work, write to our representatives. Let\u2019s ask them how they\u2019re making the transition fair \u2014 and who\u2019s being heard in the process.
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  3. Let\u2019s make climate action about justice, power and inclusion.<\/strong>
    Let\u2019s insist on inclusion, rights, democracy and fairness. Climate policy is not just science and emission targets \u2014 it\u2019s about people. Who benefits? Who gets left out? A just transition only becomes real when citizens demand it.
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  4. Let\u2019s not wait for heroes \u2014 but be the movement.<\/strong>
    The biggest societal shifts have always come from everyday people who decided \u201cenough\u201d. When many small Davids join forces, even the biggest Goliaths don\u2019t stand a chance. Let\u2019s be Davids.
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  5. Let\u2019s watch the new institutions \u2014 and keep them honest.<\/strong>
    The future depends on us paying attention. As the climate arena shifts toward plurilateral clubs and coalitions, transparency and accountability have to keep up. Inclusion must stay non-negotiable. Let\u2019s demand clear rules, open doors and real justice \u2014 not just glossy announcements. The future depends on us paying attention.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Toward a new social contract \u2014 sustainable, inclusive, shared<\/strong>
    Let\u2019s make space for dialogue and let\u2019s build pressure together. Plurilateralism does not have to mean less democracy, yet it can mean a different kind of democracy. A sustainable future offers a chance not only to prevent planetary breakdown, but also to create a world that is stronger, fairer and shared by all. The world needs more of us talking now.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    COP30 in Bel\u00e9m showed: The era of simply waiting for the next global climate deal is coming to an end. A new phase in climate action is emerging \u2014 one defined by plurilateral initiatives, by coalitions of willing governments and actors who are moving faster than the full UN process. That shift matters. But as the focus moves to these smaller-group initiatives, civil society and grassroots pressure become more, not less vital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"After COP30: Time for us to step up - %%sitetitle%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,8,9,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-climate","category-democracy","category-justice","no-featured-image-padding"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25391"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25417,"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25391\/revisions\/25417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}