In the week when the summit of world leaders is taking place in Belém, Brazil, with the participation of over fifty heads of state and government, including the Portuguese Prime Minister, organizations are emphasizing the urgent need to address the collective deficit in global climate action, urging countries to increase their ambitions in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In a statement, Oikos, a non-governmental development organization, and Zero, an environmental NGO, also call for the establishment of a “Global Just Transition Mechanism” to ensure a fair transition, encompassing all sectors and countries, protecting jobs, social rights, vulnerable communities, and indigenous peoples, and promoting renewable energy and sustainable agricultural and industrial systems.
The COP30 must align climate financing with the goal of preventing a rise in global temperature exceeding 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels, significantly increasing funding to help poorer countries meet their climate objectives.
Furthermore, the two entities stress the need to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels, triple renewable energy capacity, improve energy efficiency, and ensure universal access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
“Zero and Oikos advocate that human rights, civic participation, freedom of expression, and gender equality be integral to all climate decisions, ensuring that civil society, social movements, and indigenous communities can actively participate in and influence global climate action,” the statement reads.
Following the leaders’ summit on Thursday and Friday, the UN conference, COP30, will be held from the 10th to the 21st in Belém, Brazil.
The 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COP 30, is the first meeting of this nature in a Portuguese-speaking country.
The Convention, adopted in 1992, and the Paris Agreement of 2015—the most important instrument currently in force—aim to ensure that each country or group of countries (the Parties) efforts to reduce GHG emissions and adapt to a changing climate equitably and proportionately to their capacity, level of development, and historical responsibility, the two organizations recall in the statement.
They also remind us that the effects of the climate crisis, such as floods, fires, droughts, and extreme heatwaves, show that humanity is not doing enough.
COP30, dubbed the “Implementation COP,” calls for transforming climate commitments into concrete actions.
Zero and Oikos further note that the main themes at the summit include ambition and new contributions from each country to reduce GHG emissions, climate financing, climate change adaptation, the just transition from fossil fuels, and the creation of a Tropical Forests Forever Fund.
“Portugal, with its preferential and longstanding relationship with Brazil, is well-positioned to facilitate interaction between the European Union and the Conference Presidency, with hopes that the Minister of Environment and Energy will actively engage in negotiation dossiers,” the statement from Zero and Oikos also says.
