Hope in the Heart of the Amazon: Frontline for Climate Action Champions a Just Future at COP30

As the climate crisis intensifies and vulnerable communities shoulder the brunt of its impacts, the world stands at a pivotal moment. COP30, scheduled for November 2025 in Belém, Brazil, is not just another climate conference, it is a critical opportunity to reset global ambition, reinforce climate justice, and deliver real solutions that protect both people and planet. On behalf of Frontline for Climate Action, I present the objectives COP30 must achieve to make meaningful progress.

1. Deliver Ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

One of the most urgent goals of COP30 is to secure stronger, more ambitious NDCs aligned with the 1.5°C temperature limit under the Paris Agreement. Current commitments put the world on a dangerous path toward 2.5–2.9°C warming, a catastrophic outcome for millions. At COP30, countries are expected to submit updated, enhanced NDCs that close the emissions gap and reflect the highest level of ambition possible, guided by equity and science.

For Africa and the Global South, these pledges must be backed by accessible finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building. Climate ambition cannot thrive in the absence of climate justice.

2. Operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund

The historic establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund at COP27 was a landmark victory for vulnerable nations. However, implementation has been slow, and many frontline communities are still waiting for justice.

COP30 must deliver clear mechanisms, accessible governance structures, and adequate, predictable finance to operationalize this fund. It is time to move beyond pledges to disbursements, supporting communities already experiencing irreversible climate losses, from disappearing coastlines to devastated livelihoods.

3. Accelerate the Global Just Transition

Achieving net-zero emissions must not come at the cost of marginalizing workers, communities, or nations. COP30 offers a platform to advance a truly just transition, one that ensures equity in energy systems, employment, and development.

Africa, rich in renewable resources but lacking in energy infrastructure, must be at the center of this dialogue. The Global North must support the continent in leapfrogging fossil fuels through fair investment in clean energy, research, and green jobs, ensuring that no one is left behind in the race to decarbonize.

4. Strengthen Climate Finance Commitments

Finance remains the linchpin of climate action. At COP30, developed nations must fulfill and go beyond their $100 billion per year pledge, delivering climate finance that is new, additional, and non-debt creating.

The focus must shift from loans to grants, and from mitigation-heavy funding to balanced support for adaptation and resilience. For countries like Ghana and the rest in the Global South, Asia, and small island states, adaptation is not optional, it is survival.

5. Empower Indigenous and Local Voices

COP30 will take place in the Amazon, a region symbolic of both climate vulnerability and resilience. It is a powerful reminder of the wisdom Indigenous communities hold in conserving ecosystems and sustaining biodiversity.

Frontline for Climate Action insists that COP30 must go beyond token inclusion. Indigenous peoples, youth, women, and frontline communities must have direct influence over negotiation outcomes, financing, and climate governance. Climate justice begins with those most affected at the center of decision-making.

6. Advance Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity Protection

Climate and nature are inseparable. COP30 must prioritize the protection and restoration of critical ecosystems like forests, wetlands, and oceans. These natural buffers are vital carbon sinks and protect communities from climate impacts.

Nature-based solutions, rooted in local knowledge and community participation, should be scaled up, not sidelined. Funding and policy support must reflect their real value to planetary health and human well-being.

In conclusion: COP30 will be judged not by the number of speeches delivered or pages of text agreed upon, but by the lives it saves, the emissions it curbs, and the systems it transforms.

As a climate activist and communicator from Africa, I call on global leaders to make COP30 a moment of accountability. The world cannot afford more delays, watered-down agreements, or empty promises. We demand action, bold, equitable, and urgent.

Let Belém be remembered not just as the venue of COP30, but as the place where the world chose courage over complacency, and justice over jargon.

Peter Nartey Martin | Communication Officer, Frontline for Climate Action