![\"Ministers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2060.jpg\")
Ministers cram onto the stage to join the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap Photograph: UNFFC<\/p>\nMinisters join together for the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap<\/p>\n
So many ministers gathered today, to join the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap, that there were challenges fitting them all behind a podium. During a press conference to unite in support of a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels representatives from around the world spoke about the urgent need for a plan for a phase out.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we bring today many diverse interests who all support the call for a roadmap,\u201d Tina Stege, of the Marshall Islands said, flanked by dozens standing behind her. \u201cThe best chance of landing an agreement at this COP is in the Mutir\u00e3o package,\u201d she said. \u201cThe current reference in the text is weak and is presented as an option – it must be strengthened and it must be adopted. That is why you see all these countries here today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ministers cram onto the stage to join the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap Photograph: UNFFC<\/p>\n
The group included representatives from Sierra Leone and Kenya. The German representative said nearly all of Europe was behind it. Marcele Oliveira, a youth champion, took the mic to loud applause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to do this now,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is the most important mobilization around climate justice for our generation \u2013 so let\u2019s make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s Secretary of State for Energy Ed Miliband, a stalwart of Cop conferences, was also at the podium, speaking in support of the roadmap. \u201cThis is an issue that must not be ignored, cannot be ignored, and we are saying very very clearly must be at the heart of Cop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.37 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Day 8 of Cop30 – recapped<\/p>\n That\u2019s a wrap for us on day 8 of Cop30<\/strong>, which was marked by a \u201czone of exclusion,\u201d for indigenous protesters<\/strong> and revelations that hundreds of industrial agriculture lobbyists<\/strong> are participating in this year\u2019s climate talks. But the day also brought a first look at the potential agreement<\/strong> to come \u2013 complete with language on a \u201ctransition away from fossil fuels\u201d.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s more of what we covered today:<\/p>\n More than 80 ministers joined the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap<\/strong> insisting on the urgetn need for a phase out plan. The group included representatives from Sierra Leone and Kenya. The German representative said nearly all of Europe was behind it, and The UK\u2019s Secretary of State for Energy Ed Miliband, a stalwart of Cop conferences, was also at the podium.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n On Wednesday, a new draft text is expected from the Brazilian presidency,<\/strong> addressing more of the key issues, including financing and the transition away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Uncertainty remains over who will host next year\u2019s Cop<\/strong> as the tussle between Australia and Turkey<\/a> continues with little clarity.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The lack of money that rich polluters have provided<\/strong> for adaptation to climate breakdown has frustrated delegates and observers from poorer countries that are struggling with violent weather \u2013 while negotiators are divided on how to measure adaptation progress.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Youth from around the world have played a vital role in the proceedings. On Tuesday they hosted the final of three Youth-led Climate Forums during which they presented the global youth statement<\/strong> \u2013 an enormous undertaking that collected the largest declaration from children and youth in climate change and called for a \u201cfull, fast, fair fossil phase-out\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Thanks for reading along. We will have more on Cop30 tomorrow and as always you can read the news and analysis from our experts on the ground here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n My colleagues Fiona Harvey and Jonathan Watts, who are on the ground in Bel\u00e9m, have more on the call for a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels.<\/p>\n More than 80 countries have signed on, a move they said was \u201ca dramatic intervention into stuck negotiations at the UN Cop30<\/a> climate summit\u201d:<\/p>\n Countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific joined with EU member states and the UK to make an impassioned plea for the \u201ctransition away from fossil fuels\u201d<\/a> to be a central outcome of the talks, despite stiff opposition from petro states and some other major economies.<\/p>\n Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, flanked by ministers from more than 20 countries, told a packed press conference in Bel\u00e9m: \u201cLet\u2019s get behind the idea of a fossil fuel roadmap, let\u2019s work together and make it a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Campaigners hailed the intervention. Jasper Inventor, deputy programme director at Greenpeace International, said: \u201cThis could be the turning point of Cop30<\/a>. This was a strong signal coming from Global South and Global North countries on the need to phase out fossil fuels. They are following the call of 40,000 people on the streets of Belem and millions of people around the world. The presidency [of the Cop] and the rest of the parties have to heed this call. The climate needs it, the people demand it.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the rest of their story here:<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Youth activists from around the world have joined the proceedings in Brazil<\/a>, on Tuesday hosting the final of three Youth-led Climate Forums during which they presented the global youth statement \u2013 an enormous undertaking that collected the largest declaration from children and youth in climate change.<\/p>\n The effort, which included more than 30,000 young people from over 100 countries, outlined calls for \u201cfull, fast, fair fossil phase-out,\u201d institutionalizing intergenerational equity, moves toward peace, climate finance centered on justice, and adaptation \u201cas a moral and political priority\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have agency, inherited wisdom and collective power. We are tired of being told what is \u2018best\u2019 for us by the very institutions that led us into this catastrophe,\u201d said Victoria Elizabeth Whalen. Youth have demanded to be allowed a seat at the table in decisions where they have typically been excluded.<\/p>\n \u201cOur future is being burnt down with the flames of fossil fuel extractivism, genocide, and colonialism disguised under false solutions,\u201d said Keanu Arpels-Josiah, with the US group, Fridays For Future. \u201cOur generation\u2014country after country, continent after continent\u2014will rise until that future is our reality.\u201d<\/p>\n During an intergenerational dialogue youth representatives were joined by Noura Hamladji of Algeria as Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), who answered questions from youth representatives.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most effective engagement is making sure each and every one of you engages with national delegations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ruby Rain Williams was among the youth advocates, traveling to Brazil from California in the US for her first COP. Williams, an indigenous youth leader in the US, shared in a post online<\/a> that she was nervous at first but cherished the chance to speak and connect with others.<\/p>\n \u201cI got on the stage and I was like \u2018Oh, this actually isn\u2019t that bad. I remember how to do this now,\u2019 and then, I started yappin\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Williams spoke to the Guardian before her trip about advocacy that helped bring about the enormous Klamath Dam removal in California last year \u2013 the largest project of its kind ever attempted in the US. She traveled to Bel\u00e9m to share the experience with others, and call for dam removals on rivers around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cI talked about dam removal on the Klamath River and how if you have a dam, you can\u2019t also be agreeing with Indigenous Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.26 EST<\/p>\n In an exclusive interview with Nina Lakhani, Guardian climate justice reporter, the prime minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay <\/strong>explained why climate action and environmental protection are key parts of improving the happiness of the Bhutanese people – and why the west should follow his country\u2019s example.<\/p>\n Bhutan, a Buddhist democratic monarchy and biodiversity hotspot situated high in the eastern Himalayas, is among the world\u2019s most ambitious climate leaders thanks to its people\u2019s connection with nature and a strong political focus on improving gross national happiness rather than just GDP.<\/p>\n \u201cEven with our limited resources and huge geographical challenges, we have managed to prioritise climate action, social progress, cultural preservation and environmental conservation because the happiness and wellbeing of our people and our future generations is at the centre of our development agenda,\u201d Tobgay said in an interview. \u201cIf we can do it, developed rich countries with a lot more resources and revenue can \u2013 and must do a lot more to reduce their emissions and fight the climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n As the UN climate summit enters its final few days, Bhutan\u2019s climate pledge stands out as among the most ambitious with mitigation efforts across every sector of the economy, including boosting energy generation from hydro, solar, wind, distributed energy resource systems and piloting green hydrogen, as well as enhanced efficiency and regulations for transport, buildings and agriculture.<\/p>\n Read more here:<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Who will host next year\u2019s Cop? The tussle between Australia and Turkey continues with little clarity for delegates eager to beat the queues and book hotels before prices soar.<\/p>\n Last night, Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, said Australia would not stand in the way of Turkey hosting next year\u2019s Cop31 climate summit to avoid the hosting rights defaulting to Germany \u2013 which could be seen as a sign of disunity holding back climate action.<\/p>\n But a government spokesperson later clarified his comments, noting that Turkey had not been chosen as host and that Australia had the overwhelming support of countries.<\/p>\n \u201cTurkey shouldn\u2019t block us, just as we wouldn\u2019t block them if the situation were reversed,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut of course we will continue to negotiate with Turkey in good faith for an outcome in the best interests of the Pacific and our national interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> My colleague Nina Lakhani with responses to the crackdowns on indigenous protests this week:<\/p>\n A group of UN experts has issued a statement expressing \u201cdeep concern\u201d about the UN climate chief\u2019s request to beef up state security forces at the Cop30<\/a> venue – in response to peaceful protests by Indigenous protesters last week.<\/p>\n In a strongly worded letter, five special rapporteurs reminded the UNFCCC and Brazilian Cop30 hosts of their duty under international law to protect all human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, and the right to participate in multilateral spaces like the UN climate summit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe protection of Indigenous Peoples\u2019 human rights is essential, as they are facing widespread violations not only because of the continued expansion of fossil fuels in their territories, but also just transition projects, mining and carbon credits that do not respect their rights or harm biodiversity, water, food and health. Indigenous Peoples seek to be heard and ask that solutions affecting them are co-developed with them. Critically, these solutions also benefit everyone\u2019s human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including a safe climate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to information received, for now none of the protesters has been harmed or criminalized. We hope that there will be no attempts to press charges or legal reprisals for participation in these mobilizations. Both the host state and the UNFCCC Secretariat must ensure the respect of international standards protecting the right to protest.<\/p>\n \u201cWe express deep concern about requests to increase security, which have been met by a visible increase in armed security presence at COP30. First, this is not warranted by the circumstances of the protests that happened at COP30. And, second, this securitization contributes to creating a chilling effect and feeling of insecurity for all participants. Third, it represents a form of stigmatization<\/a> of environmental human rights defenders, and Indigenous Peoples in particular. Rather, their actions should be understood in the context of global trends of increasing and increasingly vicious attacks to defenders and their support organizations, as well as illegitimate limitations to the resources and support systems they can rely upon and generally shrinking of civic space.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement is signed by the UN special rapporteurs on human rights and climate change (Elisa Morgera), the rights of Indigenous Peoples (Albert K. Barume), clean, healthy and sustainable environment (Astrid Puentes Ria\u00f1); freedom of peaceful assembly and association (Gina Romero), and human rights defenders (Mary Lawlor).<\/p>\n The UNFCCC secretariat is expected to issue a response soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n The experts also point to the paradox of excluding civil society while fossil fuel industry p<\/a>articipants continue to be given access, reiterating their call made on the opening day of Cop<\/a>30 \u201cto curb the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists and ensure transparency, public participation, and meaningful dialogue with civil society.\u201d<\/p>\n They are calling for greater openness within the negotiating rooms, and in the letter slammed the new UNFCCC rule increasing access for observers yet only allowing them to speak only at the end of each meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cChanging dominating practices of closed-door negotiations and ineffective inclusion of civil society, other observers and scientists in the climate negotiations is overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The call to establish a global phaseout of fossil fuels is supported by scores of countries but still remains as a key issue of contention at Cop30. <\/a>Building on the resolution to \u201ctransition away\u201d from fossil fuels made two years ago in Dubai has proved to be a challenge \u2013 but one many ministers see as a vital part of an agreement this year.<\/p>\n The press conference offered not only urgent calls to action but a visual display of how widespread support for a phaseout.<\/p>\n \u2018Let\u2019s do a global Mutir\u00e3o to free ourselves from fossil fuels,\u201d Carsten Schneider, Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany said. We want an outcome of this COP which addresses the transition away from fossil fuels in a just and inclusive way.\u201d Schneider called on the COP30 Presidency to include this in the text, adding, \u201cthis is what we need to close the gap to 1.5 degrees\u201d.<\/p>\n Irene Velez Torres, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia, spoke about her country\u2019s phaseout as producers, with no new oil exploration contracts nor oil mining grants issued. \u201cColombia is the first government in the Amazon to take the decision of establishing the \u2018 Amazon free of mining and hydrocarbons\u2019,\u201d <\/strong>she said. \u201cWe have led a declaration to announce an outcome, \u2018una hoja de ruta\u2019, to phase out fossil fuels. Together with our colleagues from Brazil<\/a> we said this \u2018mapa do camino\u2019 is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Ministers join together for the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap<\/p>\n So many ministers gathered today, to join the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap, that there were challenges fitting them all behind a podium. During a press conference to unite in support of a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels representatives from around the world spoke about the urgent need for a plan for a phase out.<\/p>\n \u201cToday we bring today many diverse interests who all support the call for a roadmap,\u201d Tina Stege, of the Marshall Islands said, flanked by dozens standing behind her. \u201cThe best chance of landing an agreement at this COP is in the Mutir\u00e3o package,\u201d she said. \u201cThe current reference in the text is weak and is presented as an option – it must be strengthened and it must be adopted. That is why you see all these countries here today.\u201d<\/p>\n Ministers cram onto the stage to join the Mutir\u00e3o call for a fossil fuel roadmap Photograph: UNFFC<\/p>\n The group included representatives from Sierra Leone and Kenya. The German representative said nearly all of Europe was behind it. Marcele Oliveira, a youth champion, took the mic to loud applause.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to do this now,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is the most important mobilization around climate justice for our generation \u2013 so let\u2019s make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s Secretary of State for Energy Ed Miliband, a stalwart of Cop conferences, was also at the podium, speaking in support of the roadmap. \u201cThis is an issue that must not be ignored, cannot be ignored, and we are saying very very clearly must be at the heart of Cop.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.37 EST<\/p>\n \u2018Trump is such a nasty man. An obvious malignant narcissist.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Kim Stanley Robinson on the future present<\/p>\n The year is 2025. Against a backdrop of deadly climate disasters, mass extinctions, horrifying pandemics and narcissistic billionaires, the United Nation Cop30<\/a> climate conference decides to take a radical step to tackle the world\u2019s problems: the creation of a powerful new organisation charged with defending all living creatures, both now and in the future.<\/p>\n This is the outline of The Ministry of the Future, a novel that was classed as science fiction when it was published five years ago. Today, it has proved so eerily prescient and inspiring that it reads more like a much-need action plan to shift humanity off the path to dystopia.<\/p>\n While there is no prospect of a global super ministry being created in the real Cop30, the author Kim Stanley Robinson, who is visiting Bel\u00e9m, said the best hope for life on Earth remained international negotiations, even if the process of haggling over conference texts can often seem agonisingly slow and technical.<\/p>\n He quoted a line from his book: \u201cIf you give up on words and sentences, you end up in a world of gangsters and thieves.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in 2019, when he wrote the novel, he had yet to visit a climate conference. It was not until two years later at COP26 in Glasgow that he immersed himself in the process. It has given him new insights and reason for sympathy for those wrestling with the multilateral network.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more than any one person can take in. It\u2019s easy to feel overwhelmed. And then you have to realize you\u2019re just one node in a network, that the network is always going to be bigger than any node, and you just hold on to your part and not try to take it all on,\u201d he told The Guardian. \u201cIn fact, I say this to all of you, pace yourselves for the long haul. You\u2019re going to be in this work for the rest of your lives, and it\u2019s easy to burn out, and sometimes by caring too much.\u201d<\/p>\n The description of a starkly opposite response to biological collapse is among the most chilling sections of the novel: \u201cSome who feel the end is near work to hasten it or worsen it. Their position seems to be that if they\u2019re going to die, then the world must die with them. This is clearly a manifestation of narcissism,\u201d he writes. \u201cNarcissism is generally regarded as a result of a stunted imagination and a form of fear. For the narcissist, the other is too fearful to register. And thus, the individual death of the narcissist represents the end of everything real.<\/p>\n As a result, death for the narcissist becomes even more fearful and disastrous than it is for people who accept the reality of the other and the continuance of the world beyond their individual end. Even the night sky frightens the narcissist as presenting impossible to deny evidence of a world exterior to the self. Narcissists therefore tend to stay indoors, live in ideas and demand compliance and assent from everyone they come in contact with who are all regarded as servants or ghosts. And as death approaches, they do their best to destroy as much of the world as they can. Narcissism is a form of cowardice.\u201d<\/p>\n In comments later he makes the reference explicit: \u201cI read that because Trump is such a nasty man. An obvious malignant narcissist. He\u2019s like a living example of how bad it can get. And I\u2019m astonished at how terrible his judgment is. On each one of these big questions, he\u2019s emphatically on the wrong side. And climate\u2019s one of them, and it\u2019s quite bad for the world.<\/p>\n But how can somebody have judgment that terrible? It boggles the mind. And I think narcissism, not that psychology is much of a help, but if you wanted to try to explain him and you were doing rational actor theory, he doesn\u2019t believe in the existence of anybody else. And so he\u2019s rational only within that irrational understanding. He\u2019s locked in his own mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Robinson is a leftist who believes in communal action and the benefit of having a global commons. He said he was delighted when Lula won back power in Brazil<\/a> as it showed the far right could be defeated.<\/p>\n The Ministry of the Future, which starts with a gut-wrenchingly horrendous depiction of climate disaster, ends on a more hopeful, even utopian note. Following that arc in the real world is a whole lot tougher. Robinson acknowledges politicians are reluctant to cede any of the interests of the present to the future. But he remains a firm believer in the strong ethical argument that is at the heart of the book: that what is good for the biosphere is what is good. And remains a strong supporter of the idea that nature has rights.<\/p>\n The paradigm shift, he said, came when he learned that around half the DNA in a human body is not human. \u201cOnce you know that you yourself are an ecology, a forest – and you can get grossly sick if some of your fellow citizens happen to revolt in your gut or somewhere else – it explains a lot. And then what you have to admit is the rest of the planet is your extended body. And you are like a jellyfish in the ocean. And so the world is just pouring into you and pouring out of you,\u201d he said. \u201cThen the rest of the world\u2019s health is your health. And you can\u2019t say, I\u2019m going to cut down this forest unless you\u2019re going to say, I\u2019m going to cut off my right leg. And in that sense of identification, the rights of nature just becomes a matter of \u2018best take care of your limbs.\u2019<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.22 EST<\/p>\n Reactions to the first round of draft text are starting to roll in with an unsurprising mix of disappointment and hope.<\/p>\n \u201cThe draft text may contain the right ingredients, but it\u2019s been assembled in a way that leaves a bitter aftertaste,\u201d Andreas Sieber, Associate Director of Policy and Campaigns for 350.org said in a statement that emphasized the need for credible fossil fuel phase-out. \u201cThe COP30 Presidency must heed the many Parties, including President Lula, calling for a clear transition pathway and put it where it belongs: at the centre of the 1.5\u00b0C response, balanced with adequate finance,\u201d Sieber added. \u201cWithout this, the overall effort will fall short.\u201d<\/p>\n Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy lead at Oil Change International, called the options presented on fossil fuels \u201cwildly unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we need is a clear collective direction of travel on how countries intend to phase out fossil fuels based on equity, and how rich Global North countries will provide finance and support to the countries that need it,\u201d Ioualalen said. \u201cMinisters must fix this mess and deliver the progress that we need to make the fair and funded transition away from fossil fuels they promised in Dubai a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOptions presented on fossil fuels in this new text are wildly unacceptable and a blatant dereliction of duty while the world burns. We don\u2019t need a COP decision to convene a workshop or ministerial round table on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n Kaysie Brown, E3G Associate Director, had a different take, calling the draft \u201ca credible package capable of delivering meaningful COP30 outcomes and propelling the Paris Agreement into its age of implementation\u201d.<\/p>\n Li Shuo, a climate analyst at the Asia Society Policy Institute, championed how quickly some initial framework had come together: \u201cIt represents a steady progression from the previous iteration and is likely one of the earliest releases of such a clean text in recent COP history.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s still a ways to go.<\/p>\n As my colleague Fiona pointed out, nations are still far from resolving discussions on the big four issues \u2013 finance; transparency; trade; and a response to the fact that current national climate plans (NDCs) are too weak to keep the 1.5C heating limit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.19 EST<\/p>\n Gabrielle Canon here, taking over from from my colleague Ajit to bring you the rest of day 8 as the sprint to bag a deal continues to unfold in Bel\u00e9m.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The lack of money that rich polluters have provided for adaptation to climate breakdown has frustrated delegates and observers from poorer countries that are struggling with violent weather \u2013 while negotiators are divided on how to measure adaptation progress. Writing in Climate Home News yesterday, Mohamed Adow<\/strong>, director of nonprofit Power Shift Africa, argues that the much-awaited Cop30<\/a> Global Goal on Adaptation must be paired with predictable grants.<\/p>\n The UN\u2019s latest adaptation gap report<\/a> could not be clearer. Needs are skyrocketing. Finance is collapsing. And yet the global community continues to debate how to measure progress, rather than how to enable it. They act as if weighing a cow will make it fatter, rather than giving it any food.<\/p>\n This contradiction exposes the heart of the climate crisis: adaptation is not merely a technical challenge; it is a political and moral one. Every finance gap is a justice gap. Behind every unmet target are farmers who cannot plant, families who cannot rebuild, and communities forced into displacement because \u201cresilience\u201d was promised but never delivered.<\/p>\n Adaptation is the difference between dignity and despair. It determines whether societies can endure rising temperatures, intensifying floods, or prolonged droughts \u2014 or whether they are pushed beyond the limits of survival.<\/p>\n Yet, as negotiators haggle over the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its indicators, the foundations needed to achieve these goals are crumbling. How do we talk about climate-resilient development when the means to achieve it are drying up? How do we measure resilience while draining the very resources that make resilience possible?<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.15 EST<\/p>\n Dharna Noor<\/p>\n Take a minute to wrap your head around the latest piece of climate summit jargon. My colleague Dharna Noor<\/strong> has written a helpful explainer on Bam, a proposal for states to drive action on a just transition towards a low-carbon economy. A few key points follow below.<\/p>\n What is a just transition?<\/strong><\/p>\n The concept of the just transition originated from the US labour movement, specifically from energy and chemical workers who said employees of polluting sectors should be supported and compensated as they move into more environmentally friendly jobs.<\/p>\n It has since been taken up by civil society organisations and expanded to include all people affected by sectors that are shifting as climate policies are enacted. That includes workers in the booming transition minerals sector, as well as people living near mineral extraction sites. It also encompasses people affected by attempts to clean up the agriculture sector.<\/p>\n When did the just transition become a consideration in Cop negotiations?<\/strong><\/p>\n The preamble to the 2015 Paris agreement mentioned the framework, when parties agreed to \u201ctaking into account the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities\u201d. It acknowledged that without planning, the shift to a low-carbon economy could leave workers and communities behind. But preamble text does not lead to implementation.<\/p>\n During the 2018 climate talks in Katowice, the just transition concept entered the sphere of negotiations when a committee of experts<\/a> convened by Cop officials considered it. Three years later, at Cop27 in Egypt, parties created the \u201cjust transition work programme\u201d, which was intended to help countries design fair pathways and mitigate unintended harms of climate action.<\/p>\n The following year in Dubai, officials fleshed out the programme some more, including by agreeing to hold regular dialogues for parties focused on the just transition. But none of those agreements included requirements for parties. Bam supporters say they have a plan to fix that.<\/p>\n What would the Bam do?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bam proponents say a new mechanism is needed to require countries to take concrete steps toward a just transition. Right now, global just transition efforts are fragmented and inconsistent.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one is even tracking progress on this,\u201d said Teresa Anderson, the global climate justice lead at the NGO ActionAid. \u201cBam would fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n Bam would also require countries to coordinate their work supporting a just transition, ensuring everyone knows what is happening globally and who it is affecting. It also aims to develop ways for countries to share best practices on a just transition and to support the implementation of such policies, especially in low-income countries with limited state capacity.<\/p>\n And though it would not mandate any new spending on climate finance, it would prioritise non-debt-inducing finance and ensure technology is shared with developing countries \u2013 values that states agreed to uphold in the Paris agreement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> The Guardian environment team is not known for its good news content, but a crucial vote in Ecuador on Sunday delivered a win for the climate, biodiversity and democracy.<\/p>\n Supporters of the Citizen Revolution Movement celebrate the victory of the \u2018No\u2019 vote in the referendum in Quito, Ecuador. Photograph: Jos\u00e9 J\u00e1come\/EPA<\/p>\n Ecuadorians overwhelmingly voted down four proposals that included rewriting the constitution that recognises the rights of nature \u2013 a unique protection that has empowered Indigenous peoples and other civil society groups to defend the Amazon, Galapagos islands, Andean highlands, and other vital ecosystems. Ecuador, which straddles the equator, is among the most biodiverse places on the planet, with the Amazon rainforest covering almost half of the country\u2019s land area.<\/p>\n President Daniel Noboa, the 37-year-old right wing leader, banana magnate and close ally of Donald Trump, has proposed a $47bn oil expansion plan in the Amazon and building housing and hotel complexes on the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, a Unesco world heritage site and biosphere reserve. Sunday\u2019s vote was a clear rebuke of Naboa\u2019s authoritarian tilt, with voters also rejecting the return of foreign military bases to the country, and against proposals to curtail party funding and reduce the number of parliamentarians.<\/p>\n Voting in Ecuador is compulsory. Over 80% of eligible voters took part in the referendum, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE).<\/p>\n In the run up to Sunday\u2019s vote, Indigenous and environmental leaders told the Guardian that<\/a> they were facing a wave of state intimidation tactics including having bank accounts frozen. In September, an Indigenous land defender, Efra\u00edn Fueres, was shot and killed by the army during a protest against the high cost of living, a lack of medicine in hospitals, the deterioration of schools and growing social insecurity.<\/p>\n\n
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![\"Nina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Nina_Lakhani.png\")
Nina Lakhani<\/p>\nNina Lakhani<\/p>\n![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763540787_156_Jonathan_Watts.jpg\")
Jonathan Watts<\/p>\nNina Lakhani<\/p>\n