ActionAid Urges Governments at COP30 to BackGlobal ‘Just Transition’ Plan for Climate Action

By Bunmi Yekini

BELÉM, Brazil, Nov 10 – ActionAid International on Monday called on governments meeting at the COP30 climate summit in Belém to commit to a coordinated global approach to “just transition,” warning that current climate actions are sidelining workers, women and communities in the Global South.

New research by the charity reveals that less than 3% of global climate finance supports just transition initiatives, those that prioritise the people most affected by the shift away from fossil fuels and industrial agriculture.

“Climate action might be taking place, but the needs of people at the heart of these transitions are being ignored, and communities are being left out of decisions that acutely impact them,” said Teresa Anderson, Global Lead for Climate Justice at ActionAid International. “Cutting emissions shouldn’t mean cutting corners.”

ActionAid said it wants COP30 delegates to agree on a new “Belém Action Mechanism” to coordinate just transition efforts globally. The mechanism would promote shared learning, financial support, and ensure local people are involved in shaping policies that affect their lives and livelihoods.

“Without a just transition plan, we don’t have a robust, global approach to the problem, and the situation is haphazard and disorganised,” Anderson said.

The organisation also urged wealthy, high-emitting nations to provide “trillions of dollars in grant-based climate finance” annually to support the transitions of developing countries, warning that reliance on loans is worsening their debt burdens.

“Disappointingly, last year’s COP29 in Baku didn’t deliver the climate finance that the world needs to properly tackle the global crisis,” Anderson added. “We’re another year on and the situation is desperate. Why can’t governments see that the more finance is pushed in the form of loans, the further vulnerable countries are being pushed into debt?”

ActionAid and allied climate organisations say a just transition framework is critical to ensure that efforts to cut emissions do not come at the cost of livelihoods, jobs, or equality in the world’s poorest regions.

Bunmi Yekini is a Health, Climate, and Environment journalist. She is writing from Belem, in Brazil, where she is covering this year’s UN Conference of the Parties or COP30, which is being held from the 10th to the 21st of November 2025, courtesy of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organised by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.