However, the voices of people across the world calling for more urgent action on the climate crisis could not be ignored. More than 80 governments, backed by businesses worldwide called for a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels. Whilst this was omitted from the final text, the COP presidency did make a commitment to developing a roadmap outside of formal negotiations. In April, Columbia and the Netherlands will host the first international conference focussed on phasing out fossil fuels. This shows that despite the imperfect outcome, there is growing momentum to push fossil fuels out of existence, led by collective action. COP30 showed the world that people power is still the driver behind climate action. Here are a few more positives to take away from the conference: 

People power is rising 

After three COPs held in countries with little tolerance for demonstrations, for the first time in years, people could rally for climate action – and rally they did. Activists filled the streets of Belém throughout the two-week conference, urging negotiators to ramp up ambition on climate action. At the halfway point of contentious negotiations, the “Great People’s March” saw around 70,000 indigenous protestors and environmental activists march through Belém in the first major protest to be held outside annual climate talks since COP26 in Glasgow four years ago. The march followed two protests earlier that week led by indigenous activists from the Tapajós region. One of the most striking sections of the “people’s march” was a “funeral for fossil fuels”. A dozen “mourners” dressed in black rallied below two large ghoul puppets and three coffins for “coal”, “oil” and “gas”.  

Formal framework for a “Just Transition”  

One achievement from COP30 was the creation of a “Just Transition Mechanism” known as the “Belém Action Mechanism” (BAM). Putting social justice at the heart of climate action, it plans to create a framework for countries to transition away from fossil fuels in way that prioritises the needs of workers and communities. It’s the first formal UN framework dedicated to ensuring that the global shift away from fossil fuels is fair, inclusive, and rights-based – and includes some of the most progressive rights-based language ever seen in a COP decision. This outcome is the result of the hard-fought struggles and collective power of civil society over the years.  

Together we’re making renewables surge  

Amongst all the noise, it’s easy to forget the progress that we are achieving together every day to push fossil fuels off the grid. Progress from COPs might be slow and imperfect, but it is progress nonetheless – and on a global scale. Since the Paris Agreement was signed 10 years ago at COP21, renewables have overtaken coal as the largest source of electricity globally – with solar and wind accounting for than 90% of new global electricity capacity additions. Two years ago at COP28 in Dubai, nearly 200 countries agreed to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, with solar expected to play a crucial role. Since then, solar has become the fastest growing energy source globally, growing by 31% in the first three quarters of 2025. So, as we keep working together at a ground level to accelerate renewables, it’s so important that we keep them in global discussion too – and for all its faults, COP plays a huge role in that.