“What the world needs from Belém is clarity of purpose and a willingness to act at the scale of the crisis”
COP30 in Belém ends this week, at a moment when the world can no longer treat climate justice as a secondary issue.
A summit hosted in the Amazon carries moral force, but it will only matter if it delivers concrete outcomes for communities confronting irreversible climate harm.
What the world needs from Belém is clarity of purpose and a willingness to act at the scale of the crisis.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has framed COP30 as a turning point.
He has repeatedly argued that climate action cannot succeed while inequality persists and while millions lack the basic conditions for a dignified life.
He wants Belém to be the summit where the world stops pretending that development and environmental protection are incompatible and starts embracing models that deliver both.
Brazil’s credibility will depend on how frankly it confronts its own environmental contradictions.
Deforestation has fallen since Lula returned to office, but illegal mining, land grabbing and attacks on Indigenous defenders continue.
Brazil’s consideration of new oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon River has drawn criticism from environmentalists and Indigenous leaders who argue that real climate leadership requires rejecting new fossil fuel expansion.
Belém therefore becomes a test not only of global ambition but of Brazil’s willingness to reconcile its rhetoric with its domestic reality.
Indigenous peoples are central to this moment. Indigenous stewardship predates global climate diplomacy by centuries.
Their presence in Belém reminds negotiators that climate justice begins with respecting the people who safeguard the world’s most important ecosystems.
Youth activists strengthen this message with urgency rooted in intergenerational responsibility.
The youth demand that leaders act in line with scientific reality rather than political convenience.
They reject incrementalism and insist that Belém cannot repeat the failures of past summits.
A central expectation for COP30 is decisive action on Loss and Damage.
The framework already exists after decades of advocacy, but its current funding is far below what vulnerable countries need.
What Belém must deliver is not new architecture but rapid scaling up of contributions, prioritizing grant based finance and enabling direct access for frontline communities. Wealthy countries must stop treating Loss and Damage as charity.
It is a responsibility grounded in historical emissions and present capacity.
Another key outcome must be a credible plan for a just transition. This is not merely about shifting away from fossil fuels.
It is about ensuring that workers, Indigenous peoples and developing countries are supported in the transformation of their economies.
Belém must articulate a pathway where climate ambition and social justice reinforce each other, not collide.
A just transition must include strong protections for territories, investments in renewable energy and new economic opportunities that do not replicate old inequalities.
These imperatives align with the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which clarified that states have legal obligations to prevent climate harm and protect present and future generations.
The opinion affirms that climate justice is not only moral but legal. COP30 will be the first climate summit held after this ruling.
Its outcomes will signal whether governments intend to comply with international law or continue delaying action.
For the Philippines, Belém is especially significant after the destruction caused by Tino and Uwan.
These storms again exposed the country’s deep vulnerability and the urgency of securing stronger global support.
A scaled up Loss and Damage fund would provide faster recovery resources for families who lose homes and livelihoods.
A genuine just transition plan would help ensure that developing countries are not left behind as the global economy moves away from fossil fuels.
Strong climate justice commitments would affirm that vulnerable nations deserve more than sympathy. They deserve meaningful action.
My organization The Klima Center of Manila Observatory has a four-person delegation in Belém, supporting the Philippine Delegation while also active in climate justice advocacy.
In the meantime, with other colleagues from Klima and my law firm La Viña Zarate and a lawyer-colleague from Pakisama, I am in Marihangin Island in Balabac, Palawan.
We are representing the Molbog and Cagayanen tribes of Mariahangin in an epic fight between oligarchs and corporations, with their government collaborators, against indigenous peoples.
I have personally taken this on as a priority and lead our work here because of its importance not just in the Philippines but globally for human rights, indigenous peoples, climate justice, and the principle of just transition, all issues in Belém.
Facebook, X, Instagram, and BlueSky: tonylavs
Website: tonylavina.com
