A Decade After Paris, COP30 Fails to Deliver for Communities on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis

Statement by Debbie Hillier, Mercy Corps UNFCCC Policy Lead:  

“COP30 was a failure for the communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Ten years after the Paris Agreement — in what was meant to be the 'implementation COP' — leaders left Belém, Brazil, without the commitments needed to protect people already living with the devastating consequences of climate change. Despite record-breaking losses, escalating humanitarian need, and clear evidence that adaptation finance is dangerously insufficient, negotiators failed to deliver the scale of action this moment demands. 

“Communities facing climate impacts urgently needed COP30 to deliver stronger mitigation ambition, a just transition away from fossil fuels, and — most critically — a substantial increase in adaptation finance. Instead, the final text made no progress towards transitioning away from fossil fuels, despite countries committing to this two years ago in Dubai. While a global agreement is preferable, Colombia and the Netherlands are showing real leadership by agreeing to co-host the first International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels. This will be an important space to identify the necessary pathways to phase out fossil fuels, which will be incorporated in a roadmap, to be drafted by Brazil, ahead of COP31.  

“If the world fails to reduce emissions and mitigate the crisis, the cost of adaptation will continue to rise, and climate-vulnerable communities will continue to suffer the consequences. 

“Adaptation finance is not abstract. It determines whether farmers can protect their crops, whether coastal communities can reinforce shorelines, whether health systems can withstand climate-related disease outbreaks, and whether countries can build resilience rather than lose hard-won development gains.   

“While the COP30 outcome includes a new commitment on adaptation finance, it is deeply disappointing. It includes no baseline year, no clarity on the actual target, and no mechanism defining who is responsible for delivering the tripling. It also allows other flows such as concessional loans and private finance, and delays delivery to 2035 — far too late for communities already in crisis. 

“The adaptation finance pledge was part of a broader package agreed in Belém. COP30 adopted a set of indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) — in theory, a milestone that should enable the world to begin operationalizing the goal and tracking real progress. The new Belém–Addis Vision outlines a path for follow-up, and the Baku Adaptation Roadmap provides an opportunity for countries and stakeholders to shape implementation. 

“Yet the indicators themselves were the product of last-minute political bargaining, leaving them difficult to measure and lacking clarity. Most critically, without adequate finance, these indicators cannot translate into real resilience. Countries can monitor and report endlessly, but without resources, communities will not become safer or more prepared. 

 “COP30 failed to correct the deep structural imbalance in global finance. There was no progress to end fossil fuel subsidies that continue to dwarf climate finance flows, nor to provide the debt justice needed by countries forced to spend more on repayments than protecting people from climate impacts. References to finance for developing countries remain weak and fall short of core principles such as “polluter pays” and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). Without addressing these systemic failures, the world will continue to invest more in driving the climate crisis than in solving it. 

“COP30 may have been called the 'implementation COP' or the 'people COP,' but in reality, it failed to turn commitments into action. Ten years after the Paris Agreement, communities cannot afford more empty promises. The signal on adaptation finance is far weaker than what vulnerable communities needed, but momentum for greater ambition remains — from civil society, from frontline countries, and from the International Court of Justice, which has underscored states’ legal obligations earlier this year. 

“The window to deliver urgent climate action is rapidly closing. COP30 did not go far enough, but the fight for a world where vulnerable communities can adapt and thrive must continue.”