Climate Action Network Can Welcomes Adoption Of Just Transition

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 12:49 PM

climate action network can welcomes adoption of just transition

Climate Action Network International (CAN) welcomes the adoption of the Just Transition mechanism as one of the strongest rights-based outcomes in the history of the UN climate negotiations. At the same time, CAN warns that COP30 has produced weak outcomes in the very areas that are critical to ensuring justice for vulnerable and frontline communities. A dangerously weak outcome on Adaptation finance leaves little hope for impacted communities. Further adding to this injustice, governments did not deliver a concrete global response plan to address the ambition gap, and only agreed to have further processes to address this gap including on a just,... We need implementation that includes finance to urgently address the root cause of the climate crisis. The real faultline running through COP30 was the refusal of developed countries to agree to the provision of finance across all areas.

Their blocking of commitments on Adaptation finance, mitigation ambition, and the transition away from fossil fuels directly weakened the overall outcome. By once again failing to meet their climate-finance obligations – obligations grounded in historical responsibility – developed countries have undermined trust and fairness in the process and limited what this COP could have achieved. The Just Transition mechanism stands as the major achievement of COP30 and for workers and communities across the world. More ambition on climate is possible if we put social justice at the heart. No COP decision has ever carried such ambitious and comprehensive language on rights and inclusion: human rights; labour rights; the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-decendants; and strong references to gender equality, women’s empowerment, education,... This outcome did not happen by accident.

This is the result of the hard fought struggles and collective power of trade unions, communities, social movements, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, and civil society over many years and especially escalating this year for an... 'COP30 takes a hopeful step towards justice, but does not go far enough', 22 November 2025 Climate Action Network International (CAN) welcomes the adoption of the Just Transition mechanism as one of the strongest rights-based outcomes in the history of the UN climate negotiations. At the same time, CAN warns that COP30 has produced weak outcomes in the very areas that are critical to ensuring justice for vulnerable and frontline communities. A dangerously weak outcome on Adaptation finance leaves little hope for impacted communities. Further adding to this injustice, governments did not deliver a concrete global response plan to address the ambition gap, and only agreed to have further processes to address this gap including on a just,...

We need implementation that includes finance to urgently address the root cause of the climate crisis. The real faultline running through COP30 was the refusal of developed countries to agree to the provision of finance across all areas. Their blocking of commitments on Adaptation finance, mitigation ambition, and the transition away from fossil fuels directly weakened the overall outcome. By once again failing to meet their climate-finance obligations – obligations grounded in historical responsibility – developed countries have undermined trust and fairness in the process and limited what this COP could have achieved. The Just Transition mechanism stands as the major achievement of COP30 and for workers and communities across the world. More ambition on climate is possible if we put social justice at the heart.

No COP decision has ever carried such ambitious and comprehensive language on rights and inclusion: human rights; labour rights; the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-decendants; and strong references to gender equality, women’s empowerment, education,... Les participants à l'atelier de présentation du Comité de Coordination des Actions Climatiques des ONG/OSC organisé au siège du FIRCA,... Le Dr Pierre-Louis Amoussou et quelques clients dans l’espace maraîcher de la ferme. Par Ken KOUTCHAKPO Situé sur une superficie... Climate Action Network Canada celebrates the COP30 decision to develop a Just Transition Mechanism—a model for how the international climate negotiations can centre justice and ambition, which are sorely lacking from the other decisions... Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada, said:

“For the first time at COP30, the world has committed to center justice for workers and communities in the UN climate talks. Our movements’ efforts have paid off: the Just Transition decision has the most ambitious language on rights and inclusion that we have ever seen at a COP, recognizing marginalized groups like women, youth and... It also calls for the respect and promotion of the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, including their self-determination and right to free, prior, and informed consent, affirmed in the UN Declaration on... There’s a lot of work ahead to turn these principles into reality—but today, we celebrate this big step towards connecting climate action with people’s lives. “COP30 had a challenging task: keeping climate multilateralism alive in the midst of massive geopolitical upheaval. Despite the best efforts of civil society and champions from the Global South, governments failed to agree to a response that matches the scale of the gap between the crises we face and the...

Until rich countries live up to their responsibilities on finance and adaptation, the world will continue to slip closer to disaster. And as long as the trend of closed-door negotiations continues, COPs will continue to fuel cynicism and yield weaker outcomes than what inclusion and transparency could achieve. “Canada’s general silence at this COP and climate backsliding at home did not help. It marks the weakening of years of progress and has been noticed by our allies. Here in Belém, we saw real momentum building around implementing the global transition away from fossil fuels. It’s disappointing that this wasn’t reflected in the final text—and it’s equally disappointing that Canada’s fossil fuel expansion is so out of step with where the world is heading.”

Cross-constituency groups held a “Just Transition Super Action,” exerting pressure for establishing a just transition mechanism at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Nov. 21, 2025. Photo credit: Aakaluk Blatchford BIG NEWS! The persistent demands of grassroots movements and frontline groups resulted in COP30 creating a just transition mechanism! With this decision, the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) will evolve into a permanent just transition institution within the UNFCCC.

While the Just Transition Alliance (JTA) welcomes this decision, the fight for a just transition and climate justice is far from over. Many are saying this just transition mechanism marks one of the most important outcomes at COP30. We celebrate the fierce dedication, perseverance, and labor of cross-constituency groups that we worked alongside. However, we now must return to pushing for processes and practices that refuse false solutions and “green” colonialism and that advance just transition principles and collective flourishing. While the COP30 JTWP draft text responds to the demands of many Indigenous Peoples, frontline workers, and the most impacted communities, including Afro-descendants, the decision lacks the processes, principles, and fundamental components necessary for... We know the struggle for a just transition will not be won at a single conference.

This work did not start, nor will it end, in Belém. Read our press release on the JTWP negotiations and our critiques of the draft text. Also, listen to analysis from JTA’s Policy Lead Fernando Tormos-Aponte in his response from COP30, recorded one day before the big decision! Our work continues, and we appreciate and need your support! Just transition now! This blog post was first published on 2035Legitimacy (27 November 2025).

The decision at COP30 to develop a new just transition mechanism is hailed as a historical climate justice decision, while others warn of the lack of concrete commitments and measures. What would a just transition mechanism entail, and how does it add to existing efforts? As the tumult of this year’s UN climate summit starts to settle, the decision to develop a new just transition mechanism is celebrated as one of the most concrete achievements of the meeting. The mechanism – also referred to as the Belém Action Mechanism, or “the BAM” – is a victory for the cross-constituency coalition that advocated its adoption, as well as Global South countries that supported... This blog explains what the just transition decision at COP30 entails, and what it adds to the existing debates on just transition within the UNFCCC regime. Just transition refers to the need to implement the sustainability transition in a socially just way that guarantees proper engagement with and support for affected and vulnerable people and communities.

The imperative of a just transition was recognised already in the 2015 Paris agreement, but the work on just transition within the UNFCCC regime has gained more momentum in the past few years, thanks... The stronger focus on just transition comes at a time when climate policymaking is shifting from target setting to the stage of concrete actions, illustrated by COP30 being framed as the “implementation COP”. With rising pressure to implement ambitious net-zero transitions, efforts to secure a socially just transition are seen by many as the key to achieving tangible change. Without actively including and supporting affected groups within the transition, the disruptive changes brought about by climate action risk resulting in political opposition, contestation and even climate backsliding. Implementing a just transition is also considered essential for securing the procedural and substantive rights of affected people and communities, including workers and Indigenous Peoples. For climate chaos to be avoided, many things have to change about the way in which our societies and economies are organised, including the values that serve as their organising principles.

Just Transition as a critical component for achieving those shifts and for doing so in a way that is in line with climate justice, as organising the transition in a just way is the... The Just Transition concept was developed by U.S. workers in response to ‘job blackmail’ in the late 1970s when the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union, led by Anthony Mazzocchi, sought support for workers who were asked by their employers to choose... In the 1990 ‘Superfund for Workers’’ to provide financial support and higher education opportunities for workers in affected industries. By the late 1990s, several U.S. and Canadian unions had endorsed the Just Transition as an approach, and the environmental justice movement took on the concept, calling for the allocation of funds to support the transition for workers and communities...

At the international level, from Kyoto onwards, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) began including Just Transition wording in their statements at global climate and sustainability conferences. Just Transition emerges as an approach seeking to secure workers’ support for climate action. NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 23 – Climate advocates and activists at COP30 have welcomed a major breakthrough after governments agreed on a new global Just Transition mechanism designed to protect workers, communities and women as... Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp The Just Transition mechanism aims to ensure that the move to a low-carbon economy is fair and inclusive, supporting workers and communities dependent on fossil-fuel industries while tackling social and economic inequalities, including poverty... Announced in Belém, Brazil, the mechanism is expected to guide countries in crafting transition plans across key sectors such as energy, agriculture and minerals—ensuring emissions cuts do not come at the expense of livelihoods.

Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid, called the agreement “a huge win”, saying it would be vital in ensuring climate action protects jobs and improves quality of life. Since its inclusion in the Paris Agreement, just transition has grown in visibility and space in climate discussions. Multiple initiatives inside and beyond the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have emerged, and it is increasingly seen as a key to enabling prosperity pathways for workers, communities, and countries. With the adoption of the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) in 2022, the scope and ambition of just transition negotiations reached a new level, and expectations... At a time where multilateralism faces deep challenges, just transition offers the possibility of an agreed outcome that speaks to the majorities’ needs and demands, and allows governments across all regions to benefit. This paper summarizes the main inputs and insights from the convening “Making Just Transition Happen: The Role of the Just Transition Work Programme in 2025,” organized by the Stanley Center for Peace and Security...

It summarizes potential outcomes of the Work Programme in 2025, presented by participants, and key features of the conversations they sparked. The convening “Making Just Transition Happen: The Role of the Just Transition Work Programme in 2025” took place May 24–25, 2025, at the Gamboa Rainforest Reserve in Panama. It brought together key stakeholders for an informal conversation on potential COP30 decisions related to just transition as a means to strengthen the social fabric for a positive negotiating environment before the next formal... As negotiations continue, Climate Action Network welcomes the fact that Parties are close to delivering justice at COP30, and encourages them to stay the course. Climate Action Network (CAN), representing over 2,000 organisations in more than 130 countries, is calling first and foremost for the Belem Action Mechanism to implement a Just Transition. Climate Action Network welcomes the draft text on establishing a Just Transition Mechanism, the purpose of which will be to coordinate, guide and enable support for Just Transition initiatives within and outside the UNFCCC...

The civil society network calls on the UK, Canada, Australia and the European Union to join the progress regarding the Belem Action Mechanism, otherwise they risk not only shortchanging workers and impacted communities in... On the Just Transition Work Programme, CAN is calling for sections on inclusion, rights, and the need to apply Just Transition to all aspects of the energy transition and to other sectors that need... The world needs to transition away from fossil fuels in a just, equitable and orderly way. Climate Action Network welcomes the emerging conversation on a Transition Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF) Roadmap. This new initiative needs finance and crucially, the Belem Action Mechanism, which stands a real chance of succeeding here at COP30. The Just Transition implementation mechanism is a fully fleshed-out proposal that has all the needed safeguards and functions to actually execute a Just Transition that works for, and is backed by, workers and communities...

Climate Action Network Can Welcomes Adoption Of Just Transition

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