Another year, another round of COP – the annual UN climate negotiations where governments come together to decide how the world will respond to the climate crisis. from 10–22 November 2025in Belém, Brazil, , The Brazilian COP was planned as a “turning point” for climate implementation rather than another cycle of promises.

Throughout the two weeks, key themes emerged: multilevel governance, forest protection (with a clear focus on the Amazon), climate finance and local adaptation. Over 30 Thematic Days brought in civil society, non-state actors, innovators, youth and community organisations.

For community-led initiatives (CLIs) across Europe, COP30 brought both new openings and challenges that could shape our collective work in the year ahead.

A Breakthrough for Climate Justice: The Belém Action Mechanism on Just Transition

One of the most meaningful outcomes was the agreement on a new Just Transition mechanism, now formally called the Belém Action Mechanism.

This is not just another UN platform, but the first-ever COP decision to include the strongest rights-based language in the history of climate negotiations. It explicitly recognises:

Human rights
Local communities
Labour rights
Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendant communities
Gender equality
Youth and education
The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)

Paragraph 12 of the decision states that Just Transition efforts must ensure “broad and meaningful participation involving all relevant stakeholders … including … Indigenous Peoples, local communities … migrants … persons in vulnerable situations”.

This language is the result of years of organising by unions, Indigenous movements, community networks and civil society organisations worldwide.

What this means for community-led initiatives

The Belém Mechanism opens new possibilities to:

Advocate for implementation of EU and national Just Transition policies that meaningfully involve communities
Strengthen recognition of as key actors in territorial planning, resilience building and socio-ecological transformation
Push for frameworks where communities hold real decision-making power, not just consultation roles.

The mechanism will be operationalised over the next year, offering a new platform to shape global narratives on community-led action. ECOLISE and CLI networks can play a strategic role in ensuring local actors’ voices are heard.

Multilevel Governance Gained Momentum

The first week saw important wins for local and regional governments. The COP30 Presidency Summary highlighted that engaging non-state actors, including subnational governments, is essential for achieving national climate goals. This represents a shift: non-state actors, especially local governments, are no longer “stakeholders” but are being more formally recognized as partners in implementation.

A key development was the launch of CHAMP – the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships – with Brazil and Germany as co-chairs. CHAMP is a global commitment by national governments to work directly with cities, regions and communities on climate action.

Why is this important? Because most climate plans today are made only at the national level. Instead, CHAMP is built on three simple truths:

National governments cannot meet climate goals alone
Cities, regions, mayors and communities must be formally included
Updating national climate plans (NDCs) must include local action.

To enable and implement CHAMP, Brazil launched the Plan to Accelerate Multilevel Solutions (PAS), an initiative designed to integrate and connect national, regional and local climate actions. It focuses on four levers: risk-informed planning, capacity-building, financing, and inclusive governance.

The plan includes concrete targets, such as:

Training 6,000 local officials in climate action
Helping communities and cities to access climate finance
Supporting local projects in adaptation, renewable energy and nature-based solutions
Embedding multilevel governance into 100 NDCs by 2028

Why this matters

A unique political opening: CHAMP and PAS create an opportunity to embed community-led action inside national climate plans. This could mean greater recognition (and potentially funding) for CLIs.
Capacity building: The training target under PAS could offer structured opportunities for community practitioners to engage in formal capacity-building, connecting grassroots actors with subnational government representatives.
But implementation is key: The real challenge now is transforming these commitments into funded and facilitated action.

An Unfinished Justice Package: Finance and Fossil Fuel Phase-Out Delayed

Despite the strong rights-based advances, COP30 fell short on several critical financial fronts:

Adaptation finance commitments were weakened, with the pledge to triple support delayed until 2035.
Countries failed to agree on a fast, fair and fully financed phase-out of fossil fuels.
Wealthy countries delivered statements of ambition, but not the necessary financial commitments.

For communities already experiencing climate impacts, from floods and storms to droughts and energy poverty, these delays widen the gap between international promises and everyday realities.

Closing Reflections

COP30 delivered important steps forward on rights, participation and multilevel governance. It also exposed the political limits of international negotiations, especially on finance and fossil fuels.

Communities are not waiting for permission. We are already building the transition!

The Belém Mechanism, CHAMP and PAS all create new spaces where community-led voices can shape climate implementation. But they will only be meaningful if we collectively contribute to filling those spaces with our stories, demands, solutions and experiences.If you want to stay connected to these developments, or contribute insights from your initiative, we welcome your participation. Feel free to sign up to our newsletter here.

Author

Devina Shah