COP30 and Just Transition in the South: Who Will Pay the Social Price?

By Jiayi Wang and Mengjie Xu

When COP30 ended in the Amazonian city of Belém, much of the global media focus stayed locked on a familiar question: would the final agreement clearly call for the “phasing out of fossil fuels”? The newly created Belém Action Mechanism (BAM)the first formal attempt to place workers, communities and unions inside climate governance — looked like a breakthrough. Yet behind the scenes, many negotiators shared the same concern: without new funding, clear responsibility and binding rules, BAM may become more symbol than protection.

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