Climate advocates warn of widening gaps between political promises and real actions

Mitigation ambitions suffered a setback at COP30 as negotiators pushed the Fossil Fuel Phaseout Roadmap further into the future, prompting climate justice advocates in Bangladesh to warn of widening gaps between political promises and real actions.

The concerns came into sharp focus at a national event titled "COP 30 Outcomes: Promise, Performance and the Politics In Between," organised on Saturday by the Climate Justice Alliance Bangladesh (CJA-B), a platform of more than 50 organisations led by the Center for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD).

The discussion critically unpacked the much-debated 'Belem Political Package', which, experts said, is laden with optimism but light on concrete decisions, and examined how procedural complexities and political disagreements continue to shape the global climate negotiation process.

The event enabled policymakers, civil society organisations, and the media to engage with the future climate debate and discourses with a compressive understanding on the procedural complexities and political disagreement in the COP negotiation process.

Md Shamsuddoha, Chief Executive-CPRD and National Coordinator of CJA-B, facilitated the discussion while Sheikh Nur Ataya Rabbi, Assistant Manager-Research & Advocacy, CPRD, presented the key COP30 outcomes, on behalf of the CJA-B.

In the keynote presentation, Mr. Sheikh Nur Ataya Rabbi highlighted a brief picture of achievements and gaps in the COP30 outcome.

Speaking at the seminar, Md. Shamsuddoha gave a political overview of COP30 outcomes, drawing on years of engagement in global climate negotiations.

Mentioning the Loss and Damage Report as a positive step, he said COP30 failed to encourage developed countries to pay more into the FRLD.

He also delivered a critical overview on 'Climate-Related Trade Policies', mentioning that the institutionalisation of dialogues was a positive step.

Mr. Shamsuddoha further reiterated the importance of media engagement and CSO coordination, underlining that Bangladesh should build a stronger, better-informed advocacy front for COP31.

Dr. Shah Abdul Saadi highlighted the urgent need for aligning the UNFCCC COP efforts with other conventions under the UN -- UNCBD and UNCCD, while also underscoring the importance of capacity building support towards the developing countries to utilize the Article 6 mechanism for NDC implementation.

Mr A K M Sohel criticised the staggering presence of the fossil fuel lobbyists -- over 1600 -- and termed it a strong catalyst for sidestepping the fossil fuel phase-out roadmap.

Dr. M Asaduzzaman said multilateralism faces a challenge to bring all parties on the same page.

Yet, it needs to be sustained for longer-term global outcomes, he observed, stressing the need for ensuring net-zero emission at the earliest to protect the earth for the generations to come.

Dr Fazle Rabbi Sadek Ahmed said: "Developed countries must be pushed for domestic mitigation commensurate with their historical responsibility."

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