The 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), (COP30) will deal with critical decisions on how to transition beyond a fossil fuel society without replicating the mistakes of the past. In a new brief to negotiators, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and 16 of its member and partner organisations analyse why and in what ways transition pathways must genuinely protect human rights, communities and defenders. This paper is also endorsed by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an International Federation for Human Rights-FIDH and World Organisation Against Torture-OMCT partnership).
Belém, Brazil, 11 November 2025. The climate emergency is already here. As the world races toward urgent climate goals, the path we choose to get there matters as much as the objective. And with COP30 on the horizon, negotiators face a pivotal moment: will the transition away from fossil fuels be one that entrenches injustice and excludes frontline voices? Or one that embodies and achieves human rights and dignity?
Expectations are high for the freshly-started UN climate negotiations in Brazil. Yet FIDH and 16 organisations warn that the hard-won human rights gains reflected in the draft texts leading up to this COP are now at risk, and they must be protected and strengthened.
In the run-up to COP30, this advocacy brief – also endorsed by 12 more organisations – provides detailed recommendations for the negotiations around just transition. It also discusses good practices and persistent challenges to transition initiatives across different contexts, drawing on the experiences, documentation, and expertise of FIDH, its Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a FIDH-OMCT partnership), and FIDH’s member and partner organisations worldwide.
COP30 presents a unique opportunity to put a vision of transitions grounded in the international human rights framework at the heart of global climate negotiations. "Just transition" must not become a rhetorical tool to label business as usual. The fulfilment of human rights and the protection of human rights defenders are not optional – they are essential for legitimate, effective and sustainable climate action.
Frontline communities and human rights defenders are the first to propose effective climate solutions – and the first to face threats for doing so. Their voices are critical in shaping transitions that are not only environmentally sound but also socially just and respectful of human rights. The brief gathers numerous cases of defenders harassed, criminalised, or silenced for resisting harmful projects or calling for an end to fossil fuel reliance.
COP30 is a chance to show that climate ambition and justice are not competing goals, but mutually reinforcing imperatives. We must not allow just transitions to repeat the mistakes of the past. They must serve as means to dismantle systemic inequalities and center the rights, needs, voices and knowledge of those most impacted.
