A group of speakers and organizers stand powerfully together at the “Decolonization and Demilitarization at the Heart of Climate Justice” COP30 side event, Nov. 18, 2025, Belém, Brazil. Photo credit: Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

In this Allies Spotlight, the Just Transition Alliance (JTA) honors and expresses appreciation for aligned groups and cross constituencies that were integral in exerting pressure toward creating the Just Transition Mechanism at COP30. We welcome the establishment of this mechanism as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), though we know much work remains to move toward a frontline-led just transition in practice.

Much of the momentum experienced during COP30, including during “side” events and exhibits, built on preceding and parallel experiences and convergences that exceeded COP30. From November 7-12, the Movimiento de Afectados por Represas (the Movement of People Affected by Dams) hosted the IV International Encuentro (Meeting) of People Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis. This global gathering and manifestation of grassroots just transition organizing powerfully brought together frontline workers and peoples and included the release of the movement’s latest issue of enMARcha. (Listen to Nona Chai reflect on their experiences during the Encuentro and read José T. Bravo’s article in the magazine!) The multi-day convergence included a focus on internationalizing the struggle and concluded with a march to the opening of the Cúpula dos Povos (the Cumbre de los Pueblos, in Spanish, or the Peoples’ Summit, in English). Organizers of the Cúpula provided programming from November 12 to 16, parallel to, in connection with, and as a challenge to COP30. The conversations and actions culminated in the “Declaration of the Peoples’ Summit toward COP30,” which organizers presented to the conference’s presidency on one of the final days of the UN climate summit.

During many intense experiences, both on the ground in Belém, Brazil, and remotely, we worked alongside numerous groups and allies. These collaborators included: the Indigenous Environmental Network, United Steelworkers Local 675, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Climate Justice Alliance, International Trade Union Confederation, Alliance of Non-Governmental Radical Youth, Climate Action Network International, Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto Rico, La Vía Campesina, International Alliance of Wastepickers, War on Want, Third World Network, Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, Pueblo Action Alliance, Movimiento de Afectados por Represas, Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens, World Animal Protection, Friends of the Earth International, the Huni Kui People, Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, Micronesia Climate Change Alliance, Taproot Earth, Hoodwinked in the Hothouse, Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Green Economy Coalition, and Center for Biological Diversity. We also worked with the following cross constituencies within the UNFCCC Just Transition Work Programme negotiations: Indigenous Peoples Organizations, Women and Gender, Youth, Labor, and Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations. Thank you to these groups and allies, among many others! Our collective perseverance and labor pushed forward the creation of the Just Transition Mechanism.

We will be forever grateful and changed by the testimonies and knowledges shared and the alliances and kinships we forged. Despite many unacceptable problems and injustices during COP30, numerous beautiful, transformative experiences demonstrated grassroots power, movement building, and the necessity of having Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Descendants, and frontline workers and environmental and climate justice communities leading. As JTA Policy Lead Fernando Tormos-Aponte emphasized during a COP30 side-event panel, “We want a just transition, not just a transition. Our solidarity will deliver it!”