COP30 in Brazil was going down to the wire this week with intense last-minute lobbying to try to craft an agreement that would gain traction before Wednesday’s official end date.
Late Tuesday (Brazil date) over 80 countries, including the UK and Germany, called “for a mandate to create a fossil fuel transition roadmap in the final (COP30) package,” reported Climate Home News.
But carbon emissions-cutting ambition, countries’ climate plans, finance and trade remained unresolved as the Journal went to press this week.
The RMI climate team has been active throughout the COP30 summit. Following are excerpts from a report from the Marshall Islands delegation to COP30 being held last week and this in Belém, Brazil.
COP30 has begun, and the delegation from the Republic of the Marshall Islands is on the ground and ready to advance climate action.
Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko delivered a powerful statement in the COP30 World Leaders Summit, underlining RMI’s urgent call for meaningful global commitment and shared responsibility.
“It is clear that the fossil fuel industry is not preparing for just, orderly, and equitable transition,” said Kaneko. “Instead we see a future of supply shocks, conflict of resources, stranded assets and the legacy of dangerous climate change being visited upon us to serve the interest of others.”
On November 7, Kaneko met with the Australia Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson, on the margins of COP30. Minister Kaneko was supported and accompanied by Climate Envoy Tina Stege and members of the Climate Change team.
On the same day Kaneko held a brief bilateral engagement with Dame Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand and Special Envoy for Oceania and Climate Champion. Their discussion focused on the opportunity for Pacific Island leaders to identify regional priorities and amplify the collective voice of the Pacific in collaboration with the COP30 Presidency.
In her capacity as Special Envoy for Oceania, former Ardern convened a dialogue with youth climate negotiators and advocates from across the Pacific to discuss the urgent climate actions required for the region and to explore strategies for advancing these efforts now and in the lead-up to next year’s global climate summit.
RMI Presidential Climate Envoy Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner and RMI Resilience and Adaptation Fund Administrator Yoshiko Capelle joined a Climate Champions meeting with Ardern. The meeting featured a candid discussion on advancing actions for adaptation finance.
On November 10, a side event titled “Militarism, Climate Change, and the Pacific” was held at the Moana Pavilion.This side event highlighted Pacific leadership, expertise, and testimonies exploring the connections between militarism, nuclear weapons, emissions, climate finance, and youth leadership.
Climate Representative and Youth Advocate Jobod Silk spoke on the deep interlinkages between the Marshallese nuclear legacy and the escalating impacts of climate change.
RMI Climate Envoy Tina Stege participated in a side event organized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) entitled “Charting the Course of the Energy Transition in Global Shipping.”
Stege spoke strongly on the need for a just and equitable global transition to zero emission shipping, including through the adoption of the IMO’s Net Zero Framework. She also discussed the recent launch of the Juren Ae ship and the need for capacity building support to Small Island Developing States for these types of innovative new technologies.
On November 11, at the Moana Pavilion, Jo-Jikum Deputy Director and RMI Youth Delegate Konea Ishimura delivered a powerful intervention on behalf of Pacific Rising and grassroots communities already living the realities of climate loss and damage.
He emphasized the critical importance of the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), highlighting its potential to channel funding directly to frontline communities, those who best understand their own needs and are leading efforts to protect their homes, cultures, and identities.