28/11/2025
The Youth Climate Collective (YCC) has followed the proceedings of COP30 in Belém with a mixture of cautious hope and profound disappointment. While the conference was branded an "Implementation COP" and produced some welcome frameworks, the outcomes, when measured against the stark reality of the climate crisis in Nigeria, fall short of the ambition and justice we demanded.
The refusal by major emitting nations to commit to a binding fossil fuel phase-out directly perpetuates the cycle of pollution and economic instability in the Niger Delta, while the delay in tripling adaptation finance to 2035 exposes a disconnect from our reality of climate crisis.
The "Belém Package" provides a roadmap, but it is a map that fails to chart a course away from the primary source of the crisis: fossil fuels. For Nigerian youth living the daily consequences of a warming world, promises for 2035 feel like a lifetime away. Our generation cannot afford to wait.
Our assessment of the COP30 outcomes against our core demands:
1. On Climate Finance & Debt Justice: We acknowledge the formalization of the "Baku-to-Belém Roadmap to 1.3T" and the new Fostering Investible National Implementation (FINI) initiative. These are necessary steps. However, the agreement to triple adaptation finance by 2035 is a delay tactic that ignores the urgency of communities facing existential threats today. The continued dominance of debt instruments and lack of clarity on grant-based mechanisms ignore our demand for debt justice and perpetuate the cycle of climate-induced poverty.
2. On Loss & Damage: The operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund with $250 million represents a step forward, but the scale is woefully inadequate and fails to address non-economic losses. The absence of a dedicated protocol for psychological trauma, lost education, and cultural heritage constitutes a profound injustice to climate-displaced Nigerians.
3. On a Just Transition for Oil-Dependent Economies: COP30's failure to establish a binding fossil fuel phase-out roadmap represents a catastrophic failure for Niger Delta communities. When the world delays a just energy transition, it effectively outsources the social and environmental costs to oil-producing communities in the Global South. Voluntary initiatives cannot deliver the comprehensive support needed to transition workers, remediate environments, and build renewable energy industries that benefit local communities.
4. On Food Systems & Adaptation: While we welcome the adoption of Global Goal on Adaptation indicators, the lack of direct funding mechanisms for smallholder farmers and community-based adaptation leaves Nigeria's food systems vulnerable. The global failure to provide adequate finance means the cost of climate disasters continues to be borne by Nigerians, with lost harvests and escalating conflicts over shrinking resources.
5. On Climate-Resilient Cities: The recognition of multilevel action and adoption of the Gender Action Plan provide important frameworks. However, the absence of dedicated finance for urban resilience, green transportation, and waste management systems means Nigerian cities will continue to drown in annual floods without the resources to build true climate resilience.
From Global Frameworks to Nigerian Reality
COP30 has given us tools—the Global Implementation Accelerator, the Belém Mission to 1.5, and the Global Ethical Stocktake. We will use them to hold our own government and the international community accountable.
Our advocacy now turns to the national stage. We will:
Push for the Nigerian government to rapidly and transparently integrate the Belém outcomes into our national plans, ensuring youth are at the decision-making table.
Monitor the flow of any new climate finance to ensure it reaches the local, youth-led projects where it is most needed.
We will co-create the future where youth will lead the design and implementation of solutions through participatory planning and collaborative action.
To global leaders and our own government: You have agreed on more roadmaps in Belém. Nigerian youth are already on the road, building solutions. We stand ready to partner with the Nigerian government to implement the COP30 frameworks, offering our technical expertise, community networks, and innovative solutions. The youth are prepared to work alongside you to translate these global agreements into tangible local action for Nigeria's climate resilience.