By Douglas Diniz – Journalist, member of the leadership of the Socialist Revolution (RS) and of the International Socialist League (ISL). Coordinator of Portal Info.Revolução

E-mail: contact @inforevolucao.com

COP30 in Belem was not a “turning point” for climate action; it was a scene of a shameful surrender and a painful reminder that climate diplomacy, dominated by the interests of destructive capitalism, has failed once again.

The blatant exclusion of the plan to end fossil fuels from the final draft is an act of sabotage against the future and a slap in the face to vulnerable communities.

We cannot accept euphemisms: COP30 means collapse. Scientists committed to humanity and activists are right to call the outcome “shameful”.

At the height of the climate crisis, when every ton of CO2 counts, the conference crumbled in the face of pressure from more than 80 countries, coal, oil and gas lobbyists.

This omission is not merely a technical mistake; it is hard evidence that capitalist greed and the pursuit of short-term profit continue to dictate the global agenda, trampling on life, science and justice.

The final draft, without a clear and time-bound commitment to phase out fossil fuels, is an innocuous document that, in practice, grants permission for the continuation of planetary destruction.

The Brazilian government and its loss of credibility

It is impossible to talk about the failure of COP30 without pointing the finger at the hypocrisy of the Brazilian government.

Its credibility on the issue evaporated with its ambivalence, which ended with the authorization of oil prospecting in the Equatorial Margin, at the mouth of the Amazon River.

Global conservation cannot be preached while opening the door to the destruction of essential biomes such as the Amazon.

This contradiction takes away the leadership voice that Brazil attempted to build, turning its “flowery speeches” into mere empty words.

The real story of COP30 is not to be found in the air-conditioned halls of Belém, but in the streets and in the villages. The legacy of this façade conference is not the billions spent, turned to ashes by failure, nor the electoral platform created by local governments. The real legacy is the explosion of discontent and popular mobilization.

Belém, with its precarious infrastructure and non-existent basic sanitation, was the cruel mirror of the social crisis that accompanies the climate one.

What really made COP30 the “COP of Truth” were the historic mobilizations of the Munduruku, the Tupinambá, the Arapiuns and the teachers and health workers sectors.

They took to the streets in defense of their territory, free public services and life quality. They showed that:

• Only through organization, mobilization and protest will it be possible to stop the greed of a few and truly defend the environment and the future of humanity.
• The struggle continues at the grassroots, where the future will be decided, and not at the negotiating tables co-opted by fossil capital.

The struggle will continue with greater intensity against the privatization of the Tapajós, Tocantins and Madeira rivers; against Ferrogrão, for the demarcation of the Indigenous and Quilombola Territories, for free and quality public services.

The International Socialist League is committed to support and actively participate in this process.