WWF and Greenpeace have issued a joint call for negotiators at the UN climate conference (COP30) to move beyond rhetoric and deliver a concrete, time-bound roadmap to halt and reverse global deforestation by 2030.
With this year’s climate summit taking place in Belém, both organisations said the conference must become a historic turning point for forests, indigenous rights, and climate action.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has urged countries to deliver two major outcomes at COP30: a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels and a dedicated roadmap on forests.
Environmental groups argue that without bold action on the latter, the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degrees Celsius goal slips out of reach.
For the first time in COP history, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are present at the summit in unprecedented numbers, calling for full recognition of their rights, territorial protections and an end to destructive land-use practices.
WWF and Greenpeace said that any forest roadmap must embed these voices and ensure communities receive direct access to climate finance.
“We must heed this call,” said Kirsten Schuijt, WWF International Director General. “Indigenous people and local communities are making their voices heard as scientists warn that rainforests like the Amazon are nearing irreversible tipping points. There is no credible pathway to meeting the Paris Agreement without ambitious action on forests.”
She emphasised that COP30 represents a historic opportunity to close the ambition and implementation gap, urging Parties to deliver a formal forest outcome aligned with the 2030 deadline.
Greenpeace Brazil Executive Director Carolina Pasquali echoed this urgency.
“We cannot leave Belém with symbolic gestures, voluntary commitments or vague promises,” she said. “We need a concrete, time-bound action plan to end deforestation in all forests by 2030. Recognition is not action. The world is watching.”
The joint roadmap proposed by WWF and Greenpeace includes guidance for national plans to halt and reverse forest loss, securing land rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, reforming global financial systems, addressing commodity-driven deforestation, strengthening monitoring systems, and enhancing cooperation across the Rio Conventions. The groups stressed that COP30 must also establish a clear follow-up mechanism to track implementation.
With the Amazon as the backdrop of this year’s negotiations, campaigners insist that the stakes—and expectations—have never been higher. Whether COP30 will deliver meaningful action or yet another cycle of delayed promises now rests in the hands of negotiators. The conference took place from 10 to 21 November.
With this year’s climate summit taking place in Belém, both organisations said the conference must become a historic turning point for forests, indigenous rights, and climate action.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has urged countries to deliver two major outcomes at COP30: a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels and a dedicated roadmap on forests.
Environmental groups argue that without bold action on the latter, the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degrees Celsius goal slips out of reach.
For the first time in COP history, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are present at the summit in unprecedented numbers, calling for full recognition of their rights, territorial protections and an end to destructive land-use practices.
WWF and Greenpeace said that any forest roadmap must embed these voices and ensure communities receive direct access to climate finance.
“We must heed this call,” said Kirsten Schuijt, WWF International Director General. “Indigenous people and local communities are making their voices heard as scientists warn that rainforests like the Amazon are nearing irreversible tipping points. There is no credible pathway to meeting the Paris Agreement without ambitious action on forests.”
She emphasised that COP30 represents a historic opportunity to close the ambition and implementation gap, urging Parties to deliver a formal forest outcome aligned with the 2030 deadline.
Greenpeace Brazil Executive Director Carolina Pasquali echoed this urgency.
“We cannot leave Belém with symbolic gestures, voluntary commitments or vague promises,” she said. “We need a concrete, time-bound action plan to end deforestation in all forests by 2030. Recognition is not action. The world is watching.”
The joint roadmap proposed by WWF and Greenpeace includes guidance for national plans to halt and reverse forest loss, securing land rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, reforming global financial systems, addressing commodity-driven deforestation, strengthening monitoring systems, and enhancing cooperation across the Rio Conventions. The groups stressed that COP30 must also establish a clear follow-up mechanism to track implementation.
With the Amazon as the backdrop of this year’s negotiations, campaigners insist that the stakes—and expectations—have never been higher. Whether COP30 will deliver meaningful action or yet another cycle of delayed promises now rests in the hands of negotiators. The conference took place from 10 to 21 November.
