Summary

As one half of the Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGO) Constituency at the UNFCCC, DCJ intervenes at plenaries and dialogues during the climate talks to hold governments accountable and ensure that parties get to hear peoples' demands and critiques. The UNFCCC mandates formal representation of civil society and speakers representing DCJ are given 30 second to 1 minute slots to intervene on critical issues.

Nov 11th: Adaptation Fund

This is Pang from the Philippines, speaking on behalf of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice.

As we begin negotiations here at COP30, the world is watching whether this COP will really turn to what the Presidency calls an “Implementation COP.”

But how will we implement anything when – despite there being multiple Adaptation rooms and despite the Presidency’s commitment to an Adaptation outcome – very little clarity has emerged in the way of scaling up the provision of adaptation finance – least of all here in this Adaptation Fund room where all you talk about is reviewing it. We all know what the state of the Fund is – resources remain dramatically insufficient even after 15 years of operation, and replenishment targets under the Glasgow Pact of $300 million/year for 2022–2025 will not be met. 

The Adaptation Gap stands at $310-365 billion/year, 12-14x current adaptation finance flows, and larger than the NCQG commitment.

The state of affairs is bleak to say the least, and to be frank, is a slap in the face of my people back in the Philippines whose lives, livelihoods, and homes are being ravaged by the 21st typhoon of the year – that’s almost 2 typhoons every month! The climate crisis is clearly upon us in the Global South – it is killing our brothers and sisters – and you give us peanuts to adapt to this new apocalyptic reality.

Centuries of colonization, exploitation, and extraction of the Global North from our communities is the REASON for the climate crisis. So the time has come for you to pay the climate debt YOU OWE. We DEMAND Global North Parties to urgently scale up adaptation finance provision to the AF and other UNFCCC funds to meet the urgent and massive adaptation finance needs of the Global South. 

And with the Glasgow Pact expiring this year, new replenishment targets for the Adaptation Fund must reflect the true scale of need, now already in the TRILLIONS for the Global South. We demand that the AF targets be replenished at this scale and come from public finance, not from private sources nor carbon markets. Adaptation is about our rights and survival, not profit. Our communities need unconditional public funds, not profit-driven schemes to build real resilience and adapt.

Every dollar you fail to provide for adaptation today will cost 10 times more in losses and damages tomorrow. And the blood of those losses will be on YOUR hands. WE ARE FED UP with your excuses. Global North, Pay Up NOW!

Nov 19th: Baku High Level Dialogue on Adaptation 

My name is Sharif Jamil from Bangladesh, speaking on behalf of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice.

COP30 was supposed to be a COP of action and implementation. But everything that’s happened here on Adaptation is just another slap in the face of our people back home. 

Need I remind the Parties in the room that the Adaptation Gap stands at the lowest estimate as  $310-365 billion/year, 12-14x current adaptation finance flows, and much larger than the NCQG commitment. But the real scale of need is way beyond billions. The UNFCCC’s own estimates in the 2024 Needs Determination Report cite almost $1 trillion for the implementation of National Adaptation Plans. And we know from our practical experiences that this is barely enough.

It’s been 20 years of peanuts in the Adaptation Fund and no NAP decision in almost half a decade! And here at COP30, you’ve failed to meet your self-proclaimed bare minimum Glasgow Pact, introduced conditional finance in the GGA with barely any Means of Implementation! And now you’re pushing the proliferation of false solutions such as market-based instruments in Adaptation! We see what the Global North is doing, and we will hold you to account! Shame on you!

The climate crisis is clearly upon us- it has killed our loved ones and ruined our homes – and you give us peanuts to adapt to this new catastrophic reality! Shame on you!

Centuries of colonization and capitalist exploitation and extraction by the Global North of our communities in the Global South is the REASON for the climate crisis. The time has come for you to pay the climate debt YOU OWE. Global North Parties must deliver adequate, predictable, and grant-based public adaptation finance commitments based on the actual scale of need, and not on a random number that you are comfortable with. And beyond that, the Global North MUST fulfill the legal obligation and urgently provide this public adaptation finance NOW! We are not begging, we are demanding reparations for what is OWED to us.

Every dollar you fail to provide for adaptation today will cost 10 times more in losses and damages tomorrow. And the blood of those losses will be on YOUR hands. WE ARE FED UP with your excuses. Global North, Pay Up NOW!

Nov 20th: Baku High Level Dialogue on Adaptation 

(YOUNGO Intervention)

My name is Manal and I speak on behalf of YOUNGO, Climate Action Network, Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, the Women and Gender Constituency, and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations. We speak on behalf of all of those living the consequences of climate inaction, and already in urgent need of adaptation finance and national adaptation plans that truly deliver.

We begin with an honest question: Why are we here at this High-Level Dialogue when we still have no agreement on the global goal on adaptation and no clarity on adaptation finance? This dialogue is meaningless if there is no concrete negotiated outcome that delivers.

Speeches are being delivered and Parties walk out of the room before hearing the voices of those most impacted by their decisions. And frankly, why do we call this a “dialogue” when our voices, and voices of those most affected, are left behind? This is not what inclusion looks like! 

We must recognize the uncomfortable truth:

What we have is not a lack of resources; it is a lack of political ambition and will from developed countries. The world consistently finds resources for conflicts and fossil fuel subsidies yet struggles to provide adequate adaptation finance.

If this dialogue is to mean anything, then COP30 must deliver two outcomes:

First, we call for adequate scaled-up, public, grant-based and needs-based adaptation finance which can reach the communities directly.

Second, we call for measurable, rights-based GGA indicators, grounded in disaggregated data that reflect intergenerational equity, gender equality, disability inclusion, and Indigenous knowledge.

The Global Goal on Adaptation is nothing without finance. 

Hear us. Hear our frustration, our urgency, and our fear for the communities we come from.

Hear the millions of young people who still believe in this process, not because it has earned our trust, but because our future depends on it. How many more lives must be lost before adaptation becomes a priority? Will COP30 be the moment you choose to deliver or choose to leave us behind?