Could COP30 chart a roadmap away from fossil fuels?

Around 70,000 people took to the streets of Belém on Saturday for the Great People’s March, with demands for climate justice and protections for indigenous people worldwide. Putting that turnout into perspective, the march attracted a crowd equal to 6% of the COP30 host city’s population.

Among the planned demonstrations on Saturday was the so-called “Funeral For Fossil Fuels,” as groups carried coffins labeled oil, gas and coal. Such rallying cries would normally be tossed aside as overly wishful thinking, but as we enter into the crucial second week of COP30 in Belém, an end to fossil fuels worldwide — while still distant — has perhaps never been closer.

Despite dogged resistance from producing nations and its own internal contradictions, Brazil is seeking to use the momentum of its COP30 presidency to secure a concrete “roadmap” that would set out a multi-year planning process for a global, just transition away from fossil fuels.