COP30 opens in Brazil with bold pledge to protect the vulnerable from climate impacts

World leaders have signed a landmark Belem declaration on Hunger, Poverty and People-Centred Climate Action at the start of COP30 in Brazil.

The declaration underscores the urgent need to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations as climate impacts deepen inequalities, threaten food security and erode livelihoods.

“Climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss are worsening hunger, poverty, and food insecurity. They are also compromising access to water, deteriorating health indicators, and increasing mortality rates,” the declaration statement reads.

“These issues are deepening inequalities and threatening livelihoods, with a disproportionate impact on those already living in poverty or vulnerability.”

The agreement thus underscores that adaptation, not just mitigation, must take centre stage in climate response strategies moving forward, prioritising social protection, community resilience and inclusive growth.

Among the key commitments, countries have pledged to make social protection systems a cornerstone of climate resilience.

Reckoning that nearly half of the global population lacks access to social protection, the declaration calls for the expansion of adaptive safety nets that can respond quickly to crises.

Governments have also committed to integrating these systems with disaster preparedness, early warning mechanisms and support for vulnerable groups to strengthen long-term resilience.

Another major focus is to support small-scale food producers, including farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, and indigenous communities who are among the hardest hit by climate change but remain central to sustainable food systems.

Additionally, the declaration calls for increased investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, insurance and financial mechanisms that help these groups manage risks and adopt sustainable agricultural practices.

On forests and ecosystems, the leaders have pledged to promote just transitions in high-forest and environmentally sensitive regions.

This includes the creation of sustainable livelihood opportunities through agroforestry, bioeconomy initiatives, and ecotourism, while safeguarding indigenous and community land rights.

Protecting forests, the declaration notes, is inseparable from supporting the people who depend on them.

To fund these commitments, the signatories have called for scaled and equitable climate finance.

They urge the international community to deliver on the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29, mobilising at least $300 billion (Sh38.8 trillion) annually for developing countries by 2035.

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The declaration also pushes for increasing total global climate finance to at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035, emphasising food security and poverty reduction as central pillars of funding strategies.

Nevertheless, the declaration encourages countries to embed human-centred climate action into their national policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).

It also calls for stronger coordination among humanitarian, climate, and development partners to better serve populations in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

With projections showing that 60 per cent of the world’s poorest people will live in unstable regions by 2030, the leaders emphasise that climate action must be flexible, inclusive and locally driven.

The Climate Summit (COP30) kicked off on Monday, November 10, in the Brazilian city of Belém and will run until Friday, November 21.