Stepping off the plane last night, I still felt the faint trace of Amazon humidity clinging to my skin, as if the rainforest hadn’t quite let me go. It’s strange; I went to COP30 with the weight of Palau, who I represented, in my hands, and I came home with the weight of the world on my heart. Belém was verdant, alive, vast, a city perched between river and forest, between ancient ecological wisdom and urgent planetary crisis. It was the perfect place to host a climate conference that demanded courage.
And yet, as always, what we needed and what we achieved were not always the same.
Much like Miami, the air both inside the negotiating rooms and outside in the sweltering heat was thick with urgency. Though now, I have swapped the deep green pulse of the Amazon rainforest for our own salty, humid reality back here in Miami and have been reflecting on what COP30 accomplished, what it didn’t, what it all means for South Florida, and what’s next.
What COP30 Accomplished
For those of us living on the front lines of sea level rise and monster storms, the big wins were all about survival and fairness.
1. A Stronger Global Mitigation Pledge
For the first time, nearly every major emitter agreed to submit enhanced 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by next year (2026), and to align those targets with the 1.5°C pathway. This is a milestone that many of us, especially those representing vulnerable nations, have been fighting toward for years.
While the language was carefully negotiated (as always), the commitment is real enough to matter: a global push to accelerate the phase-out of coal and limit new fossil-fuel permitting. Not a full ban, but a turn in the right direction
2. A Renewed Adaptation Goal With Actual Numbers
This was one of Palau’s top priorities, and I am proud of what we secured: a dedicated adaptation finance floor — not just a wish list, but a real number. Parties agreed to a political signal to triple adaptation finance by 2035. For small island states, this means reliable resources for seawalls, freshwater protection, food security, and coastal resilience.
While 2035 is not soon enough, it sets a clear, global expectation to scale up resources. For SIDS and coastal communities, this is a much-needed signal that the world acknowledges the damage is here and requires real money.
3. New Protections for Indigenous Communities of the Amazon
Given where we met, this felt deeply symbolic. For the first time, Indigenous Peoples, whose land and knowledge are literally saving the world’s most vital ecosystems, participated in greater numbers than ever before. Brazil announced new Indigenous territories, and amajor new forest finance facility was launched, partly dedicated to supporting Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Being in Belém, on the Amazon’s doorstep, made it clear that protecting nature protects people. The recognition of Indigenous land rights as a climate solution is critical, and we need to remember that lesson in Florida as we fight to protect our own vulnerable ecosystems, from the Keys to the Everglades.
4. A Just Transition Mechanism
The parties agreed to establish the Belém Action Mechanism (BAM) for a Global Just Transition. This formalizes the idea that climate action must be fair, especially for communities and workers who suffer the most (but historically have contributed the least to climate change).
This is a big win for climate justice advocates. It means the global shift toward clean energy isn’t just about technology; it now has a formal UN home to coordinate assistance, protect workers, and ensure that developing countries can grow their economies without polluting the way the G-20 (countries of major economies, collectively contributing to 85% of global GDP and 73% of fossil fuel emissions) did.
What COP30 Did NOT Accomplish
1. A Full Fossil Fuel Phase-Out
Despite more than 80 countries advocating for a global roadmap to “phase out” fossil fuels, the final text of the Global Mutrião (meaning “collective effort”) decision failed to include any binding commitment or roadmap to phase out, or even phase down, fossil fuels. The word “fossil fuels” was effectively scrubbed from the final decision.
This was the heartbreak of Belém. The science is screaming at us. We are already acknowledging the likelihood of overshooting 1.5°C of warming (and have done so temporarily). Yet a powerful coalition of wealthy, oil-rich nations (including the United States, which was conspicuously absent) successfully blocked any meaningful commitment to address the crisis’s root cause. It’s unconscionable. Petrostates weaponized the entire negotiating process to protect their profits over our future.
2. Loss & Damage Funding Still Lags Far Behind Reality
Despite progress last year, the COP30 replenishment round fell significantly short of the scale scientists say is necessary. For nations like Palau, whose present-day losses are existential, this shortfall cuts deep.
Imagine asking a family losing their home to rising seas to “wait for the next fiscal cycle.” That’s the message they hear.
3. Weak Accountability Mechanisms
Yes, countries agreed to submit improved national climate plans. No, there are no strong enforcement tools if they fail.
We left with a framework, but not with teeth.
4. Forest Commitments Without Enforcement
Despite the Amazon’s symbolic importance at this COP, the failure to agree on a binding global roadmap to halt deforestation was deeply disappointing. We need clear, enforceable rules, not just new finance mechanisms that lack accountability. The Amazon is one of the Earth’s two lungs. Without a binding global agreement, we’re essentially leaving our life support system vulnerable to the highest bidder. Being in Belém should have been the final, definitive moment for forest protection, but instead, it ended in compromise.
The Bottom Line for Miami & What Comes Next
Representing Palau was as humbling as it was heartbreaking. When I sat in rooms full of negotiators, I carried the stories of families who live meters from shorelines that shrink every year. I thought about the coral reefs I’ve studied since childhood, reefs now bleaching, weakening, dissolving. I thought about the children I’ve met who already talk about relocation, as if their homeland’s expiration date is written in tide charts.
COP30 was a mixed bag of necessary technical progress and catastrophic political failure.
But it did deliver momentum, and sometimes, in the climate fight, momentum is the currency of hope. We secured better tools for adaptationand formalized the concept of a fair transition. That’s the good news.
The truly terrifying news is that the powerful fossil fuel lobby (the same actors who block clean energy laws here in Florida) is still successfully vetoing global climate action. In fact, fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbered every single delegation at COP30, except for Brazil’s. They are holding our cities, our coral reefs, and our future hostage.
The fight isn’t over. In fact, it just got harder. We can’t wait for the next COp; we must turn up the pressure on our own elected officials to enact mitigation that the global stage failed to deliver. The next time I post, I hope it will be about how we plan to use the Belém wins to push for local change, because our survival depends on it.
