The illusion of progress: AU-EU Summit falls short
#COP30 #G20 #ClimateJustice #DebtJustice #MakePollutersPay #CancelTheDebt #EraOfJustice
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The illusion of progress: AU-EU Summit falls short
On 24-25 November, leaders from the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) gathered in Luanda, Angola, for the 7th AU-EU summit. It marked 25 years of partnership - yet instead of bold action, the meeting delivered more of the same well-worn pledges. At a time of mounting debt, an accelerating climate crisis and continuing conflict, progress is not just stalling—it’s sliding backwards.
Read the analysis by Stephanie Derlich (Eurodad) and Javier Garcia de la Oliva (ActionAid)
COP30
COP30: A win for Just Transition, a loss for climate ambition
by Bertha Argueta (Eurodad)
This blog highlights the achievements and misses in Belém. COP30 ultimately delivered a weak, business-as-usual political package that falls far short of what is needed to keep 1.5 °C alive.
Latin America's reaction to COP30 and the People's Summit
by LATINDADD
COP30 left few bright spots and many shadows. This multilateral process, which began thirty years ago, is still failing to move forward with the ambition and speed necessary to face an emergency that is claiming millions of lives, destroying ecosystems, becoming more severe every day, and leaving us with little time to act.
Read the analysis (in Spanish)
How did COP30 stack up against demands for debt and climate justice?
by Tess Woolfenden (Debt Justice UK)
COP30 failed to deliver debt justice or public climate finance. However, it did create some openings we could use to continue pressing for change. This blog reviews the outcomes of COP30 against the demands of the Debt and Climate Working Group, which Eurodad is part of.
Complete COP30 assessment: Belém Action Mechanism, finance, and the road ahead
by MENAFem
COP30 closed with a sharp contrast between political ambition and the refusal of states to meet their obligations. What we saw during those two weeks was negotiations that moved fast on language, slow on accountability, and silent on finance. The result is a COP that delivers one historic mechanism for justice, but many weak outcomes that leave vulnerable communities exposed. And so, the gap between rights and resources remains wide.
Declaration of the Peoples’ Summit towards COP30
The declaration gathers the voices of over 70,000 people from Indigenous and traditional communities, workers, peasants, Afro-descendants, LGBTQIAPN+ people, urban poor, coastal and forest people and more. It denounces the capitalist, corporate, racist and patriarchal system and identifies it as the root of the climate crisis, environmental injustice and social inequality. It also rejects “false solutions”, and calls instead for climate justice, social justice, and communal ownership of natural resources.
News
G20’s lost opportunity on Africa’s debt reforms as crisis deepens
by AFRODAD
The first-ever G20 Summit on African soil will be remembered for prioritising diplomacy over Africa’s debt and development crisis. Whilst South Africa’s G20 presidency came at a difficult time for multilateralism, there has barely been any meaningful positive changes throughout the year to address the deepening debt crisis besieging many African countries. This situation, which has the scale of an emergency, was significantly watered down in the declaration.
The G20 has failed on debt - Time to look to the UN
by Iolanda Fresnillo (Eurodad) and Theophilus Jong Yungonga (AFRODAD)
When South Africa assumed the Presidency of the G20, many hoped that the G20 would finally deliver real solutions to the debt crisis gripping the Global South – particularly Africa. A year later, the South African Presidency drew to a close, and nothing has fundamentally changed. The G20 has once again failed, and it is time to look elsewhere for genuine solutions.
Eurodad's participation in the EuroLat Civil Society Forum
The Forum provided space for Civil Society to advocate for a redefining of the role that the European Union plays within the Latin American and Caribbean region, and for a development agenda removed from colonial practices.
Read more | Watch María José Romero's intervention
Songs for justice: LATINDADD raise voices through music
LATINDADD is taking its advocacy to a new level with two songs and video clips produced in collaboration with Latin American musicians and NTV Música. “El futuro es ya” supports the "Time is running out – The Future is now!" campaign, calling on leaders in the Global North and big polluters to take urgent responsibility for the climate crisis. The second song, “Quién le debe a quién”, is part of the Jubilee debt campaign.
Listen to "El futuro es ya" | Listen to "Quién le debe a quién"
Reports
False and distracting finance solutions: Debt and Climate mini briefs (now available in French, Portuguese and Spanish)
by the Debt and Climate Working Group
The debt and climate crises are deeply connected - but false ‘solutions’ risk distracting from, delaying, and ultimately avoiding the deep changes needed to resolve them. This mini-series will give you the evidence, talking points, and tools to push back and promote genuine, lasting solutions to the debt and climate crises.
Useful resources
Global Oil & Gas Exit List (GOGEL) 2025: Expansion outpacing climate action
by Urgewald
New data reveals that fossil fuel expansion continues despite governments’ commitment to “transition away” from fossil fuels at COP 28 in Dubai. The data shows that 96% of upstream oil and gas companies are still exploring or developing new resources. GOGEL, the world's most comprehensive public database on oil and gas companies, shows an industry pouring money into new fossil infrastructure, much as it did before the Dubai agreement, widening the gap between climate pledges and reality.
Africa data and insights platform
by Development Reimagined
Africa-led data hub covering 10 key themes that shape the continent’s trajectory. From Africa-China cooperation and debt management to IMF engagements, credit ratings, trade flows, and infrastructure, this platform allows you to visualise, analyse, and act using robust, contextualised data that reflects African realities.
Submission to the International Development Committee’s Inquiry on the future of UK aid
by BOND UK
When the UK Prime Minister announced back in February that Official Development Assistance (ODA) would be cut from 0.5% of gross national income (GNI) to just 0.3% GNI to fund an increase in defence spending, civil society felt both alarmed and let down by a Labour government that promised so much in their own manifesto to support people facing poverty, climate change and conflict around the world. These cuts will cost lives, and it’ll be the most marginalised communities that will bear the brunt. This submission responds to the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee call for written evidence on the Future of UK aid and development assistance.
Financing for sustainable development: Navigating a stormy sea in a fragile boat
by Maria José Romero (Eurodad) and Stephanie Derlich (Eurodad)
Financing for sustainable development is being undermined by aid cuts, the debt crisis, and an overreliance on private finance. At the UN’s Sevilla conference, rich countries offered no real reforms, prompting civil society and Global South voices to call for stronger public finance and a more democratic global financial system.
Read the article (English version) | Portuguese version
We the 99% - a People’s Summit for global economic justice – Declaration
This declaration denounces a global economic system built on colonialism, patriarchy, and exploitation, which concentrates wealth with the 1% while harming people and the planet. It calls for a just, democratic, and sustainable world by ending neoliberal and neocolonial control, taxing the rich, cancelling illegitimate debts, enforcing corporate accountability, securing climate justice, protecting rights, and empowering the global majority — the 99%.
Events
11 Dec | Online | COP30 - outcomes and ways forward on debt and climate
Organised by the Debt and Climate Working Group, this webinar will take stock of the outcomes of COP30 across the key decisions adopted at the conference, offering an opportunity for civil society working towards economic and climate justice to collectively strategise about future work and opportunities to create linkages between the debt and climate crises, and integrate economic justice considerations in these conversations.
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This newsletter has been produced with co-funding from the European Union, Bread for the World and Norad. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Eurodad and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the funders. |
