COP 30 and the Agenda of South-South Cooperation
COP-30, being held at Belem, offered an opportunity to accelerate dialogues around climate action through south-south cooperation and make a plan for the survival of the human society on this planet.
In an era of climate change, fossil fuel energy-based economic growth which clandestinely matches with the increase in global temperature and intensity in disasters is unfolding its impact beyond the capacity of human tolerance.
The calamities that used to occur once in a while in earlier times are now unfolding in many overlapping ways, affecting the impacted region and communities in multiple manner, aggressively undermining the well-being of the economically bottom layer of the society.
Simultaneously, occurrences of repeated disasters of different varieties within a short span of time hardly give the impacted communities any time and opportunity to recover from the loss and injuries. Frequent loss and damages brought by the catastrophic events continuously erode the resilience capacity of the victims, pushing the families into poverty-trap conditions.
Disaster, be it sudden, resulting in the violent loss of private assets and public property or, the slow onset, converting the habitation to an inhospitable region, ultimately affects the surrounding environment and makes the ecosystem fragile. In both conditions, the natural ecosystem services meant for the well-being of the human society are repelled, reducing various provisioning services for the community.
All these factors create a process of marginalization for the economically lowest layer of society, further reducing their contribution to the economy. The recent increase in global disasters is adding more people to the impoverished layer of the society. In a nutshell, the increasing frequency of disasters is reversing the achievement of SDG 1, “End Poverty in all its forms everywhere,” by 2030, and creating a momentum for an all-time high in the global poverty ratio.
In this context, it is worthwhile to discuss the Belem conference, COP-30, as the Brazilian region, besides being at the heart of the Amazon rainforest, is also at the center of the global south. The global south, at the center stage of climate change impacts, is also the region with the highest poverty incidence compared to the global north.
COP-30, being held at Belem, offered an opportunity to accelerate dialogues around climate action through south-south cooperation and make a plan for the survival of the human society on this planet.
Global South is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions on this planet and faces disproportionate risks of rising sea levels to extreme weather conditions resulting in biodiversity loss and food insecurity.
COP30 is expected to serve as a key platform to evaluate the progress achieved since Paris agreement and also keep track of the commitments of the countries to reduce carbon emission. Further to this, this conference must facilitate advanced discussion on climate finance, adaptation, and loss and damage to facilitate better commitment of the global leaders.
It is expected that most of the vulnerable southern countries will come together with renewed commitment to contribute for the better performance of the regional alliances by giving strength to south-south cooperation.
South–South Cooperation:
In recent years, South–South cooperation has emerged as a transformative force in global climate governance. It emphasizes solidarity, shared challenges, and joint solutions among countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Countries in the Global South innovate out of necessity—creating low-cost, scalable solutions for renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Sharing these homegrown innovations strengthens collective capacity. This needs to be fine tuned and available for larger use. Even though the global euphoria around climate justice has been, “Polluters must Pay” but the reality is far from proportionate support and commitment of the industrialised Global North.
The realities of climate challenges transcend borders and affects many small and island countries in a big way. These nations have come forward with many regional fora to draw the attention of the developed world but nothing significant has been gained from this.
Through regional alliances—such as the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), the African Union (AU), and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) networks—countries have started coordinating amongst themselves primarily on environmental protection, early-warning systems, and disaster response and preparedness to manage the impact of extreme climate events.
In this context, many Global South countries have started community engagement initiatives as most of them share deep traditions of community-based resource management.
Collaboration helps amplify indigenous leadership, preserve ancestral knowledge, and support sustainable livelihoods to facilitate sustainable development having least impact on the climate. By leading with cooperative strength, the Global South aims to shape a climate agenda rooted in justice, resilience, and shared prosperity.
The success of COP30 will depend on the ability of nations to collaborate across continents and communities. South–South cooperation provides the pathway for developing countries to assert leadership, strengthen climate governance, and drive impactful, locally grounded solutions. As the world looks to Belém, the message is clear: climate action led by the Global South is essential—not only for the region’s future, but for the entire planet.
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