1. Promote Climate Justice Leadership, Not Just Compliance
Indonesia and Brazil should not only compete to be model students in the COP classroom but lead the discourse on climate justice. They can collectively demand that debt-based climate finance be reviewed, pushing for reform of the international financial architecture that allows financing based on real community outcomes, not just carbon accounting.
2. Mainstreaming Local Solutions at the Centre of Strategy
Programs such as the Village Fund, Community Energy and Community-Based Ecotourism in Indonesia should be integrated into national climate policy framework, not just pilot projects. In Brazil, the forest management model of the Quilombola community and indigenous peoples is also worthy of global reference.
3. Reject Global Greenwashing at the Expense of the Local
Brazil and Indonesia need to more forcefully reject carbon offset schemes that simply shift the burden of rich-country emissions onto the shoulders of tropical countries. Instead of being "cheap carbon credits", forests and soils in these countries should be protected based on rights and intrinsic value, not as a currency for emissions.
4. Building a Critical and Progressive Southern Bloc at COP30
COP30 could be a turning point if Brazil and Indonesia, along with other Global South countries, form a negotiating bloc that rejects unequal climate deals and fights for structural justice. This could include clean technology redistribution, elimination of unjust green debt, and alliances with transnational civil society movements.
Closing: The World Needs Authentic Courage
Torry is right: the world doesn't just need promises. But more than that, the world needs political courage to break the unfair climate framework. Indonesia and Brazil must stop feeling like mere "rule followers" and start setting new standards based on the power of communities, local knowledge and the spirit of global solidarity.
True leadership at COP30 will not come from the numbers promised, but from the courage to reject false solutions and fight for a just future for the planet and all its inhabitants.
by: Welhelmus Poek *NGO activist, very concerned about community empowerment programs and renewable energy development in NTT, lives in Kupang City.
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