G77 + China Win ‘Ray of the Day’ for Lighting the Way on Just Transition
Belém, 11 November 2025 – The first Ray of the Day at COP30 goes to the Group of 77 and China, representing 134 member countries, for an intervention in the Just Transition Dialogue that reminded everyone what sunlight looks like in a negotiation room.
With refreshing clarity (and warmth in a heavily air-conditioned morning session in Meeting Room 18), the G77+China called for the establishment of a Just Transition Mechanism under the UNFCCC – a proposal that mirrors many of the core elements civil society and trade unions have been advancing through the Belém Action Mechanism (BAM):
- integrating fairness and equity into all levels of implementation;
- promoting coordination and knowledge-sharing across sectors and institutions;
- supporting non-debt-creating finance for transitions;
- strengthening social dialogue; and
- ensuring that people, not profits, remain at the heart of climate action.
By putting forward a structured vision for the next phase of the Just Transition Work Programme, the G77+China demonstrated the spirit of leadership in what President Lula has called “the COP of Truth” – clear-eyed about reality, rooted in cooperation, and unafraid to propose solutions that bring justice to the centre of the process.
Anabella Rosemberg, Senior Advisor on Just Transition at Climate Action Network International, said: “The G77+China have just thrown down the gauntlet. Their call for a Just Transition Mechanism marks a turning point in the move from dialogue to delivery. After years of empty talk, developing countries are demanding what this process has so far failed to deliver – a real mechanism to make Just Transition happen.
“This is the majority of the world saying: enough dialogue, it’s time for delivery. Their proposal echoes what civil society has called for in the Belém Action Mechanism – to coordinate support, close finance gaps, and ensure workers and communities are at the heart of climate action.
“The challenge is clear. Will rich countries now back words with justice and support the very thing that could give this COP credibility?”
The G77+China’s statement reaffirmed that the era of hollow rhetoric must give way to institutional action – and that the Just Transition cannot remain a mere concept. It must become a coordinated global mechanism that delivers real support for workers, communities, and countries facing the twin crises of inequality and climate change. It’s time to move from dialogue to delivery, from warm words to warm homes, and from promises to practice.
Observers say this could trigger the snowball effect necessary to build consensus and a recognition that this proposal could be the foundation for real progress at COP30.
Congratulations to the G77+China — today’s RAY OF THE DAY — for lighting the path toward a Just Transition Mechanism worthy of the world’s majority.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
- Fossil of the Day happens every day at 6pm in the COP30 Blue Zone, Zone D, Action Area 1. (This is near the delegation offices and before you get to Meeting Room 1.)
- The Fossil of the Day awards (which now include Ray of the Day) were first presented at the climate talks in 1999, in Bonn, initiated by the German NGO Forum. During United Nations climate change negotiations (www.unfccc.int), members of the Climate Action Network (CAN), vote for countries judged to have done their ‘best’ to block progress in the negotiations in the last days of talks.
Contact: Attila Kulcsar, CAN International, akulcsar@climatenetwork.org, +44 7472 124872 (WhatsApp)