When world leaders land in Belém for the UN COP30 climate talks this coming week, the stakes will be higher than ever. And so will the expectations.
Across the planet, citizens are no longer waiting for governments to act. They’re already leading the transition. Indigenous peoples, who make up just 5% of the global population, safeguard more than 80% of the world’s biodiversity. And from Pakistan to the continent of Africa, individual households and businesses are taking matters into their own hand by importing and installing massive amounts of solar and battery power.
Yet, while nearly nine in ten people worldwide want more decisive climate action, too many leaders still behave as if the public is hesitant or divided. In reality, citizens have already given governments a mandate to act boldly.
The Promise of a “People’s COP” at COP30
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called for COP30 to be a global mutirão: a collective effort rooted in the country’s Indigenous concept of community action. That idea is now taking shape through a new initiative, the Citizens’ Track, designed by the Iswe Foundation and partners, including the European Climate Foundation.
Just as the Paris Agreement created a permanent Action Agenda for business and civil society, the Citizens’ Track would establish a formal, ongoing space for citizen participation in global climate governance. Local assemblies in cities, villages, and Indigenous territories around the world would deliberate on key questions, from adaptation priorities to financing fairness, and feed their recommendations into a Global Citizens’ Assembly. That Assembly’s annual “People’s Report” would sit alongside government stocktakes and scientific assessments, giving future COP presidencies a direct line to the world’s citizens.
As Laurence Tubiana, one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, recently noted, “People give leaders a stronger mandate.” The Citizens’ Track would ensure that the mandate is heard and that decisions reflect lived reality, not just diplomatic consensus.
From Ideas to Impact at COP30
This shift is long overdue. From a new statement signed by global luminaries like former prime minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar and former prime minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven,, to community-led climate assemblies springing up in Kenya, Uruguay, and France, the message is consistent: the solutions exist, the mandate exists, and so does the urgency.
At COP30, citizens are asking leaders for clarity—on how they’ll phase out fossil fuels, stop deforestation, and deliver long-promised climate finance to developing countries. The technology and resources are already there. What the world needs is accountability and courage to follow through.
This is where participation becomes power. When people see themselves reflected in climate policy, they protect it. When they help design solutions, those solutions last. That’s as true in the Amazon as it is in small towns across the industrialized world. This is where the idea of a climate citizens assembly has a role to play.
Collie and Belém: Two Sides of the Same Story at COP30
In my previous writings, I’ve the story of Collie, a small coal town in Western Australia that turned what could have been a story of decline into one of renewal. When the state government announced plans to shut down its coal plants, local unions didn’t resist the inevitable. They helped lead the process. Together with residents, they co-designed a plan to attract battery manufacturing, green steel, and new industries—securing over $600 million in public investment.
The announcement, once feared, was met with applause. Not because people were losing jobs, but because they’d been respected enough to shape what came next. Collie became proof that a “just transition” isn’t an abstract idea but it’s a policy you can feel.
That same spirit is alive in Belém, where Indigenous leaders have invited the world to help raise $1 billion for sustainable development through the Amazon Fund. Their invitation sparked the Global Citizen Festival: Amazônia, which brought together artists, governments, and citizens to back this shared mission. The message is simple: protecting the rainforest isn’t charity; it’s co-investment in the planet’s future economy.
The Next Frontier at COP30
For too long, climate summits have been conversations between governments about citizens, rather than with them. The Citizens’ Track, and the broader push for participatory climate governance, could change that.
Embedding citizen deliberation into the UN process isn’t about symbolism; it’s about systems. When people are part of decision-making, policies are fairer, faster, and more resilient to political cycles. It also helps counter the growing backlash against climate policy by replacing fear with agency.
That’s the deeper opportunity of COP30: to turn democracy itself into climate infrastructure.
Because the challenge of the next decade isn’t just decarbonization. Bridging the gap between citizens and systems, between local innovation and global accountability, between the people living with the consequences and those negotiating the timelines.
If Paris was about pledges, the COP30 climate talks taking place in Belém can be about participation. The People’s COP must be remembered as the moment the world stopped treating citizens as an afterthought, and started treating them as the most powerful climate solution we have.