The Hands Off Mother Earth (HOME) coalition has accused the COP30 climate conference in Belem of being a "festival of false solutions" dominated by the interests of carbon markets, fossil fuel lobbies, and promoters of dangerous geoengineering technologies.
In a strongly worded statement, the organization said COP30 represents a "betrayal" of indigenous peoples, climate justice movements and civil society, accusing governments of reneging on fossil fuel divestment commitments and engaging in "technical fixes" that threaten ecosystems and communities on the frontlines of the crisis.
According to HOME, carbon markets are increasingly being used to justify controversial approaches, such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), direct air capture, and CO2 removal from the seas - approaches that the organization says fail to address the root causes of the climate crisis.
Civil society activists have pointed to an unprecedented presence of industry lobbies within the negotiations. The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) reported that 531 carbon capture lobbyists were given access to the negotiating sessions, while the Kick Out the Big Polluters coalition revealed that one in 25 registered participants was linked to the fossil fuel industry.
The coalition also pointed to more than 20 side events and pavilion programs promoting geoengineering initiatives, despite years of environmental and social concerns.
Last week, the HOME Coalition re-launched its "Our Earth is Not a Laboratory" manifesto, calling for a global rejection of geoengineering and urging governments to prioritize community-based climate solutions built on environmental justice and integrity.
Adrienne Blashford (Indigenous Peoples Environmental Network) rejected "extractive industry-driven" climate policies, calling for indigenous leadership in climate decision-making and the removal of geoengineering from global negotiations.
Nimo Bassey, executive director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Nigeria, said COP30 "avoided the core issues," denouncing carbon markets and geoengineering as "escape hatches used by polluters."
Jana Uemura (Global Forest Alliance) said the conference exposed the "commercialization" of the UNFCCC, emphasizing that the process needs radical reform to restore its credibility.
Mohammad Asroff (Palestinian Institute for Climate Strategy) warned that geoengineering initiatives are increasingly linked to military fields and surveillance systems, describing them as "a dangerous extension of colonial power."
Lily Faure (CIEL) accused fossil fuel lobbies of "hijacking the climate talks and losing their integrity," delaying serious work on phasing out oil, gas and coal.
Representatives from Climate Justice Alliance, Angry Youth Alliance, Iconix, Biofuel Watch, Friends of the Earth International, and ETC Group also voiced the same concerns, rejecting corporate-driven mechanisms such as carbon offsets, carbon capture and storage (CCS), solar radiation modification, and nature commoditization schemes.
Despite the criticism, the HOME Coalition noted the power of civil mobilization during the conference, including the massive November 15 march and the "People's Summit" events, which it said exemplified "where the real leaders of climate action lie."
comments