Environmental groups WWF and Greenpeace issued a joint call on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, for COP30 delegates to adopt a binding roadmap to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030, warning that symbolic gestures will not suffice.
The appeal comes as Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has urged the climate summit to produce two roadmaps: one transitioning away from fossil fuels and another focused on forest preservation.
“There is no credible pathway to meeting the Paris Agreement without ambitious action on forests,” said Kirsten Schuijt, WWF International director general. “COP30 is a historic opportunity to close the ambition and implementation gap.”
The organisations are pressing for a formal outcome document that builds on the 2023 Global Stocktake decision.
They warned that meeting the 1.5-degree Celsius warming target is impossible without forest protection.
Carolina Pasquali, executive director of Greenpeace Brazil, said vague commitments are inadequate.
“We cannot leave Belém with symbolic gestures, voluntary commitments or vague promises,” Pasquali said.
“We need a concrete, time-bound action plan to end deforestation in all forests by 2030.”
The push comes amid warnings from scientists that rainforests like the Amazon are approaching irreversible tipping points.
Recent reports from the IPCC and IPBES underscore the urgency, as does a joint statement from Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Carlos Nobre of the University of São Paulo.
Indigenous peoples and local communities have maintained a significant presence both inside and outside the conference venue, demanding land rights and deforestation protections.
The proposed roadmap includes guidance on implementing national deforestation plans, securing land rights for Indigenous peoples and local communities, reforming financial systems, addressing agricultural drivers of deforestation, and improving monitoring systems.
The groups also called for establishing a process to track implementation of national plans and international cooperation commitments.