SLOCAT’s Impact Stories 2025

From Insight to Impact, Together

Making Transport Visible, and Actionable, at COP30

At COP30, the first-ever Transport Pavilion in a COP Blue Zone provided an action-oriented space where governments, expert organisations, NGOs, academia, philanthropies and private sector actors collectively advanced transport decarbonisation and resilience for inclusive growth. SLOCAT convened the pavilion jointly with Brazil Sistema Transport and the Brazilian Ministries of Transports, Cities, and Ports and Airports, with support from Climate Compatible Growth (CCG), ALSTOM, FIA Foundation, International Union of Railways (UIC), Kühne Climate Centre (KCC), Mitigation Action Facility, and several Brazilian actors. 

The Pavilion played a strategic role in anchoring transport within the COP space. It hosted cross-sectoral dialogue and implementation alliances, and amplified SLOCAT’s targeted advocacy for Five Transport Priorities for Climate and Sustainability at COP30, namely:

  1. Advancing a structured process towards a Global Goal for Transport.
  2. Delivering bold transport ambition in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to supercharge climate action.
  3. Scaling up climate finance in sustainable transport to power change.
  4. Prioritising transport adaptation and resilience to protect communities and economies.
  5. Leveraging key UNFCCC platforms to accelerate transport implementation.

COP30 Belém was dubbed as the “implementation COP”, after years of negotiations on the Paris Agreement rules and amidst mounting climate change impacts worldwide. While it kept the global climate process alive at a time of strained multilateralism, it fell short of implementation expectations. Limited ambition from major emitters, geopolitical tensions, and disputes over trade slowed formal negotiations among countries. The lack of reference to a fossil fuels transition in the final decision – the Global Mutirão – was widely seen as anachronistic, at best and underscored the disconnect between growing political support and negotiated outcomes. It also marked a departure from the strong signals agreed by countries at the first Global Stocktake, and played a major role in preventing agreement on how to close the gap between pledges and what science demands.

Yet, COP30 delivered several transport-relevant advances across negotiated outcomes and voluntary multi-actor initiatives, including:

  • The launch of the Global Implementation Accelerator and Belem Mission to 1.5 as voluntary initiatives to accelerate the implementation of NDCs and National Adaptation Plans.
  • A pledge by 11 countries – Chile (leader), Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain – to reduce energy demand from transport and shift to renewables by 2035.
  • The announcement of a forthcoming Roadmap to Transition Away from Fossil Fuels to be led by Brazil,, and the First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, to be hosted by Colombia and The Netherlands.
  • Agreement to establish a new Just Transition Mechanism focused on implementation.
  • A call for, at least, tripling finance for adaptation in developing countries.
  • The launch of a two-year work programme to continue the dialogue on climate finance. 
  • The announcement of Plans to Accelerate Solutions in transport, under the new Action Agenda.

SLOCAT’s analysis Transport in COP30 Outcomes provides further details.

Building on this momentum, our preparations are already underway to engage strategically in follow-up initiatives and towards COP31.