Belém, Brazil – Climate impacted community members from Peru, the Philippines, and Belgium urged governments at COP30 to commit to a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels and make polluters pay at a new interactive climate damages exhibition at the UN climate talks. The exhibition, on unaccounted for climate impacts of the oil and gas industry, also featured the display of a giant Climate Polluters Bill linked to the fossil fuel industry.
Photos and videos of the exhibition “Unaccounted” are available in the Greenpeace Media Library.
Saúl Luciano Lliuya, Peruvian farmer and Plaintiff in a landmark climate lawsuit against German energy firm RWE said: “This climate bill comes from communities that have been severely affected by climate change, but are the least responsible for it. Where I live, in the Andes, the landscape in the highlands is changing very quickly and the mountains are crying as the glaciers melt. My community and others like mine, along with the mountains, will see justice.”
To inaugurate the exhibition, Lliuya was joined by Filipino youth activist Charles Zander Deluna and Belgian climate activist Benjamin Van Bunderen Robberechts as part of the calls for governments to accelerate work on phasing out fossil fuels and to hold the industry accountable. Deluna’s community has recently announced the first climate-related personal injury and property damage case against UK oil giant Shell and Van Bunderen Robberechts. Is the founder of “Climate Justice for Rosa.”[1]
Beyond the giant bill [2], the exhibition provided visitors the opportunity to indicate on a collective world map, where they were confronted with climate impacts, co-creating an archive of disrupted lives and the growing unaccounted costs of the oil and gas industry.
Other exhibits included a video collage of extreme weather and displacement, showing the widening gap between political pledges and the reality of the climate crisis alongside a poem from Jackie Bernabela, a teacher from the Caribbean island Bonaire who is suing the Dutch government for failing to protect it from climate change.
Abdoulaye Diallo, Campaign Lead, Greenpeace International said: “For too long, the balance sheet of the climate crisis remained invisible. Ordinary people barely survive by swimming through flooded cities, while oil and gas corporations are showered in mega-profits. Negotiators must wake up to the growing public and political pressure to make polluters pay, and agree to new polluter taxes to unlock international climate finance in the final COP30 outcome.”
At COP30, Greenpeace is calling for a Global Response Plan to address the 1.5°C ambition gap and accelerate emissions reductions in this critical decade; a new, dedicated 5-year Forest Action Plan to end deforestation by 2030; and the establishment of a new work programme to advance the implementation of the COP29 finance outcome and developed countries’ public finance commitments – within which options should be developed on progressive environmental taxation in line with the polluter pays principle and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC).
ENDS
NOTES:
[1] In November 2015, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, a Peruvian farmer who lives in Huaraz, Peru, filed claims for declaratory judgment and damages in the District Court Essen, Germany against RWE, Germany’s largest electricity producer.
The mission of Climate Justice for Rosa is to honour the memory of Rosa, a 15-year-old girl who tragically drowned in the devastating climate-induced floods that hit Western Europe in the summer of 2021, claiming the lives of 220 people in Belgium and Germany.
[2] Data provided to Greenpeace International by leading scholars on the Social Cost of Carbon found economic damage from emissions of just five major oil and gas corporations in the last decade was estimated to be over US$ 5 trillionThe quantification of economic damages since 2015 was provided to Greenpeace International by Prof. James Rising of the University of Delaware and Dr. Lisa Rennels of Stanford University. The analysis uses data from the Carbon Majors Database and the SCC methodology. The SCC was used by former US administrations and policy analysts to assign a dollar value to future damages from an additional ton of CO₂ between the year of its emissions through to the year 2300.
Emissions data for the oil and gas companies was provided by the Carbon Majors Database, which in turn sources emissions data from publicly available company reports.
Nairobi, Kenya – As the third round of UN Tax Convention negotiations concludes today, Greenpeace is calling on countries to step up their ambition and deliver a robust and ambitious treaty that can finally set fairer and more equitable global tax rules.[1]
Nina Stros, Senior Policy Expert, Greenpeace International and Head of Greenpeace delegation said: “The deeper we go into the UN Tax Convention negotiations, the more evident it becomes that stronger, unwavering commitment is needed in order to deliver a fairer and more equitable international tax system for sustainable development. Without effective global tax cooperation, the super-rich and polluting corporations are let off the hook for their climate damages while avoiding paying their fair share of taxes. It is the people who are picking up the tab.”
“Negotiators need to maintain cohesion and solidarity in order to avoid the tax convention process slipping back to the failing status quo. As a delegate to the UN Tax Convention rightly noted, if we didn’t need a new way of doing things, we wouldn’t be here.”
Greenpeace is calling on countries that have already expressed political support for increasing the contributions of high-net-worth individuals and major polluters to translate that support into concrete proposals within this process. While Greenpeace welcomes the positive discussions on sustainable development, with some countries proposing stronger language on a need to integrate the polluter pays principle into the article on sustainable development, countries must raise overall ambition in their written submission expected by December 5th.
Fred Njehu, Fair Share Global Political Lead, Greenpeace Africa, said: “It is clear the current global tax system is unfair and unjust – we are on the brink of the world’s first trillionaire while public services everywhere are being cut due to a lack of funding. This has to change. Countries must back up their public pledges to tax the super-rich and major polluters by participating constructively in the negotiations. While that follow-through is currently lacking, there’s still time to accelerate progress, cultivate political will and bring more pragmatism, commitment and bold approaches to the negotiating table.”
“Over at COP30 in Belém, countries are debating how to transition away from fossil fuels, end forest destruction and assure adequate climate finance, when the UNTC – if negotiated with ambition – could actually be a space to unlock missing trillions in public funds for climate action, nature protection and public services. No country can afford to ignore this historic opportunity for agreeing on a global tax system that can finally put people and the planet first.”
On 8 November, hundreds of volunteers from Greenpeace Africa formed a giant human banner in the shape of the African continent and displayed a printed message Tax the Super-rich for People and Planet to demand urgent tax reform at the UN Tax Convention negotiations. Greenpeace International had taken up a billboard in Nairobi presenting a giant bill and asking for negotiators to make polluters pay.
Belém, Brazil – Brazilian artivist Mundano delivered, in partnership with Greenpeace a striking art installation to demand world leaders take bold action for forests at COP30, today. Mundano wrote the message “COP30: Rise for Forests” with transparent ink, and used ashes taken from forest fires in the Amazon to reveal the text. The ashes used in the performance were taken from the Anambé Indigenous land, near Belém, in 2024, when the territory was impacted by forest fires.
Carolina Pasquali, Executive Director, Greenpeace Brazil said: “Time is running out at COP30. We cannot leave this COP with symbolic gestures, voluntary commitments or vague promises. We need a concrete, time-bound action plan to end deforestation in all forests by 2030. The Global Stocktake at COP28 recognised this goal, but recognition is not action. This artwork stands here today as a warning and an invitation to negotiators, ministers and governments: the future is burning, and the world is watching. Deliver real action now.”
Mundano, Brazilian artivist said: “Human greed is turning entire ecosystems into ashes, and that is unacceptable. I have walked through burned forests, and the sadness there is profound. That is why, for the past four years, I have been bringing these ashes as a cry to turn burned forests into standing ones.”
At COP 30, Greenpeace and WWF are calling for a new, dedicated 5-year Forest Action Plan to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030.
Mauricio Voivodic, Executive Director, WWF-Brazil said: “Mundano turns into art a warning that science, Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities have been sounding for decades: without protecting native vegetation, we jeopardise the very continuity of life on Earth. The Amazon is on the brink of a tipping point — a moment after which forest loss becomes irreversible — and there is no room left for hesitation. In the coming days, Parties must show real commitment and deliver an ambitious, concrete and urgent roadmap to end deforestation and the conversion of native forests by 2030.”
Mundano is a Brazilian artivist and advocate for environmental and human rights causes. In recent years, he has been collecting residues from some of the biggest environmental crimes in Brazil, creating his own paint from toxic mud, ashes from forest fires, and oil spilled on the beaches of Brazil’s Northeast. Through his artivism, he works to fight the climate emergency.
The world’s shared promise to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels is hanging by a thread. The 2024 global temperature exceeded the 1.5°C threshold for the first time, and scientists now warn that we may temporarily overshoot this critical limit in the years ahead. This is not the moment to surrender. It is the moment to act.
There is no climate cliff at 1.5°C and no single point of no return, but there is no safe level of warming either. Every fraction of a degree avoided means lives, cultures, and ecosystems preserved. Each tonne of carbon we prevent from entering the atmosphere and each hectare of forest we protect could mean the difference between safety and devastation for millions of people.
July 2025, Quezon City, The Philippines. As residents brace for the impacts of upcoming storm Emong (international name: Co-May) and another low pressure area, many are using the limited time to clean and organise what’s left of their flood-damaged homes.
We’re midway through one of the most important COPs in years and governments must seize the moment to deliver a Global Response Plan that closes the 1.5°C ambition gap, phases out fossil fuels, ends deforestation, and ensures that those most responsible for the crisis finally pay for the damage they have caused.
The threat is real and the difference between 1.5°C and 3°C is enormous
The world remains on a dangerous path. Currently, we’re facing a predicted global temperature rise of up to 2.5°C by the end of the century. That would mean mass displacement, severe food and water shortages, irreversible ecosystem collapse, and unbearable heat across large parts of the planet.
We are already seeing a glimpse of this future. Unprecedented heatwaves, floods, wildfires, and droughts are devastating lives and livelihoods across every continent. For the most climate-vulnerable communities, a fraction of a degree can decide whether families can remain on ancestral land or are forced to flee.
In the 10th anniversary year of the Paris Agreement, Greenpeace constructed an Eiffel Tower replica made up of cardboard boxes in the COP30 venue with the sign ‘Fragile. Handle With Care’ to symbolise how the 1.5°C limit agreed in Paris is under threat.
The solutions are known and achievable. To keep 1.5°C within reach, the world must phase out coal, oil and gas, and end deforestation once and for all.
Fossil fuels are the single biggest driver of climate chaos. Governments must agree to a fair and fast phase-out, while ensuring a just transition for workers and communities. The fossil fuel industry has known about its destructive impact for decades and continues to profit while pushing false solutions such as carbon capture and offsets that delay real change. These distractions cannot replace urgent emission cuts.
As Shell announces record profits an electric advan in London is showing images of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. The images raise awareness that the biggest polluters continue to profit while ordinary people bear the brunt of the costs of these climate disasters. It’s time to hold Shell accountable and demand they pay for the damage they’ve caused.
At COP30, governments must agree on a five-year Forest Action Plan to protect and restore forests and other vital ecosystems while upholding Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ rights. Protecting forests is protecting our collective future.
The Paris Agreement was built on solidarity, fairness, and shared responsibility. Its 1.5°C limit represents a global safety aspiration for people and the planet. Yet too many governments are failing to meet their own promises.
Meanwhile, the corporations that have driven this crisis—the fossil fuel giants, industrial agribusinesses, and financial institutions that bankroll them—must be held accountable. Polluters must pay for the damage they have caused, and governments must ensure that public money supports solutions, not destruction.
At COP30, countries must now come together to deliver a global response plan to bridge the 1.5°C ambition gap, phase out fossil fuels and close the gap between words and deeds. The world is watching.
Hopelessness only serves those who profit from destruction. The real power to change course lies with people: in Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities defending their forests, in young people taking to the streets, and in movements demanding justice and accountability.
Organized by the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), the march brought together Indigenous people and activists this Monday, 17 November, in the streets of Belém, the host city of COP30. Carrying the message “We Are the Answer,” the demonstration marked “Indigenous Peoples’ Day at COP30,” promoting climate debate and the defense of the rights and territories of Indigenous peoples.
Hope is not naïve optimism. It is courage in motion. Across the world, renewable energy is growing faster than ever, Indigenous leaders are protecting their territories, and courts are delivering landmark rulings holding governments to account. Each of these examples shows that collective action works.
During this second week of COP30, we carry both the weight of responsibility and the strength of solidarity. We can still secure the safest climate possible, but only if we act now, with honesty, urgency, and hope.
Every government at COP30 must now rise to the challenge of keeping 1.5°C within reach.
Belém, Brazil – Ten years after the Paris Agreement, Greenpeace International has launched a new report at COP30, revealing the insufficient climate ambition in the 2035 NDCs of the G20 countries.
The report, 2035 Climate Ambition Gap, was released at the UN climate change conference in Belém as part of Greenpeace’s call for governments to agree on a Global Response Plan to ensure the 1.5°C limit remains in reach.
Tracy Carty, Climate Politics Expert, Greenpeace International said: “When the G20 countries – responsible for 80% of global emissions – deliver collective ambition that falls dangerously short, the world has a problem. With 85% of the global economy behind them, the G20’s decisions shape trade, investment and technology worldwide. Their choices will make or break the 1.5°C goal, but their plans amount to just a 23-29% cut in emissions towards the 60% reduction globally that is needed.”
“Given their historic responsibility for emissions and greater capacity to act, developed G20 countries should be out front, cutting emissions far in excess of the 60% global average needed. But taken together, G20 developed country NDCs amount to only a 51% – 57% cut from 2019 levels – a striking failure to lead from those expected to drive global ambition.”
The Greenpeace analysis also assessed the energy related content of G20 NDCs and found that none of them have credible plans to phase out the fuels driving the climate crisis.
Carty added: “G20 countries are home to the world’s largest producers and consumers of fossil fuels which are driving the climate crisis, yet none of their 2035 NDCs include credible plans to phase them out. Developed countries in particular have the greatest responsibility to lead and move first, but their NDCs fall far short of what science and fairness demand.”
Jasper Inventor, Deputy Programme Director, Greenpeace International said: “At this COP we are fighting for a Global Response Plan to bridge the 1.5°C ambition gap. That must include a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels and include an action plan to end deforestation. We’ve seen progress in week one, but we need an outcome that leads to change and not just another roadmap to nowhere.”
“We must ensure COP30 leads to urgent action to phase out fossil fuels and fast-track renewables. But it must also yield progress for crucially needed climate finance, including steps towards making polluters pay for climate damages and a just transition. COP30 must deliver an outcome that accelerates real action.”
Belém, Brazil — Greenpeace joined more than 40,000 people at the Global Climate March in Belém to end the first week of the UN climate conference, today.
Activists carried messages demanding respect for the Amazon and to make polluters pay using a giant climate polluters bill showing projected loss and damage attributed to top oil and gas corporations[1]. The Global Climate March was organised by civil society organisations and Indigenous Peoples groups from several parts of the world.
Photos and videos of the Global Climate March will be available in the Greenpeace Media Library.
Carolina Pasquali, Executive Director, Greenpeace Brazil said: “We are tens of thousands here today, on the streets of Belém, to show negotiators at COP30 that this is what people power looks like. Yesterday we found out that one in every 25 COP30 participants is a fossil fuel lobbyist, proportionally a 12% increase from last year’s COP. How can the climate crisis be solved while those creating it are influencing the talks and delaying decisions? The people are getting fed up – enough talking, we need action and we need it now.”
Abdoulaye Diallo, Co-Head of Greenpeace International campaign, Make Polluters Pay said: “We are taking to the streets because, while governments are not acting fast enough to make polluters pay for their climate damages at COP30, extreme weather events continue to wreak havoc across the globe. That is why we are here, carrying the climate polluters bill, showing the projected economic damages of more than US$5 trillion from the emissions of just five oil and gas companies over the last decade. Fossil fuel companies are destroying our planet, and people are paying the price. Negotiators must wake up to the growing public and political pressure to make polluters pay, and agree to new polluter taxes in the final COP30 outcome.”
Rômulo Batista, Forest Solutions Project Co-Lead, Greenpeace Brazil said: “From the Amazon to the Congo Basin to Indonesia, our world’s tropical forests are vital in the fight against the climate crisis. Yet, they continue to be destroyed, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs & LCs), the true protectors of our forests, are outnumbered in the negotiations. We are here in solidarity with IPs & LCs, who must have their voices heard, their territories protected, and their rights guaranteed.”
At COP30, Greenpeace is calling for a Global Response Plan to address the 1.5°C ambition gap and accelerate emissions reductions in this critical decade; a new, dedicated 5-year Forest Action Plan to end deforestation by 2030; and the establishment of a new standing UNFCCC agenda item to drive New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) delivery, particularly scaling-up public finance from developed countries, and advance polluter-pays taxation to unlock scaled-up public finance for developing countries.
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Notes:
[1] The quantification of economic damages since 2015 was provided to Greenpeace International by Prof. James Rising of the University of Delaware and Dr. Lisa Rennels of Stanford University. The analysis uses data from the Carbon Majors Database and the SCC methodology. The SCC was used by former US administrations and policy analysts to assign a dollar value to future damages from an additional ton of CO₂ between the year of its emissions through to the year 2300.
Emissions data for the oil and gas companies was provided by the Carbon Majors Database, which in turn sources emissions data from publicly available company reports.
Belem, Brazil — Greenpeace has called on negotiators at the end of week one at COP30 in Belém to accelerate and implement climate and forest promises by ensuring they agree on an action plan to end deforestation and close the 1.5°C ambition gap.
Jasper Inventor, Deputy Programme Director, Greenpeace International said: “At this COP we are still hoping it will deliver a global response plan to bridge the 1.5°C ambition gap and that needs to involve a roadmap, or a plan, to phase out fossil fuels, an action plan to end deforestation and much needed climate finance. We’ve seen progress in week one, but we need an outcome that leads to change and not just another roadmap to nowhere.”
“We must ensure COP30 delivers a clear plan to phase out fossil fuels and one that fast-tracks renewables. But it must also make polluters pay for climate damages and a just transition, with clear timelines and an immediate fossil-fuel decline to keep the 1.5°C limit alive. COP30 must deliver an outcome that accelerates real action.”
The UNFCCC’s updated annual report card, the NDCs Synthesis Report 2025, exposed the glaring lack of ambition, projecting only a 12% reduction in emissions by 2035. This was far short of the 60% global reduction needed (compared to 2019 levels).[1]
Greenpeace carried out a projection in the UN venue with images of climate impacts, urging country delegates to act now.
A growing ‘forest gap’ was also exposed in the 2025 Land Gap Report, underscoring the urgent need for an action plan to implement the UNFCCC’s 2030 target to end deforestation.[2]
An Lambrechts, Biodiversity Politics Expert, Greenpeace International, said: “It’s clear we are failing to protect our forests, but as they’re a critical piece of the 1.5°C solution, COP30 must result in an action plan to end deforestation by 2030.”
“While we’ve seen some cautious steps week one, after worldleaders travelled to the first COP ever in the Amazon, governments must now ensure this pivotal COP delivers for people and forests by ensuring forest destruction finally comes to an end.”
At COP30, Greenpeace is also calling for a new standing UNFCCC agenda item to drive NCQG delivery, particularly scaling-up public finance from developed countries, and advance polluter-pays taxation to unlock scaled-up public finance for developing countries.
Anna Carcamo, Climate Politics Specialist, Greenpeace Brazil said: “This COP has been called the COP of Implementation and the COP of truth. To live up to those names, it must deliver climate finance that is real, accessible, and fair. Developed countries must provide public climate finance to developing nations to put climate action into practice – from NDCs and adaptation measures to the response to loss and damage. For millions, it is not a question of opportunity – it is a question of survival. Climate finance is, above all, a matter of climate justice.”
In September 2025, Greenpeace East Asia’s Beijing office presented the exhibition Lighting the Future: People’s Hope and Power in China’s Green Energy Future at the 25th Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIP). Curated by Na Risong, Art Director of Image Gallery, and featuring photographer Chu Weimin, the exhibition showcased aerial photographs of China’s renewable energy landscape—solar farms, wind turbines, and hybrid energy projects—alongside stories of people and communities living amid the country’s massive energy transformation. The exhibition drew widespread attention, receiving both the PIP Outstanding Photographer Award and the Outstanding Curator Award.
A new kind of landscape
Liupanshui, Guizhou Province, the Ming Dynasty Huguo Temple and wind turbines in the Distant Mountains, April 2024 /
Stepping into the exhibition hall, visitors were first greeted by a breathtaking photograph: a temple perched high in the mountains, framed by the rhythmic silhouettes of wind turbines — an image that seems to merge past and future, nature and technology.
Photographer Chu Weimin has spent the past three years documenting China’s clean energy transition using drones. His most striking images resemble Chinese traditional Shanshui ink paintings — mountains and clouds now joined by rows of turbines. In these surreal, poetic landscapes, wind farms rise from mountains like brushstrokes and an ancient temple stands quietly against a backdrop of renewable infrastructure.
Lenghu, Qinghai Province, with tourists at the Heidu Mountain Scenic Area and nearby wind turbines, June 2023.
“I started out just shooting landscapes,” Chu recalls. “But when I traveled to places like Guizhou, Yunnan, and Qinghai in 2022, I kept seeing wind farms and solar power plants appear in my camera frame. I realized this is the story of our time — and almost no one is documenting it in a systematic way.”
Seeing from above
Dunhuang, Gansu Province: Developing a unique tourism experience in the photovoltaic industrial park, June 2023.
For Chu, drone photography was essential. “From the ground, it’s hard to grasp the scale of these power plants,” he explains. “But when you rise into the air, you can see the geometry, the rhythm — and their relationship with the mountains, the desert, the sea.”
His project deliberately spans diverse terrains, ranging from the deserts of Qinghai to the coasts of Zhejiang and the rural villages of Shandong. In Gansu’s abandoned copper mine, wind turbines now rise next to a hillside temple built decades ago by miners praying for safety. In Ningbo’s tidal flats, rows of solar panels coexist with fishing boats. In rural Shandong, villagers install rooftop solar to power their homes — and even their electric scooters.
Stories beneath the surface
The 2.42MW photovoltaic power generation project, which was invested in by Zhanzong New Energy Co., Ltd from Binzhou, Shandong Province.
Beyond the monumental landscapes, China’s energy transition is also reshaping livelihoods and local economies. According to recent research, the clean energy sector has become one of the most dynamic engines of national growth, contributing nearly 40% of GDP growth in 2023.
Chu’s photographs capture glimpses of this transformation at the human scale. In Shandong, villagers install rooftop solar panels that not only power their homes but also generate extra income. “Many of the farmers told me their electricity bills have dropped to almost nothing,” Chu recalls. “Some even use solar power to charge their scooters or run small workshops.”
These scenes—quiet yet profound—reflect how renewable energy is no longer just a national project of heavy industry, but something deeply connected to people’s everyday lives.
Tala Desert, Qinghai Province: Solar power is used to transform the barren land into grassland. The herders raise “Photovoltaic sheep” to prevent the grass from growing too tall, June 2025.
In places like Qinghai’s Tala Desert, Chu also observed how solar projects can reshape ecosystems. Panels reduce heat and wind, allowing grasses to regrow beneath them. In partnership with herders, sheep graze under the panels, turning the site into a working landscape.
Energy transition at human scale
Pan Xinzeng, a villager from Panjia Village, Binzhou, Shandong Province, installed a 43.32KW photovoltaic power station at his home.
While his photographs center on landscapes, Chu’s travels also brought him into contact with people living within this transformation. Some villagers welcome solar projects as new sources of income — working as security staff, leasing land, or installing panels for household use. Others express concerns about noise or misconceptions about radiation. “People’s reactions are complex,” Chu notes. “This is real change happening on the ground, and not everyone experiences it the same way.”
Shanshui for a new era
What makes Chu’s work distinctive is not just what he photographs, but how he frames it. Drawing inspiration from classical Chinese Shanshui painting, he overlays a traditional visual language onto modern infrastructure. He enhances tones and textures to evoke the feeling of ink on paper, but without altering the underlying reality of the images.
Lenghu, Qinghai Province: The ink-wash-like Heidu Mountain Scenic Area and the wind power station, June 2023.
“Shanshui paintings aren’t just about describing landscapes,” Chu says. “They’re about harmony between humans and nature. But today, harmony doesn’t mean returning to a pre-industrial world. It means finding new ways for human development and the environment to coexist.”
In this sense, Chu’s “new Shanshui” embodies the very spirit of the exhibition title. In his images, mountains, turbines, and sunlight flow together like brushstrokes in motion — revealing a nation’s search for balance between people and planet, tradition and innovation.
A future seen today
Greenpeace has a long history of collaborating with photographers to document China’s energy story—from coal pollution to community solutions. This year’s exhibition marks a new chapter: a nation in the midst of the world’s largest clean energy transition.
“We want to show the world that China’s energy future is not just about heavy industry or government megaprojects,” says Zhang Kai, Deputy Program Director of Greenpeace East Asia. “It’s also about landscapes, communities, and people’s everyday lives.”
Chu plans to continue documenting the evolution of China’s energy transition — exploring new storage technologies, emerging landscapes, and the changing relationship between people and energy.
His lens doesn’t just capture infrastructure. It offers a glimpse of what a low-carbon future might look like—not decades from now, but already unfolding across China’s deserts, coasts, and villages today.
Qilin Liu is an International Communications Officer for Greenpeace East Asia, based in Beijing.
Protecting and restoring tropical forests—including the immense diversity of species and the carbon they store—is fundamental to addressing the biodiversity and climate crises, as well as ensuring a habitable planet for future generations.
The key lies in the hands of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs & LCs), who have been the most effective protectors of ecosystems, curbing deforestation and recovering degraded areas. Direct access to financing has proven essential, as well as promoting a decolonised approach to conservation, along with the fundamental recognition of the rights of IPs & LCs.
In this report published during COP30, a selection of existing Indigenous and local communities-led Forest Solutions are presented, examples to be strengthened and multiplied:
Oslo, Norway – Today, the Borgarting Court of Appeal agreed with Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway) that three oil fields in the Norwegian North Sea are illegal.
The case was initiated by Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway), who successfully challenged the awarding of the oil concessions in 2024, a decision that was appealed by the Norwegian Government.
Frode Pleym, Head of Greenpeace Norway, said: ”We are relieved and happy, but not surprised. Looking at recent court decisions on climate, they are not just about the global nature of the crisis but also about what States need to do. The need for governments to protect their citizens from climate harm has now become far too obvious to ignore, and thankfully, judges around the world are realising this.”
In January 2024, the Oslo District Court found the approvals of three oil and gas fields in the North Sea invalid due to the lack of impact assessments.[1] The District Court also issued temporary injunctions forbidding the State from granting any new permits necessary to develop and produce from the fields. The Norwegian State appealed both the judgement and the injunctions.[2] Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal requested advice from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court in Luxembourg on the matter.
In May of this year, the EFTA Court in Luxembourg issued its advisory opinion on the interpretation of the EU Project Directive.[3] The EFTA Court sided with Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom on all points. In its recent judgment, the Appeal Court has reaffirmed the EFTA courts’ advisory opinion.
In an October 2025 judgement from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Court confirmed the obligation of States to assess climate effects from the burning of oil and gas outside of Norway before approval.
Today, the Appeal Court has confirmed both of these rulings.
Sigrid Hoddevik Losnegård, head of Natur og Ungdom, said: “This is a huge victory. Today’s children and future generations will reap the benefits of the courage the judges showed today. It proves that our struggle for climate justice has real force, and it is profoundly affirming to see the Court of Appeal stand with us on every single point. Now it’s up to the politicians to act accordingly and cease all activity on the fields.”
Attorney Jenny Sandvig of the law firm Simonsen Vogt Wiig said: “The Court of Appeal’s decision is crystal clear. The state and the companies have, in violation of the law, failed to inform the population about the harmful effects of these fields. Further development is now taking place at the companies’ own risk. The permits are unlawful.”
Sandvig represents the environmental organisations in the court case.
During her testimony, Elvira Gomez Snerte, one of the case witnesses, expressed deep concerns for the future of her family farm, which has been in her family for generations and which she hopes to inherit someday.
“I am very relieved today,” said Snerte. “Even though the case “only” concerns three oil fields, we know that emissions from them alone can have major consequences for the climate. They contribute to more extreme weather, which, among other things, threatens my family’s farming business. Today’s ruling gives me hope and confidence that we are on the right track for the future.”
The environmental organisations were represented by Jenny Sandvig at the law firm Simonsen Vogt Wiik.
[3] The “EU project directive”, formally known as the “Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (2011/92/EU)”, requires public and private projects likely to have significant environmental effects to be assessed before approval. This assessment evaluates a project’s potential impact on factors like human health, biodiversity, land, air, and climate, and requires public participation and transparency in the decision-making process.
Respect the Amazon
Polluters Pay Pact
