Ealing Friends of the Earth has called on local residents to stay informed and engaged as world leaders meet in Brazil for the COP30 climate conference, which runs until 21 November 2025.
The campaigners say the annual UN climate conferences, first held in Berlin in 1995, were meant to curb the burning of coal, oil and gas that drives global heating. But they warn that “more CO₂ has been dumped into the air in the past 30 years than in all previous human history”. The group blames the influence of fossil fuel interests, saying that “at the last meeting an estimated 1,773 lobbyists” attended on behalf of the industry.
Britain’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is among those who attended what the group describes as “probably the most important meeting on Earth”.
While acknowledging some progress – particularly in renewable energy investment in countries such as China – the group highlights the growing evidence of climate change in Britain. They said: “Gone are the routine sharp frosts of our winters” and pointed to hotter summers and greater extremes elsewhere in the world that threaten nature and food production.
Ealing Friends of the Earth argues that climate action could create new jobs as part of a “just transition” to a sustainable economy. They said: “Yes, it will be expensive but so is life-saving surgery – and keeping a liveable planet is also a life or death issue.”
