December 10, 2025 
4 minutes COP30: can ripples of progress for the ocean lead to waves of change for coastal communities?
Against a backdrop of tropical heat, thundering rain and concerns surrounding the viability of multilateralism, there was a clear and encouraging inclusion of ocean priorities at COP30, held across two weeks in Brazil’s Amazonian city of Belém. Thanks in no small part to the advocacy of Indigenous and traditional leaders and civil society, and the leadership of the COP Presidency, the ocean appears to have finally entered the chat.
For the first time ever, the ocean featured in the World Leaders Summit, with COP30’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, Marinez Scherer – the only Special Envoy out of 29 to speak at the event – spotlighting a bold new framework to accelerate and scale-up ocean-climate solutions by 2028.
It must be acknowledged that the ocean was working from a fairly low bar. The term ‘ocean’ does not appear in the 2015 Paris Agreement and, despite improvement over the past decade, WWF’s Ocean Expectations Paper for COP30 still had to spell out the basic need for ocean issues to be embedded across negotiations and outcomes, reflecting a persistent lack of global recognition for the ocean as an integral avenue for climate mitigation, adaptation, finance and just transition.
This long-standing gap has finally begun to close. It might have taken 30 years of Climate COPs, but the ocean has been formally recognised, with the role of marine and coastal ecosystems embedded across the Belém Political Package and recognised in the Global Mutirão.
But who plays the main role in safeguarding and restoring these ecosystems, and how well did COP30 meet their needs and match up to their priorities?
Coastal communities – including Indigenous Peoples, local communities and small-scale fishers – are custodians of the coastal ecosystems on which they depend for sustenance, livelihoods and cultural identity and climate protection, a role that they have played for generations and through which they have unique knowledge and expertise. Much global discourse centres around how these communities are threatened by the impacts of climate change, and with good reason, but they are also essential architects of key solutions to battle and, in some cases, reverse them.
COP30 offered a major opportunity to accelerate the impact of coastal community-led climate solutions, contributing to global climate targets while strengthening livelihoods and boosting resilience to climate shocks. It was a moment where political recognition of the ocean had the potential to translate into real progress for the people most intimately connected to it.
17 countries have now pledged their commitment to the Blue NDC challenge, which calls upon governments to place the ocean at the heart of their climate plans, with the potential to enhance the protection of coastal ecosystems and resilience of coastal communities.
New Breakthroughs were announced and existing Breakthroughs revitalised, accelerating ocean-based action by matching science-based targets with the finance needed to scale action, and supporting locally-led climate solutions and coastal community empowerment through finance, partnerships, policy and capacity-building.
59 of 100 indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation were agreed, encouraging Parties to disaggregate by ecosystem type, ensuring that coastal and ocean ecosystems – and coastal community contributions to them – are clearly represented in reporting on global adaptation outcomes. Importantly, the indicators also track the integration of traditional knowledge and sustained engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities in planning processes and strategies.
Finance commitments for climate adaptation were ostensibly increased but fell short of the mobilisation target of 300 million USD annually, and a lack of tangible targets or milestones agreed signals a worrying lack of accountability despite ambition and advocacy from developing states. Meanwhile, access to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage – a critical avenue of funding support for ocean-vulnerable countries – was widened to allow developing countries including Small Island Developing States and those reliant on the ocean to submit funding requests, but lacks clear milestones and remains underfunded by 800 million USD.
So, can these ripples of progress create waves of meaningful change for coastal communities? The answer is nuanced. COP30’s ocean outcomes offer genuine promise, but real change will only be possible if there are clear mechanisms for recognising coastal community leadership, integrating their knowledge systems, and financing their solutions at scale. Waves of change will only build if coastal community voices are central – not peripheral – to climate action.
COP31 may feel distant, but the work must begin now. Support for Pacific Island engagement and the proposed pre-COP in the Pacific will be essential to ensure coastal community realities are brought to the fore. Countries must be encouraged to embed coastal communities within their climate plans ahead of the next Global Stocktake in 2029. We must continue to understand and celebrate the impact of coastal community-led climate solutions, and support their access to technologies, partnerships, and capacity building mechanisms that support them. Above all, we cannot allow the ripples of progress set in motion at COP30 to stall.
WWF’s Coastal Communities Initiative, in collaboration with Rare, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance and Voices for Just Climate Action have published a report outlining recommendations for policy, funding, and partnership support to accelerate and scale the impact of coastal community-led nature-based climate solutions.
