Real economy voices call for a fossil fuel roadmap at COP30
We Mean Business Coalition
21 November, 2025 – In response to this morning’s draft Mutirão decision text omitting language around a fossil fuel roadmap, business, investor groups and organisations working in the real economy to deliver the clean energy transition have spoken up.
Businesses and organisations including EDF, Unilever, IIGCC, C40 Cities, Climate Group, Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Carbon Tracker, World Benchmarking Alliance and many more have added their voices to the call for commitment to a roadmap away from fossil fuels.
Maria Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business Coalition said: “The lack of reference to a fossil fuel roadmap in the latest Mutirão text calls into question whether COP30 can deliver a credible outcome. Countries, businesses and communities need a clear, negotiated pathway for phasing out fossil fuels and scaling up clean electrification – a promise made at COP28.
“The Presidency has shown leadership through COP30 but leadership now means restoring the roadmap language. Without it, this COP risks sending the signal that the least ambitious voices set the ceiling for global climate action. A significant number of countries want this roadmap back in, and the real economy is already moving in this direction. Including it in the final Mutirao decision text would align with science, with the majority of countries, and with the needs of businesses planning long-term investments. A COP30 outcome that avoids the fossil fuel issue altogether simply does not meet the minimum bar for credibility.”
Earlier this week more than 130 organisations signed a letter to the COP Presidency urging governments to agree to start developing a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels. The letter was signed by business and business groups representing more than 100,000 companies, IIGCC investor group representing more than 400 members with over £50 trillion in assets under management, subnational and health organisations, and other groups implementing the clean energy transition. The wide support for the roadmap initiative at COP30 underscores the value of a clear path away from fossil fuels as real-world momentum accelerates the shift to clean energy.
Caterina Sarfatti, Managing Director of C40 Cities said: “C40 strongly supports this roadmap, if agreed it would be one of the most unexpected and historical wins humanity needs in one of its most challenging moments. How can we not support it? C40 cities have committed to collectively halving fossil fuel use by the end of this decade – we are already delivering. For this COP to be the COP of implementation it needs implementers at its heart.”
Carine de Boissezon, Chief Impact Officer, EDF said: “This roadmap is critical to restore trust. It will act as a compass to helping organizations translate ambition into concrete steps on the path to net zero and showcase how electrification and innovative solutions can bring through a just transition.”
Hannah Hislop, Head of Sustainability – Climate, Unilever said: “Now is the time for a credible fossil fuel roadmap, scaling up renewables and phasing out fossil fuels. It will give businesses like Unilever certainty to invest, strengthen energy security, cut costs, and create a level playing field that de-risks the transition.”
Tuuli Kaskinen, CEO, Climate Leadership Coalition said: “Every country has a different starting point, but the destination is the same: a just transition away from fossil fuels. A clear roadmap from COP30 will unlock investment and accelerate clean energy markets.”
Dr Champa Patel, Executive Director Governments and Policy, Climate Group said: “The businesses, states and regions we work with aren’t waiting – they’re already implementing climate action at a scale that often outpaces national governments. But they need clarity to go further. A fossil fuel roadmap would unlock that. With support growing, the world has a brief window to act.”
Emily Murrell, Policy Programme Director, IIGCC said: “We echo the call to translate the ambition of the Global Stocktake into tangible implementation. Clear, pragmatic roadmaps are essential to set near- and long-term actions that provide signals and long-term certainty to financial stakeholders. These frameworks are key to unlocking the investment needed to accelerate a just and equitable transition, and to align financial flows with a resilient, net-zero future.”
Eliot Whittington, Executive Director and Chief Systems Change Officer, Cambridge University Institute for Sustainability Leadership said: “The world needs to put its foot down and accelerate to a clean, electric future – this offers the best opportunity for affordable energy, economic growth and climate action. To do so we need a roadmap to get away from fossil fuels – until now the dominant energy source for modern civilisation. COP30 has given governments a critical opportunity to agree such a roadmap and give private business and finance the clarity they need to step up the pace of investment in the future. Governments should seize the moment and leave Belem with a clear and credible energy transition plan.”
Richard Folland, Head of Policy, Carbon Tracker said: “One of the primary, possibly defining, judgments on this COP will be whether it can deliver on a roadmap for fossil fuel phase-out. It will be almost beyond parody (if not surprising in this looking-glass world) if the single largest climate problem – emissions from oil, gas and coal – can’t be properly addressed because it wasn’t on the formal agenda.”
Jocelyn Blériot, Executive Lead, Policy and Institutions, Ellen MacArthur Foundation said: “As we mark 10 years since the Paris Agreement and implement the Global Stocktake, COP30 must invigorate climate action to keep the goal of limiting to a 1.5 degree increase in scope. A roadmap from world leaders on transitioning away from fossil fuels is key to doing this, accelerating the delivery of the clean energy transition that harnesses the full potential of circular economy strategies.”
Duncan Price, Partner, Sustainability and Climate Global Lead, Buro Happold said: “An energy transition roadmap will provide context for city policy makers and confidence for investors so that we can move from ambition to action and deliver a wide set of social, economic and environmental benefits.”
Bjørn K. Haugland, CEO, Skift said: “A well-designed transition is not a burden, but an opportunity for economic modernisation, global competitiveness, and resilient clean-energy growth. Businesses need a clear, credible fossil-fuel transition roadmap from COP30 to guide long-term investment and reduce risk. For companies to mobilise capital at scale, governments must send stable, forward-looking signals that make the direction of travel unmistakable.”
Vicky Sins, Climate Transformation Lead, World Benchmarking Alliance said: “A fossil-fuel phase-out roadmap is the bridge between political ambition and real-world transformation. It gives governments, investors and companies the certainty they need to align capital and accelerate credible transition plans. With more than 80 countries now calling at COP30 for a clear pathway to transition away from coal, oil and gas, this is the moment to match intentions with implementation. The World Benchmarking Alliance supports this call, because clarity at COP30 is essential to break the cycle of delay between policy and business action – and to send a signal that the shift to clean energy is irreversible.”
Joe Williams, CEO, Green Hydrogen Organisation said: “Our future energy system will be built on renewables and not fossil fuels. A decisive roadmap shifting us away from fossil fuels is essential for governments and companies to quickly ensure renewables clean up our electricity for grids and for green hydrogen to decarbonise steel, fertilizers, shipping and aviation.”
Oliver Hurrey, Founder, Galvanised said: “The Scope 3 Peer Group, and our 3,000 corporate professional members, fully supports the WMBC COP30 Roadmap Joint Letter. Clear alignment and coordinated supplier action are essential to making real progress on value chain emissions, and this roadmap helps provide exactly that.”
Rana Adib, Executive Director, REN21 said: “This roadmap – shifting from fossil fuels to renewables – is the only way to build strong, equitable and resilient economies. Recognising that it goes beyond a simple fuel switch, to a systems change in every sector. Delivering this at COP30 underscores our collective responsibility to make renewables the backbone of the new global economy and society – and to act with the ambition this moment demands.”
María Teresa Ruiz-Tagle, Executive Director, CLG Chile said: “From Latin America – a region that has made bold progress in renewable energy – we believe the world is ready to deliver a roadmap for electrification that is not only credible, but catalytic. One that accelerates the shift across sectors, ensures energy security, enables agile permitting, mobilizes finance, makes prices affordable, fosters technological innovation, and pushes a just transition at its core. This roadmap must be built collectively – with businesses, researchers, governments, and citizens – and grounded in cooperation and regional integration, so it becomes not just a plan, but a mandate for implementation, resilience, and shared prosperity.”
Professor Miranda Barker, Chair, RedCAT Group said: “We, as businesses, call for the unanimous recognition of the importance of the transition towards clean electrification and renewables. The signing of a fossil fuel roadmap proposition by all governments would at long last give true recognition to the biggest climate challenge – and opportunity – of our lifetimes.”
Matt Evans, COO and Director of Markets, TechUK said: “The tech sector has set ambitious climate targets and is driving investments in renewables, but we need help. The international community needs to come together in the final hours of COP30 and signal to business and investors that fossil fuels are definitively on the way out.”
–ends
Notes to editors
For interviews and briefings: [email protected] | WA +44 7432 533 080
About:
We Mean Business Coalition works with the world’s most influential businesses to take action on climate change. The Coalition is a group of seven nonprofit organisations: BSR, CDP, Ceres, Climate Group, CLG Europe, The B Team and WBCSD. Together, we catalyse business and policy action to halve emissions by 2030 and accelerate an inclusive transition to a net-zero economy.