A New Chapter for Climate Leadership
If you’re like us, it feels like we’re at a turning point.
Last week in Virginia, voters just made history — electing the Commonwealth’s largest-ever climate majority and sending a powerful message: climate progress is possible when people organize, vote, and demand it.
Abigail Spanberger’s decisive 15-point victory for governor, alongside Lieutenant Governor-elect Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones, capped an extraordinary election night. Across the House of Delegates, a wave of clean-energy champions swept into office from Chesapeake to Blacksburg. It was a clean sweep for a clean future — and a stunning rebuke to climate denial and division.
But this moment isn’t just about Virginia. It’s a signal to the world that the movement for climate action is moving forward — with or without Donald Trump.
The World Isn’t Waiting
As world leaders gather in Belém, Brazil, for COP30, the planet faces record heat, growing inequality, and rising urgency. Yet the world is not paralyzed. Countries across the Global South and North are uniting around the idea that physics doesn’t care about politics — and that progress won’t wait for climate deniers.
Even as President Trump refuses to engage with the global process — skipping COP30 and undermining U.S. commitments — nearly 200 nations are continuing to implement the Paris Agreement, build clean-energy industries, and invest in resilience. Clean-energy investment now outpaces fossil fuels two to one, proving that the market, the science, and the moral arc are all bending toward a livable planet.
From city halls to parliaments, leaders are moving to:
- Make polluters pay — taxing fossil fuel profits and ending wasteful subsidies.
- Cancel climate-crushing debt — freeing developing nations to invest in renewable energy and adaptation.
- Finance the transition fairly — through grants, not more loans.
- Phase out fossil fuels — fast, fair, and forever.
The message is clear: the climate crisis won’t pause for political gridlock. The world is moving — and the U.S. must choose whether to lead or be left behind.
A Call for Courage at COP30
COP30 in Brazil marks ten years since the Paris Agreement. It’s the moment to recommit to the 1.5°C goal, cement a fair fossil-fuel phaseout, and unlock trillions in climate finance.
And it’s the moment to prove that the world’s cooperation is stronger than one man’s denial. Whether Trump attends or not, the momentum is real — in legislatures, labs, and local communities everywhere.
As Brazil hosts, the world will look for real leadership: protecting forests, ending new oil drilling, and uniting the Global North and South around justice, not delay.
Innovation and Integrity: Exploring “Plan B” with Eyes Wide Open
At CCAN, we’ve always fought for rapid, just decarbonization. That remains our north star. But the planet is warming faster than expected, and even with record investment in clean energy, we may need temporary, carefully researched backup strategies to protect vulnerable communities from runaway heat.
That’s why CCAN now supports transparent, equitable research into solar radiation modification — sometimes called geoengineering. The idea: studying whether reflecting just 1–2% of sunlight away from Earth could temporarily cool the planet while we complete the clean-energy transition.
We do not advocate deploying such technology at this time. We advocate studying it safely, democratically, and globally — ensuring that any discussion of geoengineering includes the voices of those most affected, especially from the Global South and environmental-justice communities.
Our guiding principles are clear:
- No substitute for ending fossil fuels.
- Full transparency and public participation.
- Equity and justice at the center of research.
You can read CCAN’s Statement of Principles on Geoengineering and learn more about our position and resources on our webpage.
The Path Ahead: Hope, Not Hesitation
This month’s elections in Virginia remind us that people power works. The activism, organizing, and optimism that fueled those victories can ripple outward — to Washington, to Brasília, and to the world stage.
We cannot afford despair or delay. The planet is moving forward — from new climate majorities at home to new alliances abroad.
Trump’s absence from COP30 doesn’t matter. What matters is that the rest of us show up — determined, united, and ready to act.
Now is the time to keep pushing. Pushing for justice in climate finance. For accountability for polluters. And for bold innovation grounded in science and equity. Because the world can — and will — move forward without Trump.
Want to help build that future? Join CCAN’s efforts to fight for climate justice, innovation, and action across Maryland, D.C., Virginia, and beyond.
