In freezing temperatures on Thursday 20 November 2025, and again in persistent rain on Sunday, members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Wimborne gathered on the footbridge over the River Allen near Wimborne Library to mark COP30 by reading aloud real testimonies from people already living with the devastating impacts of climate breakdown.
The group’s action aimed to centre the voices of communities in the Global South, those who have contributed least to the climate crisis yet are suffering first and hardest from extreme heat, drought, flooding, crop loss, sea-level rise and the disappearance of entire homelands. Local XR member, Shirley Belwood, said:
“Our placards said it plainly: ‘Those who did the least suffer the most’.
“As COP30 sidelines frontline communities, we refuse to let their truths go unheard.”
Testimonies read at the event included words from Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, Panama’s Special Representative for Climate Change, who warned that global emissions have more than doubled in the past 33 years and called for an unambiguous global phase-out of fossil fuels. He criticised the payment of subsidies to fossil fuels producers, saying:
“We are literally paying criminals to kill us.”
The group also read the words of Kaddijatou Ceesay, a young climate activist from The Gambia, who urged negotiators to recognise the rights of children and youth, reject false solutions and deliver a “full, fast and fair phase-out of fossil fuels”. She also called for climate finance that prioritises developing nations and for a halt to all armed conflict, noting that “there can be no climate justice without human rights.”
Participants displayed placards highlighting the reality faced by frontline nations and the responsibilities of governments, fossil fuel companies and banks.
XR Wimborne encouraged residents to take action by contacting their MPs, cutting personal emissions, and switching to ethical banks that do not fund fossil fuel expansion.
Ultimately the COP30 deal was deeply disappointing and far less than is needed to tackle the accelerating climate crisis. No mention was made of fossil fuels in the deal, let alone aconcrete commitment to phase out fossil fuels, and no roadmap on deforestation was agreed, abandoning the moment of hope in the Amazon.
The only tangible outcome was a tripling of adaptation funding but only by 2035, locking in further injustice for the Global South. A moment of inclusion for Indigenous peoples, and the huge economic potential of a rapid and fair transition to renewables, was lost for another year.
