The Western Balkans After COP30

In an era of increasingly felt climate impacts, growing ‘’multilateral fragility’’ and strong geopolitical restructuring, it is only logical that narratives questioning international cooperation are stronger than ever. But at the same time, there is a serious push, making the case for stability, shared efforts and responsibility. 

Such effort to overcome the divisions was COP30 President Lago’s call for a two-speed climate system to accelerate action beyond consensus, which was then followed by the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary’s encouragement to utilise the new era of climate action potential to deliver stability in an unstable world. The International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands in April 2026, is building a serious block of support for progressive action, on the other hand. This push forward alongside the Brazilian Presidency effort for the development of the Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels Roadmap, is further advancing the “coalitions of the willing” wider shift beyond consensus-based multilateral climate cooperation. Simultaneously, bilateral agreements such as the EU-India deal, recognise the increasing incidents of extreme climate events and reaffirm the importance of the Paris Agreement, agreeing to cooperate closely for the effective implementation of the successive COP30 outcomes and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). They also set to join forces to raise global action, with a specific commitment to accelerated cooperation in clean transition and energy resilience in the framework of the EU-India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership.

Therefore, only three months after the COP in Belém, decisive steps forward pave the way for a potentially different state of play in the upcoming COP in Antalya. But are all parties weighing in these dynamics? Or are some, such as the Western Balkans, navigating structural and institutional constraints while simultaneously expected to match EU-level ambition, caught between capacity limitations and accession-driven expectations, and at a risk of being left behind in the momentum?

Read here the analysis

Contacts:

Frosina Antonovska, Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator for the Western Balkans

frosina.antonovska@caneurope.org

Eleonora Allena, Communications Coordinator for the Western Balkans

eleonora.allena@caneurope.org