2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP30 was held at Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025. Commentators considered the overall outcome to be weak as building consensus on the phase out of fossil fuels was difficult. Despite this contention, I congratulate the COP30 president, André Corrêa do Lago for the eleventh-hour diplomacy. The conference text agreed to tripling climate adaptation finance by 2035, although without clarity of the payer; the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) to ensure the shift to a low-carbon economy is inclusive and equitable; and adoption of 59 global indicators for tracking adaptation progress even though they are non-binding.
COP30 launched the concept of “Global Mutirão”, meaning collective efforts, as a call for humanity to unite against climate change. shifting from negotiation to implementation. It adopted the Belém Package as a single, consensus text integrating mitigation, adaptation, finance, trade and implementation into one. This was also the first time that through COP, the world acknowledged that 1.5°C is likely to be overshot.
On mitigation and ambition in the efforts against climate change, COP failed to agree to reverse deforestation in the final decision. Instead, the COP30 president announced two voluntary roadmaps (on fossil fuels and deforestation) outside the formal UNFCCC process that will be presented at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey. The Global Implementation Accelerator (GIA) which is a voluntary, presidency-led initiative to accelerate implementation of NDC’s and National Adaptation Plans (NAP) was also launched.
Parties at the conference agreed to triple adaptation finance by 2035 falling short of LDC’s demand to triple by 2030. A bright star was the end to the stalemate over NAPs, though financing remained a major constraint to the advancement of the NAP process. There was agreement on a two-year work program on Article 9 of the Paris Agreement (climate finance) covering both the provisioning and mobilisation of finance. This was without a clear focus on Article 9.1 which puts an obligation on developed countries to provide finance. The Veredas dialogue, that aligns financial flows with climate goals (Article 2.1c) until 2028 was decided upon to continue.
Flooding Malawi. Credit: UNDP
“There is no Planet B”, serves as the wakeup call for Global Mutirão. This year we see the establishment of JTM, a new UNFCCC mechanism that focuses on international cooperation, technical assistance, capacity building, and knowledge sharing. The process for the mechanism will be developed by March 2026 and considered for operationalisation at COP31.
COP30 made special efforts to expand it’s impact. For this it strengthened the role of indigenous peoples and local communities, with explicit recognition of their land rights and traditional knowledge in COP30 decisions. It adopted a new Gender Action Plan to promote gender-responsive decision making. Green inclusive jobs and green industrial policy became central to the discussion with the launch of Global Initiative on Jobs & Skills for the New Economy and the Belém Declaration on Global Green Industrialization.
Hosted in Brazil, home to the magnificent Amazonia, this COP set the perfect stage for the launch of the flagship long-term finance facility called the Tropical Forests Forever Facility. The initial pledges of around $6.7 billion came from Brazil, Indonesia, France, Germany and Norway. Scaling sustainable investments in forests, regenerative agriculture and bio-industrialisation also got a boost at the conference. We can expect more interest in Green Hydrogen and its derivates globally with countries like Algeria, Japan and India already showing promise.
COP30 being the COP of implementation gave us many highlights. South Korea committed to phasing out coal completely by 2040 and joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance. Mission Efficiency launched the Plan to Accelerate Doubling Energy Efficiency (PAS) to achieve COP28 goal of doubling energy efficiency by 2030. The Technology Implementation Programme (TIP) was adopted with a timeline to strengthen implementation in developing countries. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) and ISO were reaffirmed as the foundation of the global carbon-accounting system.
Climate negotiations and pledges must be seen in the backdrop of the USA pulling out of climate negotiations. Certainly, the “Renewables revolution is here”. And yet, as UN Secretary-General, António Guterres said in his statement, “the gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide”. This is when it is the second biggest contributor of total carbon dioxide emissions, with a 12% share of the total emissions. With an overall goal of mobilizing $1.3 trillion annually for developing countries by 2035, COP30 only managed a small fraction.
India, as the voice of the Global South, emphasized that a rule-based multilateral framework is essential and thanked the presidency for delivering the space to discuss Unilateral Trade-Restrictive Climate Measures. These measures are seen as affecting all developing countries and violating the principles of equity and CBDR-RC. India also noted that developing nations still have longstanding obligations to provide climate finance and appreciated focus on Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement.
“Implementation, Implementation, Implementation!” being the war cry at the conference set the tone for the evolution of humanity’s actions against the challenge of climate change 10 years after the Paris Agreement at COP21. Obama was right when he said, “We are the first generation to feel the full effects of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it.” The right time to act was yesterday! Let’s unite now and do something about it.
