The Conference of the Parties (COP) remains the main decision-making body for global climate action, bringing governments together to cooperate on mitigation, adaptation, and finance.

Over the years, COPs have led to landmark achievements:

  • 2015 (Paris): The Paris Agreement set a global target to limit warming “well below 2°C,” aiming for 1.5°C.
  • 2023 (Dubai, COP28): Countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels and triple renewable energy by 2030.
  • 2024 (Baku, COP29): The annual climate finance goal for developing nations was increased from $100 billion to $300 billion, with a roadmap toward $1.3 trillion.

Together, these commitments have helped prevent what could have been a 4°C rise in global temperatures by the end of the century.

Around the venue at COP30 in the Brazilian Amazon. (Photo © UN Climate Change – Kiara Worth)

The world’s most important climate summit, COP30, opened on Monday in Belém, Brazil – the same country where the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was first signed.

Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, serving as President of the Parties, was elected by acclamation and officially opened the 30th session shortly after 10 a.m.

This year’s conference comes as the planet edges closer to temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C warming limit set by the Paris Agreement. Over the next two weeks, delegates will meet for opening plenaries, workshops, and technical sessions focused on issues such as just transition, economic diversification, capacity building, and support for local communities.

The first speaker, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, drew inspiration from the Amazon River, saying, “We can learn a lot from this mighty river.” He urged countries not to wait for new or delayed Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – national climate plans – to take action, warning that nations cannot afford the cost of inaction.

Agreements made at COPs are not legally binding but rely on voluntary commitments and so each country has a responsibility to materialise their goals to help reduce emissions. To stay below the 1.5°C target, emissions must fall by 60 per cent by 2030, but current national plans would only achieve about a 10 per cent cut. Scientists warn that without strong and immediate action, global temperatures could rise by 2.3°C to 2.8°C this century making many parts of the world unlivable due to flooding, heatwaves, and collapsing ecosystems.

Stiell said countries must agree in Belém on how to fairly phase out fossil fuels, deliver $300 billion in climate finance, and build a path toward the $1.3 trillion needed annually by 2035.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell speaks during the Opening of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) in the Brazilian Amazon. (Photo:© UN Climate Change – Diego Herculano)

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcomed the return of the global climate conference to his country, declaring that for the next two weeks, “Brazil will become the capital of the world.”

He said “COP30 will be the COP of truth in the face of fake news.” Lula continued, “They control algorithms, sow hatred and spread fear. They attack institutions, they attack science and universities. Now is the moment to impose a new defeat on the denialists.”

The president urged nations to honour their commitments, strengthen technology transfer and capacity building for developing countries, and give more attention to adapting to the growing effects of climate change.

COP30 runs from November 10 to 21 in Belém, Brazil.