COP30 opened in Belém, Brazil, with a clear and uncompromising message: the era of half-measures is over. Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it is a present reality devastating communities and driving up global costs. Yet, according to the United Nations, solutions remain within reach: clean energy is accelerating, resilience measures are saving lives, and international cooperation can still bend the emissions curve downward.
“This is the moment to match opportunity with urgency,” said Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his opening address, urging the world to deliver a “decisive defeat” to climate denial and act faster to keep the 1.5°C target alive. As negotiations began at the two-week summit held in the heart of the Amazon, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell called on delegates to focus on collective action rather than confrontation. “Your job here is not to fight one another – your job is to fight this climate crisis, together,” he said. “This is the growth story of the 21st century – the economic transformation of our age.”
Cautious Optimism and New National Commitments
A sense of cautious optimism marked the first day of COP30 as new national climate plans pushed the number of updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to 113, representing nearly 70 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. A preliminary assessment by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) suggests that these commitments could reduce emissions by 12 per cent by 2035. Progress is evident, but still insufficient to guarantee the 1.5°C goal. The challenge, as Stiell emphasized, lies in translating pledges into rapid implementation at a scale matching the crisis.
Turning Commitments into Implementation
In his opening remarks, Stiell noted that successive COP commitments are beginning to have measurable impact, with the global emissions curve “starting to bend downward.” Drawing inspiration from the Amazon Basin, he compared its vast network of tributaries to the many “streams of cooperation” required for effective climate action. “No country can solve this alone,” he warned. “It makes neither economic nor political sense to stand idle while droughts destroy crops and drive food prices sky-high.”
Priorities for COP30
Among the top priorities outlined for COP30 are ensuring a just and orderly transition away from fossil fuels, tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency, mobilizing $1.3 trillion annually for climate action in developing countries, approving a global framework of adaptation indicators, and advancing the Work Programme on Just Transition and the Technology Implementation Programme.
Lula: ‘This is the COP of Truth’
President Lula described COP30 as “the COP of truth,” warning that “climate change is not a threat to the future – it is a tragedy of the present.” Citing Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean and a tornado in Paraná, he declared that denial and delay are no longer acceptable. “We are moving in the right direction but at the wrong speed,” he said. “Crossing 1.5°C is a risk we cannot take.” Lula called for a global roadmap to overcome dependence on fossil fuels, reverse deforestation, and mobilize resources for a fair transition. To back this vision, Brazil announced a new fund to support energy transitions in developing countries, financed by revenues from oil exploration.
Leaders’ Summit and Forest Commitments
At the Leaders’ Summit held on November 6 and 7, countries pledged $5.5 billion to the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a mechanism to reward rainforest protection. Other commitments included recognizing Indigenous land rights, quadrupling sustainable fuel production, and linking climate action with the fight against hunger, poverty, and environmental racism. Lula said bringing COP30 to the heart of the Amazon was “a difficult but necessary task,” offering the world a chance to witness the realities of the planet’s most biodiverse biome, home to 50 million people and 400 Indigenous groups. “May the serenity of the forest inspire the clarity of thought needed to see what must be done,” he concluded.
Science and Indigenous Knowledge at the Core
COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago urged negotiators to make this the “COP of implementation, adaptation, and science.” Opening the summit alongside a performance by members of the Guajajara Indigenous People, he underscored the vital role of Indigenous communities as guardians of the Amazon and the importance of basing policy on scientific evidence.
Displacement and Inequality: The Human Cost of Inaction
The urgency of the global crisis was underscored by parallel UN findings. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that at least 117 million people have been displaced by war, violence, and persecution worldwide, with climate change exacerbating the crisis. Over the past decade, weather-related disasters have caused 250 million internal displacements – equivalent to 70,000 people a day. “Extreme weather is putting people’s safety at greater risk, destroying homes and livelihoods, and forcing families – many who have already fled violence – to flee once more,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
UNHCR warned that 75 per cent of refugees live in countries facing “high to extreme” exposure to climate hazards, and that funding shortfalls have left millions unprotected. “Conflict-affected countries that host refugees receive only one quarter of the climate finance they need,” Grandi noted. “If we want stability, we must invest where people are most at risk.”
UNEP’s Warning: Still Off Target
Adding to the sense of urgency, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its Emissions Gap Report 2025: Off Target, warning that despite new pledges, the world remains far from meeting the Paris Agreement goals. Full implementation of current NDCs would still result in 2.3–2.5°C of warming by 2100, while current policies lead to 2.8°C. The report stresses that annual emissions must fall by 35 per cent by 2035 to align with a 2°C pathway, and by 55 per cent to stay within 1.5°C. “Given the short time available and the political challenges ahead, exceeding 1.5°C is now very likely within the next decade,” UNEP cautioned.
While renewable energy growth, especially solar and wind, offers hope, UNEP warned that accelerated action and major financial reforms are needed to sustain momentum. Since the Paris Agreement’s adoption ten years ago, projected temperature increases have fallen from 3–3.5°C to around 2.5°C, showing that progress is possible when countries act decisively.
The Road Ahead: From Rhetoric to Results
The technologies exist, the science is clear, and public demand is growing. What remains uncertain is whether global leadership will match rhetoric with results. As President Lula put it, “Without the Paris Agreement, the world would be heading toward catastrophic warming of nearly 5°C. Denialists must be defeated again.”
In Belém, the message is unmistakable: the world has entered the decisive decade for climate action. Success at COP30 will not be measured by declarations but by implementation—how quickly nations turn promises into policies, mobilize finance for the vulnerable, and shift from fossil dependence to resilience and equity. As the Amazon’s vast ecosystem reminds the world, survival depends on connection—and so does climate action.