The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of Parties (commonly referred to as COP 30) will convene in Belém, Brazil from 10 November to 21 November 2025. The summit is one that is taking place at a critical juncture with global climate targets under strain. A decade ago, nearly 200 countries convened in Paris to reach a consensus on limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels and to keep them below 2C. However, climate finance has lagged, global emissions continue to rise and the gap between pledges and practice has only widened since then.
Nevertheless, COP 30 is positioned as a pivotal moment a turning point from planning to execution with strong agreement in principle around increasing ambition, scaling up finance, putting forests and nature centre-stage, involving more actors, and improving climate governance. But the real test will be in the outcomes: how strong and precise are the decisions, how equitable are they, how fast will implementation proceed, and whether the agreement can actually catalyse deep transformation.
Indeed, COP30 is being referred to as ‘Implementation COP’ because it is expected to be a summit where commitments are expected to be translated into concrete actions. The COP30 Action Agenda will endeavour to address three major challenges:
- Aligning the Action Agenda with what we have already collectively agreed under successive UNFCCC COPs and the Paris Agreement;
- Leverage existing initiatives to accelerate and scale climate implementation; and
- Driving transparency, monitoring and accountability of existing and new pledges and initiatives.
To circumvent these challenges, the incoming Presidency envisions an Action Agenda that aims to shift its scope towards the future: from merely complementing negotiations to actively implementing agreed outcomes, with a focus on the Paris Agreement first Global Stocktake (GST). In other words, the GST is a mandatory review that countries have to undertake every five years to assess their progress on addressing climate change, identifying gaps and draft plans. COP30 is expected to advance mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation and will focus on six key areas which include as follows:
a. Energy, industry and transport transition:
- Tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency,
- Accelerating zero- and low-emission technologies in hard-to-abate sectors,
- Ensuring universal access to energy, and
- Transitioning away from fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.
b. Stewarding forests, oceans and biodiversity:
- Investments to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation;
- Efforts to conserve, protect and restore nature and ecosystems with solutions for climate, biodiversity and desertification, and
- Efforts to preserve and restore oceans and coastal ecosystems.
c. Transforming agriculture and food systems:
- Land restoration and sustainable agriculture;
- More resilient, adaptive, and sustainable food systems, and
- Equitable access to adequate food and nutrition for all.
d. Building resilience for cities, infrastructure and water:
- Multilevel governance;
- Sustainable and resilient constructions and buildings;
- Resilient urban development, mobility, and infrastructure;
- Water management; and
- Solid waste management.
e. Fostering human and social development:
- Promoting resilient health systems;
- Reducing the effects of climate change on eradicating hunger and poverty;
- Education, capacity-building, and job creation to address climate change;
- Culture, cultural heritage, and climate action.
f. Unleashing enablers, accelerators, including on finance, technology and capacity building.
- Climate and sustainable finance, mainstreaming climate in investments, and insurance;
- Finance for adaptation;
- Climate-integrated public procurement;
- Harmonization of carbon markets and carbon accounting standards;
- Climate and trade;
- Reduction of non-CO2 gases;
- Governance, state capacities and institutional strengthening for climate action, planning and preparedness;
- Artificial Intelligence, Digital Public Infrastructure and digital technologies;
- Innovation, climate entrepreneurship and small and micro businesses;
- Bioeconomy and biotechnology, and
- Information integrity in climate change matters.
The incoming Presidency believes these key objectives will offer a structured and inclusive framework to mobilize collective action.
Brazil hopes to agree steps to deliver commitments made at previous COPs. As well as countries’ new carbon-cutting plans, several areas could come up for discussion.
- Money: At COP29, richer countries committed to give developing nations at least $300 billion a year by 2035 to help them tackle climate change. But that is far less than poorer countries say they need. That agreement also included an aspiration to raise this to $1.3tn from public and private sources. Ahead of COP30, Brazil published a “roadmap” detailing how the $1.3tn goal could be achieved. COP30 is anticipated to conclude discussions on the reporting obligations and financial frameworks associated with the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).
- Renewables: At COP28, countries agreed to treble the global capacity of renewables – such as wind and solar – by 2030. While renewables are forecast to grow rapidly, the International Energy Agency says the world is not on track to meet that goal.
- Nature: One of the major highlights of COP30 in Belém is the long-awaited effort to unify the climate and biodiversity agendas. Brazil is advocating an innovative conservation finance mechanism called the “Tropical Forest Forever Facility,” – a fund which hopes to raise $125bn (£95bn) to try to prevent the loss of tropical forests designed to reward over 70 developing nations with tropical forests for their preservation efforts. This increasing acknowledgment of the interdependence between climate & biodiversity challenges could enhance the effectiveness of climate finance by channeling funds.
- Mutual agreement on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC’s): With rising global warming which is expected to breach the mark of 1.5 degree Celsius as set by the Paris Agreement the global leaders are expected to approve 100 global indicators to track the progress on climate adaptation which currently is not sufficient.
- Adaptation in Negotiations: Climate adaptation is vital to ensure the survival of millions in the Global South. However, since adaptation strategies must be tailored to local conditions, a measure effective in a coastal delta may not be suitable for a mountainous region. The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) seeks to set measurable targets and indicators for resilience, align financial support with actual needs, and develop a framework to monitor and evaluate adaptation outcomes.
COP 30 stands as a pivotal moment in the global response to climate change, marking a transition from negotiation to concrete implementation. The summit’s focus on aligning action with previous commitments, scaling up finance, and enhancing transparency underscores the urgency of bridging the gap between pledges and real-world progress. By addressing key areas such as energy transition, nature conservation, resilient infrastructure, and inclusive development, COP 30 aims to catalyse transformative change across sectors and regions. The anticipated outcomes including robust financial frameworks, unified climate and biodiversity agendas, and measurable adaptation goals will be critical in determining whether the international community can collectively rise to the challenge. Ultimately, the success of COP 30 will be measured not only by the strength of its agreements but by the speed and equity of their implementation, ensuring that climate action delivers tangible benefits for all, especially the most vulnerable.
References
- Brasil leads COP30 agenda to accelerate and strengthen climate governance at the UN (COP30, Brasil Amazonia Belem 2025, 06 March 2025) https://cop30.br/en/news-about-cop30/brasil-leads-cop30-agenda-to-accelerate-and-strengthen-climate-governance-at-the-un
- COP30 in Brazil: What is at stake for global collaboration on climate and nature? (World Economic Forum, 05 November 2025) https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/11/what-is-cop30-what-is-at-stake-climate-nature-action/
- Indu K. Murthy, ‘COP30: a beginner’s guide on what to expect from the climate summit’ (The Hindu, 10 November 2025) https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/cop30-a-beginners-guide-on-what-to-expect-from-the-climate-summit/article70259165.ece
- Letters from the Presidency: Fourth Letter from the Presidency (COP30, Brasil Amazonia Belem, 20 June 2025) https://cop30.br/en/brazilian-presidency/letters-from-the-presidency/fourth-letter-from-the-presidency
- Mark Poynting, “What is COP30 and why does it matter?’ (BBC, 07 November 2025) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04gqez4lkyo