(United Nations) COP30 opened in Belém on Monday with a clear message: the era of half-measures is over. Climate change is here, devastating communities and driving up costs, but solutions are within reach. Clean energy is surging, resilience saves lives, and cooperation can still bend the curve further.
“This is the moment to match opportunity with urgency,” said Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, calling for a decisive defeat of climate denial and faster action to keep the 1.5°C goal alive.
As negotiations begin at the annual two-week summit, held this year in a city at the mouth of the Amazon, UN climate chief Simon Stiell urged delegates not to “squabble”, but to focus on turning ambition into action.
“Your job here is not to fight one another – your job here 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 as pledges rise
A sense of cautious optimism marked the first day of COP30, following the announcement that dozens of new national climate plans – known as NDCs – pushed the tally to 113 countries now committed to curbing global warming. Together, they represent nearly 70 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions – a significant step forward in the race to keep temperatures in check.
A preliminary assessment by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which convenes the yearly COPs, suggests these pledges could cut emissions by 12 per cent by 2035. It’s progress, but not yet enough to guarantee the 1.5°C goal. The challenge now is turning promises into action at a pace that matches the scale of the crisis.
Emissions curve starts to bend
In his opening remarks, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said that commitments and agreements made by successive COPs were beginning to show impact, with the global emissions curve now starting to bend downward.
He acknowledged that much work remains but highlighted that Belém – “home to the mouth of the mighty Amazon River” – can serve as inspiration.
“The Amazon is not a single river, but a vast system sustained by more than a thousand tributaries,” he said. “In the same way, implementation of COP outcomes must be driven by multiple streams of international cooperation.”
No country can go it alone
Mr. Stiell warned that “no national plan can solve this problem on its own,” stressing that no country can afford the economic shock of climate disasters that slash GDP by double digits.
“It makes neither economic nor political sense,” he said, “to stand idle while catastrophic droughts destroy crops and drive food prices sky-high.” He called it “unforgivable” that extreme weather continues to claim millions of lives when proven solutions already exist.
Among the key priorities for COP30, the UN climate chief highlighted:
- A just and orderly transition away from fossil fuels
- Tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency
- Mobilizing $1.3 trillion annually for climate action in developing countries
- Approving a global framework of adaptation indicators
- Advancing the Work Programme on Just Transition and the Technology Implementation Programme
‘We cannot breach the 1.5°C limit’
In his opening address, President Lula warned 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, the President declared this “the COP of truth,” warning that denial and delay are no longer options. “We are moving in the right direction – but at the wrong speed,” he said. “Crossing 1.5°C is a risk we cannot take.”
He went on to call strongly for an end to climate denialism, underscoring that: “In the age of disinformation, obscurantists reject not only scientific evidence but also the progress of multilateralism. They control algorithms, sow hatred, spread fear, and attack institutions, science, and universities. It is time to impose a new defeat on denialists. Without the Paris Agreement, the world would be heading toward catastrophic warming of nearly 5°C by the end of the century.”
André Corrêa do Lago (left) of Brazil and COP30 President, greets President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the opening of the conference in Belém.
A path beyond fossil fuel dependence
President Lula pressed world leaders to adopt ambitious climate pledges and keep adaptation at the heart of national strategies. He called for “a roadmap for humanity to overcome, in a just and planned way, its dependence on fossil fuels, reverse deforestation, and mobilize the resources needed to do so.”
To back that vision, he announced a new fund to support energy transitions in developing countries, financed by revenues from oil exploration.
The Leaders’ Summit, held on 6 and 7 November in Belém, has already mobilized $5.5 billion for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility – a fund designed to reward nations for protecting rainforests. Other collective commitments include recognizing Indigenous land rights, quadrupling sustainable fuel production, and linking climate action to the fight against hunger, poverty, and environmental racism.
Bringing COP30 to the heart of the Amazon was, in Lula’s words, “a difficult but necessary task,” giving the world a chance to witness the realities of the planet’s most biodiverse biome—home to more than 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 said.
‘COP of implementation, adaptation and science’
Meanwhile, André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 President, presided over the official opening of the summit following a musical performance by members of the Guajajara Indigenous People.
He urged delegates to make this the “COP of implementation, adaptation, and economic integration of climate policy – and above all, the COP that listens to and believes in science.”
He concluded by recognizing the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples as guardians of the Amazon, the region now at the centre of the world’s attention.
