What Is COP30 And Why Does It Matter For The Climate?

COP30, the UN’s climate change conference, is taking place this November in Brazil. It comes as the world faces the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change and amid intense geopolitical turmoil.

- Anna Aberg

A key task facing governments ahead of the conference is to submit new national climate plans, known as ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ or ‘NDCs’. COP30 will likely also center around money, climate change adaptation, and the energy transition.

With the US leaving the landmark Paris Agreement (for a second time), the conference will inevitably serve as a moment to take stock of how global climate efforts are proceeding in a highly challenging geopolitical context.

What is a COP?

The ‘COP’ is the UN's annual climate change conference. It brings together nearly all countries in the world to negotiate the multilateral response to climate change and monitor progress made.

The word ‘COP’ is shorthand for ‘Conference of the Parties’, with the ‘Parties’ being the signatory governments to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The ‘COP’ is the UN’s annual climate change conference. It is shorthand for ‘Conference of the Parties.’

The first COP (COP1) took place in Berlin, Germany, in 1995. The 30th COP (COP30) will be held in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025.

The ‘Presidency’ of the COP rotates on an annual basis. Brazil will preside over this year’s conference, and André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, a Brazilian veteran climate diplomat, has been appointed COP30 President.

Brazil will formally assume the COP presidency from Azerbaijan (host of COP29) at the opening of the conference.

Why is COP30 important?

Climate change is already causing severe devastation globally, and as temperatures continue to rise, the risks are increasing too.

In the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments committed to limit the rise in the global average temperature to ‘well below’ 2°C above pre-industrial levels, ideally 1.5°C. Progress towards these goals is, however, way off track.