Expecting Climate Finance Breakthroughs in Belém Is Unrealistic

The world may once again express political support in Belém for keeping the 1.5°C goal alive. Still, it would be unrealistic to expect any global consensus on the actions and financing required to achieve it.

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At the same time, major developed and emerging economies continue to rely on fossil fuels while increasing investments in technologies to reduce emissions, delaying the energy transition. Advocate Hafij Khan made these remarks during a conversation with Mollah Amzad Hossain, Editor of Energy & Power. Advocate Khan is a climate finance expert and Founder & Director Centre for Climate Justice-Bangladesh (CCJ-B), member of multiple global working groups, including the SCF-SDF, GCF-CE, and the Advisory Group to the Executive Director of the Loss & Damage Fund under the World Bank.

COP30 negotiations on various climate agenda items are ongoing. The first week of technical-level discussions is coming to an end. How much progress has been made?

Look, COP negotiations follow a continuous process. In that sequence, during the first week in Belém, deliberations moved forward on climate finance, the mitigation work program, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), transparency frameworks, and more. The number of indicators for the adaptation framework has been brought down below 100, which is positive.

But it would be wrong to say that there has been any breakthrough. There remains a considerable gap between the expectations of developing-country negotiators and the positions of developed countries. Now the unresolved issues are moving to ministerial-level negotiations. I don’t want to be pessimistic; certainly, we may see progress in some areas.

Usually, negotiators receive political direction from the Leaders' Summit at the beginning of a COP. What was achieved this time?