More promises as COP30 'global mutirao unites world for faster climate action

The Belem summit delivered a minimal foundation for action, far too slow and weak to match the climate crisis urgency, confirming the persistent chasm between ambition and real emission cuts

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THE COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, concluded with a voluntary plan to curb fossil fuels, a goal to triple adaptation finance and new efforts to strengthen climate targets, falling short of what many climate-vulnerable nations had demanded.

After all-night negotiations in the Amazonian city, the Brazilian presidency released a final package termed the “global mutirao”, meaning “collective efforts”, which drew together controversial issues that had divided the fortnight of talks.

A mechanism to help ensure a just transition globally and a set of measures to track climate-adaptation efforts were among COP30's notable outcomes.

COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-FCCC), an international treaty adopted in 1992 to combat climate change.

It brings together representatives from nearly 200 countries (the “Parties”) annually to assess progress, negotiate new commitments, and adopt legal instruments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate impacts.

The most famous outcomes include the Kyoto Protocol (COP3, 1997) and the Paris Agreement (COP21, 2015).

COP30 saw 56,000 registered delegates attend the summit in Belem.

ADAPTATION FINANCE FALLS SHORT OF AMBITIOUS TARGETS

The key global mutirao decision calls for efforts to triple adaptation finance by 2035.

This followed a request from least-developed countries for a target to triple adaptation finance to $120 billion by 2030.

In 2021, a target to double adaptation finance to $40 billion by 2025 was agreed at COP26 in Glasgow.