POST-COP30 GLOBAL CLIMATE ORDER

THE last couple of days at the 30th Conference of Parties (COP30) in Brazil witnessed intense battles—between the legitimate demand of the developing world to enhance financial support for the energy transition and adaptation, and the push on climate ambition as perceived by the developed world.

- VAIBHAV CHATURVEDI

At every COP, the developed world seems a lot more concerned about its own industry, jobs, and the climate impact on its communities and ecosystems. It pushes the developing world to accelerate emission mitigation, even in the absence of adequate financial support. The same script repeated itself in the push for a ‘fossil fuel transition roadmap’, down to the last minute, at COP30.

COP is a platform where countries come together to give some and take some in the spirit of ‘global mutirao’, or community action, as framed by the Brazilian presidency. When so many countries come together to make difficult choices, there are two potential ways to ensure action. Either create a tight, legally-bound architecture where countries that don’t act on climate are penalised, or have a bottom-up voluntary architecture based on trust and accountability. The Copenhagen COP (COP15) showed the world that top-down would not work. The Paris Agreement was built on the latter, a voluntary framework, and has already bent the emissions curve.

By bringing real-world constraints, such as development barriers and lack of adequate finance, and workable pathways to the fore, the developing world helped chart a more honest course at COP30. It delivered meaningful wins—a long-await ed breakthrough on adaptation finance; real progress on just transition by recognising that countries will chart diverse, development-linked pathways; and, despite a difficult geopolitical year, a deal that kept the multilateral process intact.