In a break from tradition, a two-day leaders’ summit will begin on Thursday (Nov 6), ahead of the main conference and negotiations.
A boat moves through Guajara Bay ahead of the COP30 United Nations Climate Summit, in Belem, Brazil, Oct 31, 2025. (Photo: AP/Eraldo Peres)
SINGAPORE: More than a hundred national delegations – including heads of state – will converge deep in the Amazon rainforest for this year’s United Nations-led climate talks.
COP30 will be held in the Brazilian city of Belem, chosen for its proximity to the Amazon, from Nov 10 to Nov 21.
This year’s event marks three decades since global climate negotiations began. It comes 10 years after the landmark Paris Agreement that has shaped the framework for climate action.
In a break from tradition, a two-day leaders’ summit will begin on Thursday (Nov 6), ahead of the main conference and negotiations.
During this segment, presidents and prime ministers will deliver their formal speeches and hold bilateral meetings before tens of thousands of negotiators, lobbyists and activists descend on the city.
Such gatherings are often an opportunity for leaders to reaffirm their countries’ commitments and hold one another to account.
The World Leaders Summit will also include roundtable discussions on climate challenges such as energy transition and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which outline how each country intends to reduce its emissions.
LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES
Reworking the conference schedule reflects recognition of the strain the event is placing on Belem, a remote port city not designed to host such a massive gathering.
Accommodation has become scarce with hotels fully booked. Cruise ships have been brought in to house delegates and love motels are being converted into lodgings.
The shortage of hotels has driven prices to eye-watering highs of hundreds of dollars per night.
Some countries have chosen to reduce the size of their delegations, while others are staying away altogether.
Beyond these practical challenges, the summit also faces political headwinds.
Several major players are giving the event a miss due to competing priorities and waning political appetite for climate diplomacy – even as global temperatures continue to rise at record rates.
Notably absent is the United States.
President Donald Trump has withdrawn the country from the Paris Agreement – a move that will take one year to finalise – leaving Washington’s role at COP30 greatly diminished.
During his address to the UN General Assembly in September, Trump dismissed climate change as “the greatest con job” in the world.
That absence could pave the way for China to take on a more prominent leadership role in climate negotiations.
China, the world’s largest emitter, has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7 per cent to 10 per cent below its peak emissions by 2035.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in announcing the country’s national climate plan in September, also called out “some countries” for moving against the global clean energy transition.
CLIMATE TARGETS
Various leaders, including Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have signalled that this summit should focus more on holding countries to account.
“Enough talking, now we have to implement what we’ve already discussed,” said Lula in an interview with various news agencies on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are among the world leaders confirmed to attend the annual conference.
The summit agenda remains formidable for the countries attending.
They are expected to unveil new national climate targets extending to 2035, ensuring governments stay on course and setting the tone for global ambition in the coming decade.
Most governments are behind schedule in submitting their NDCs required under the Paris climate accord. Just two months before COP30, only 47 of the 195 parties had finalised their goals.
Delegates will also face mounting pressure to chart a clear roadmap for climate finance, following last year’s agreement in Baku, Azerbaijan, to mobilise at least US$300 billion annually for developing nations by 2035 – a figure critics say still falls far short of what is required.
Intense debate is anticipated over the pace of phasing out fossil fuels, scaling up renewable energy, and funding loss and damage in countries already bearing the brunt of climate disasters, said observers.
They believe the Amazon backdrop will amplify calls to protect nature and indigenous communities – but the real test lies in whether leaders can turn promises into progress.
Source：CNA
