COP30 President-Designate

In a ten-page letter to the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Corrêa do Lago says, “COP30 must respond to the climate crisis by triggering a “movement of movements” – a global movement of local, multistakeholder, and multisectoral movements”.  

Brazil: A Turning Point for Global Climate Action   

33 years ago, the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Rio ‘Earth Summit, was a defining moment in the recognition of the climate crisis. World leaders signed the UNFCCC, defining principles and the five building-blocks for the multilateral response to climate change: mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, and capacity-building.     

In November, world leaders will return to Brazil for the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UNFCCC in the Amazonian city of Belém. 

In his letter Corrêa do Lago highlights the significance of COP30 in the timeline of climate action.  The Summit will mark 20 years since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and 10 years of adoption of the Paris Agreement, a landmark international treaty on climate change that set the 1.5° goal. 

Over the past three decades, the climate crisis has shifted from a looming threat to a daunting reality. Corrêa do Lago underlines, “COP30 will be the first to undeniably take place at the epicenter of the climate crisis, and the first to be hosted in the Amazon, one of the world’s most vital ecosystems, now at risk of reaching an irreversible tipping point, according to scientists.”   

The incoming presidency inviting the international community to join Brazil in a global “mutirão” - a concept from Brazilian native indigenous peoples referring to a community coming together to work on a shared task - against climate change, a global effort of cooperation among peoples for the progress of humanity. 

The COP30 President-Designate sets a strong precedent for the Summit: “We can make COP30 the kickstart of a new decade of inflection in the global climate fight.”

Aligning Global Capital with Climate Goals

Corrêa do Lago reiterates the commitment of the incoming presidency to work with the COP29 presidency in guiding the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T” to scale up climate finance to developing country Parties. This follows the agreement that emerged from COP29- "all actors to work together to enable the scaling up of financing to developing country Parties for climate action from all public and private sources to at least $1.3tn per year by 2035".

Importantly, Corrêa do Lago stresses that that there is sufficient global capital to close the global investment gap, with Governments key to reducing barriers in redirecting this capital to climate action.   

Moving to the ‘post-negotiation era’    

Corrêa do Lago underlines the pertinence of the COP process, “Significant collective progress towards the Paris Agreement temperature goal has been made, from an expected global temperature increase over 4 °C, according to some projections prior to the adoption of the Agreement, to an increase in the range of 2.1–2.8 5 °C with the full implementation of the current nationally determined contributions (NDCs).” 

Now, the incoming presidency seeks ensure COP30 moves beyond negotiations towards tangible implementation of climate commitments. 

Corrêa do Lago states, “COP30 must mark the moment we transition to the UNFCCC “post-negotiation” phase.” 

To achieve this, the presidency will bring together past COP leaders from COP21 to COP29 to form a “Circle of Presidencies” that will ensure delivery of previous COP agreements and furthering the ongoing agenda. Amongst a series of other initiatives, it seeks to bring to the Action Agenda “a new dynamic that focuses on key issues for the full implementation of the GST and of NDCs”. 

Integrating Climate and Biodiversity Agendas   

Brazil is home to over 60% of the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest. As such COP30 is well-placed to address the interlinked global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.  

Corrêa do Lago writes, “The more ubiquitous our fight against climate change becomes, the more we need to incorporate synergies between climate, biodiversity, desertification, and our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” 

Forests will naturally be a central topic, and the letter emphasises their important role in removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and the potential to bring ecosystems back to life should deforestation be reversed. Corrêa do Lago notes that “tapping into such an outstanding potential requires enhanced global support and investment, including through financial resources, technology transfer, and capacity-building".   

Recognising the possible synergies, the current presidencies of COPs under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will be invited to the “Circle of Presidencies”. 

Leaders among Indigenous Peoples will form a “Circle of Indigenous Leadership” to help integrate traditional knowledges and wisdom into global collective intelligence.

Read the full letter here