Source: UN News: Thursday, 13 November 2025 00:01 AM
Leaders, ministers, representatives, and climate experts from around the world are gathering to participate in the UN’s annual climate conference (COP30) starting on Monday in the Brazilian city of Belém. Their responsibility is to turn climate action promises into reality and agree on concrete plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. From the Kyoto conference to Sharm el-Sheikh, resolutions have been made every year at the UN conference to tackle the climate crisis. However, the trend of increasing earth’s temperature continues and due to this, the pressure on the governments and big businesses of the countries is also increasing that now drastic steps will have to be taken beyond the talks. Belém, the host city of COP30, is located in the Amazon region, the largest tropical rainforest in the world. This vast region has the capacity to absorb carbon from the atmosphere and is at the forefront of the fight against deforestation and climate change. The purpose of this year’s meeting is to increase the pace of climate action. Delegates gathering in Belém will review national climate plans, seek to secure $1.3 trillion in climate finance each year, share new measures to help countries adapt to climate challenges, and advance equitable transition to clean energy. COP30 is being seen as a turning point, confronting reality and testing global solidarity. © UNFCCC/Kiara Worth UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sits with President Lula da Silva at a meeting in the city of Belém, Brazil. From promises to action: This meeting, which begins on Monday, November 10, is being held against a worrying backdrop. Scientists have warned that under the Paris Climate Agreement, the target of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius was set, but this threshold is likely to be broken temporarily. According to climate experts, this situation may change after a short time, but only if countries make strong efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adopt preventive measures in line with climate side effects and manage financial resources.UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, while addressing the summit meeting of world leaders, said that now is not the time for talks. This is the time to implement the plans. Under the presidency of Brazil, the COP30 conference will mainly focus on an action agenda around 30 key goals. Responsibility for each goal rests with a group, through which efforts will be made to promote effective solutions. The initiative has been named ‘Mutirao’, a word from the language of the tribal community, which means collective action. This reflects the leadership of indigenous communities, their participation in the conference, and their participation in the fight against climate change. The Brazilian government has said that the participation of every sector and community is important to fulfill the climate commitments made in the past, from indigenous communities to industry leaders. © CIAT/Neil Palmer Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Financial resources for changeThe action agenda at UN climate conferences is based on voluntary resolutions rather than legally binding ones, but the needs are huge. By 2035, climate investments of $1,300 billion will be needed each year. And if urgent action is not taken, the global temperature rise could reach 2.3 degrees Celsius to 2.8 degrees by the end of this century. This will lead to challenges including floods, storms, droughts, extreme heat, etc. in many regions of the world. The focus of the Belém Summit will be a report on the Roadmap from Baku to Belém, prepared by the COP29 and COP30 Presidential Teams. The report focuses on resource mobilization measures, such as strengthening cooperation to tax polluting activities, and converting sovereign debt into climate investment. This is a step by which funds worth 100 billion dollars can be raised for developing countries. The report also suggests removing barriers that prevent corporations from taking governments to court over climate policies. Due to such disputes, governments have lost $83 billion in 349 cases. © UNICEF/Sultan Mahmud Mukut In Bangladesh too in recent years, rains and floods have caused huge devastation. What else is on the COP30 agenda The Belem conference will also focus on the national climate action plans presented by countries, which outline what measures they will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, global emissions are required to be reduced by 60 percent by 2030, but the plans presented so far only estimate a 10 percent reduction. There are 196 parties, but only 64 had presented their climate resolutions by the end of September. In June 2025, during the preparatory talks in Germany for the COP conference, warnings were made that concrete efforts would be needed at the Belém conference to close this gap. The COP30 conference is expected to approve 100 global indicators that will allow progress on climate adaptation to be measured and compared among countries. Due to the increase in global temperatures, climate adaptation is now an important need for action. Is a pillar. To address the impacts of a changing climate, efforts are needed to build adaptation and resilience. The UN Environment Program has stressed that adaptation funding needs to increase 12-fold by 2035 to meet the needs of developing countries. COP30 will also seek to adopt a program for a just transition, focused on preventing deepening inequalities. At the same time, vulnerable countries must also have access to technology and climate finance. © CIF Action In Mali, electricity is being supplied to local communities through solar energy panels. Why COP Conferences Matter The Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP Conference in simple words, is the leading forum to deal with the climate crisis. Here, decisions are taken by consensus, and cooperation is required on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, measures to prevent climate impacts (adaptation), and provision of financial resources. Over the years, significant progress has been recorded during COP conferences. In 2015, under the Paris Climate Agreement, the goal was to limit global temperature rise to 2°C, and efforts were to be made to limit it to 1.5 Celsius. During the COP28 conference in Dubai, it was agreed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to triple the capacity of renewable energy by 2030. In 2024, at the conference in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, COP29 agreed to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and increase renewable energy capacity by three times by 2030. The funding target was increased from $100 billion to $300 billion, and a roadmap was presented to take it to $1,300 billion. The UN body on climate matters (UNFCCC), the legal framework has been developed over the past three decades, making it possible to limit the risk of a temperature rise of 4 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. The COP30 conference will open in the city of Belém on 10 November and conclude on Friday, 21 November.
