What to know about COP30, this year’s UN climate talks

People from around the world are beginning to gather at the edge of the Amazon in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th annual United Nations climate summit, the Conference of the Parties, known less officially as COP30.

The goal is simple but noble: for countries to work together to end the worst effects of human-caused climate change.

It’s a goal that many experts say is out of reach. But the stakes are high. Climate change is already causing an escalation of disasters that mean life or death for billions of people around the world, and delaying action will only make the problem worse.

Here’s what you need to know about COP30.

Spotlight on indigenous peoples, forests and agriculture

With the world’s largest rainforest on its doorstep, many have hailed Belem as well-positioned to highlight the role of indigenous peoples and land management in combating climate change.

Although many past COPs have focused primarily on transitioning to cleaner energy sources, research has shown that changing food systems is also essential. Countries must also stop destroying ecosystems that absorb pollution and protect humans from disease.

Brazil’s government is spearheading a new initiative called the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a program designed to give nations a monetary reward for protecting forests. It remains to be seen whether world leaders will commit enough money to make the project a success.

Getting there – and staying there – has been a challenge for many

Before the conference, many potential attendees were concerned about the city’s capacity to accommodate tens of thousands of people. Delegates booked rooms on cruise ships in port. Others are staying in “love motels” by the hour, and some activists said they might camp.

The weather is expected to be extremely hot and humid, and that is why the host country has already written to participants to make the dress code a little more informal.

But some experts and locals say any discomfort is a much-needed reality check, especially for those from wealthy countries. Brazil’s government insisted the conference should take place in Belém to show what’s at stake: poorer communities are often more vulnerable to disasters made worse by climate change.

Ten years after the historic Paris agreement, countries are on the wrong track

Ten years ago, countries reached a historic agreement under the first global pact to combat climate change.

Since then, the planet’s annual temperature has already jumped about 0.46 degrees Celsius (0.83 degrees Fahrenheit), one of the largest temperature rises ever recorded over 10 years, according to data from the European climate service Copernicus. The Paris Agreement was supposed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the historical average, but many scientists now say countries are unlikely to stay below that threshold.

But the world has made some progress. Renewable energy is now cheaper in most places than polluting coal, oil and natural gas. And if countries agreed to do what they have said so far, they could avoid warming of just over one degree Celsius. It may not seem like much, but every tenth of a degree counts when it comes to the effects of catastrophic weather.

This year, countries had a duty to do: present their updated national plans to combat climate change. The United States, one of the world’s biggest polluters, will not submit its own, after leaving the Paris Agreement. And many experts have criticized other countries’ plans as insufficient to do what is needed.

No historic agreement is expected. Does that mean it’s not serious?

Unlike the Paris Agreement, or even last year, when negotiators tried to get countries to agree on how much rich countries should pay poor countries to adapt to climate change, this year’s negotiations are not expected to result in an ambitious new agreement.

Instead, organizers and analysts are billing this year’s conference as the “implementation COP.”

“Those who go to Belem ask themselves the question ‘what is the agreement that will result from this?’ “We are asking the wrong question,” said Christiana Figueres, a former U.N. climate chief.

For the negotiations to be successful, world leaders must step up efforts and money to adapt to climate change and fund billion-dollar efforts to prevent deforestation and land degradation, said Suely Vaz, who headed Brazil’s environment agency.

But Panamanian Environment Minister Juan Carlos Navarro told The Associated Press that he had little expectations from the negotiations. He said such meetings have become “an orgy of jet-setting bureaucrats who travel around the world with a huge carbon footprint and get nowhere.”

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Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social.

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