General News   

COP30 is under way in Belém, approaching the halfway mark. Here are the key developments so far.  

The agenda was adopted on Monday afternoon, after various items didn’t make the cut. Notable omissions included unilateral trade measures, climate finance and countries’ climate plans and emissions reporting. Argus Media reported that absent topics will be resolved through presidency consultations.  

Who will host the next COP? It’s getting heated as Turkey and Australia fight it out. If no decision is made it will be held by default at the HQ of the UNFCCC in Bonn (Germany). Although next year’s host is still up in the air, Ethiopia has said it will host COP32 in 2027.  

Recent headlines were dominated by the Indigenous protests on Wednesday 13 November. Semafor reported from the ground that the protests resulted in “the biggest stampede of cops and camera-toting TV journalists I’ve seen at a COP since Leonardo DiCaprio popped into COP26 in Glasgow.”  

The Guardian reported that fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber COP30 delegations except host country, Brazil. One in every 25 participants is a fossil fuel lobbyist, according to analysis by the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition. Meanwhile, Brazil, the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Columbia and Kenya have shown their support for an agreed path away from fossil fuels. Separately Columbia is working on a declaration to be unveiled next week, the draft of which has been leaked, Bloomberg revealed.  

Governor of California Gavin Newsom is the highest-ranking US official attend the COP30. He has been praised by the climate community and in headlines for his comments made at COP30, telling delegates that a Trump administration plan to open the California coast for drilling will happen “over our dead body”. Politico reported “Newsome is a rock star at COP – with 1 glaring weakness”. Sky News asked Newsom in Brazil whether he is using COP30 as a means of drumming up support for a potential presidential campaign in 2028. 

Corporate presence at COP this year been reportedly subdued, but senior business attendance in São Paulo last week included Zurich Insurance chair Michel Liès and Natalie Adomait, the chief operating officer of Brookfield Asset Management’s renewable energy arm. The Financial Times reported on private sector attendance here. Akshat Rathi interviewed the CEO of ExxonMobil about his attendance at COP30 and what he wants to achieve.  

The Guardian reported the Presidency’s open plenary “stocktake” lasted only 3 minutes. It was announced that further talks are planned with “stocktake” postponed until Saturday.  

In related news, on November 14, the European Parliament voted in favour of a landmark proposal to slash the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions 90% below 1990 levels by 2040.  

 Resources we like:  

• Carbon Brief Updates 
• Outreach and Optimism Inside COP podcast 
• Semafor reporting and newsletter  
• Daily recaps from ESG News 
• IETA Daily Report for carbon markets updates 
• Carbon Pulse COP30 reporting for carbon markets news 
• The Guardian live reporting 

 Official announcements and other publications:  

• 43 countries and the European Union launched the Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty and Human-Centered Climate Action calling for a shift in strategy to address the impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable.
• 12 countries signed the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change marking the first time any states have formally committed to rooting out climate disinformation. 
• SME Climate Hub, alongside a global community of organisations representing over 6 million SMEs, has launched an open letter to head of delegations at COP30. The letter urges governments to adopt four key policy priorities to enable SMEs to cut emissions and contribute to economies. 
• Updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Synthesis Report published on 10 November.   
• The IEA published its annual flagship World Energy Outlook 2025 (WEO). Read the Financial Times’ overview of the report here including an interview with Fatih Birol, the head of the IEA.  
• Oxford University released a study which found that renewables could increase developing countries’ GDP by 10% if they transition to renewables quickly enough to double productivity from the energy-sector.  
• A new report by Amnesty International found that a quarter of the world’s population lives within three miles (5km) of operational fossil fuel projects, potentially threatening the health of more than 2 billion people. 

Climate Finance  

Despite no new funding commitments, climate finance for adaptation featured strongly at the World Leaders’ Summit in speeches from the UN Secretary General to contributor and developing countries, helping to build momentum into COP30.  

The Baku to Belem Roadmap was published last week (5 November). It acts as a guide to realistically mobilising the $1.3 trillion in annual climate finance by 2023. See the statement on this from the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary here, Roadmap here and Exec Summary here. 

The Head of UNEP FI, Eric Usher, wrote an article outlining what we can expect to be agreed on at COP30 for financial institutions, highlighting the risks and opportunities they should be aware of.  

• Baku to Belem Roadmap promises access to climate finance, not accountability (Carbon Copy) 
• COP30: What does the ‘Baku to Belém roadmap’ mean for climate finance? (Carbon Brief) 
• COP30: How the world plans to pay its rising climate costs (Reuters) 
• Show me the money: $1.3tn climate finance ‘road map’ faces COP30 test (Financial Times) 

Nature 

The TFFF has seen $5.5bn committed so far from Brazil, Indonesia, Norway, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, and with Germany expected to follow next week. This is a fraction of $125b goal but is a positive early signal.  

The UK, amongst other nations, decided not to contribute yet. A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero told POLITICO the UK was “incredibly supportive” of the initiative, but  that support would continue with “efforts to unlock private investment.”    

Capital for Climate’s COP30 Brazil NbS Capital Mobilization initiative announced it has secured US$10.4 billion in intended capital allocation for nature-based solutions through to 2027, exceeding the original goal of US$5 billion. 

• China Declines to Invest in Brazil’s Tropical Forest Fund (Bloomberg) 
• Google deal makes Amazon reforestation its top source of carbon removal credits (Reuters) 
• Nature Everywhere: COP30 Has Already Begun for Nature (Nature4Climate) 
• Nature-Based CDR Fund By Ardian Secures Millions In Pledges From Leading Development Banks (Carbon Herald) 
• WWF urges global leaders at COP30 to integrate climate and nature into financial resilience strategies (Reinsurance News) 

Carbon markets  

 At COP, six more countries have endorsed the Shared Principles for Growing High-Integrity Use of Carbon Credits and Other Buyers to guide corporate use of high-integrity carbon credits.  

Parties are not expected to reopen Article 6 texts, despite interventions made earlier this week by countries expressing concerns about a permanence standard affecting new Article 6 carbon projects.  

• COP30 has a carbon trading problem (Semafor)   
• How UN climate talks shaped carbon market, and what COP30 means for carbon trading in S-E Asia (The Straits Times)   
• IETA-PwC Survey Finds Cautious Optimism In Global Carbon Trading (Carbon Herald) 
• New Singapore-Led Coalition Seeks To Boost Corporate Investment In Carbon Markets (Carbon Herald) 
• UN carbon trading confusion damps demand (Financial Times) 

 Soundbites and reactions 

Greenpeace reaction and WRI statement reactions to the Baku to Belém Roadmap. Other reactions to the roadmap include:  

•  Labanya Jena, Director of Climate and Sustainability Initiative (CSI), said, “It is not well defined from where the financial support will come – private or public capital, whether it is loans, grants or equity, concessional debt. Defining the quality of climate finance is important.”  
• Vaibhav Chaturvedi, senior fellow at the Council On Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), said, “the proposed roadmap pushes the right buttons. It highlights the importance of equity and fairness and attempts to provide a coherent action framework to scale up finance in the short to medium term.” 

Christiana Figueres, one of the architects of the Paris deal, commented on the absence of the US, addressing Trump with the words “Ciao bambino!” “I think it actually is a good thing… they won’t be able to do their direct bullying” she said. “ 

Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s special envoy for climate change, said, “If we continue having fossil fuel, we will get stuck in the past [but] we cannot just transition immediately.” 

Olivia Bissa, president of the Chapra Nation in the Peruvian Amazon, said, “We as indigenous people in the Amazon are tired of being sacrificed by a group of powerful people who want to rule the planet.” 

Fitri Wulandari of the energy analytics firm Veyt, said, “There are so many uncertainties when it comes to how [carbon] is being accounted for [and] how countries can apply credits to their national climate plans, so that is one reason why we have seen so very little.” 

Holly Edwards is an associate director in London focused on sustainability