The thirtieth United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30) began this Monday with optimism in the Brazilian city of Belém after the approval of the work agenda by consensus, considered essential to “unlock” the initial negotiations.
The president of COP30, Brazilian André Corrêa do Lago, celebrated the agreement reached between the member countries and pointed out that with this they can begin working “intensely” from today.
The consensus on the agenda is not a simple procedure, since it is considered a kind of political thermometer with which the tone of the negotiations can be anticipated, to advance on the most critical issues of the climate meeting, such as financing, the energy transition and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
The fact that it had been approved on the first day of the summit, something that did not happen in the four previous climate events, added even more importance to the issue.
If the agenda is not approved, “the technical work on the topics cannot begin,” as explained by the executive director of COP30, Ana Toni, at the close of the day in a press conference.
According to Toni, it is “a great achievement”, in the midst of the current global geopolitical moment.
Continue reading: What is the COP30 climate summit and why is it important? Here we explain
During the opening of the meeting, the call to transform promises into concrete actions was also reiterated, especially in relation to increased financing, the progressive abandonment of fossil fuels and adaptation.
Both the UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change, Simon Stiell, and the president of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, agreed on the urgency of acting with ambition and realism, a call that was also welcomed by the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Triple funding
One of the central themes was the call to triple climate financing.
By handing the baton to Brazil, Babayev urged developed countries to comply with the roadmap agreed in Baku, which seeks to go from 300 billion dollars annually to 1.3 trillion by 2035.
“Today we are taking a toll. We need more creative ways to make our demands heard,” he said.
In this sense, Lula strongly criticized the increase in military spending by powers such as the United States and Europe, and regretted the absence of “the men who wage war” at COP30.
“It would be much cheaper to invest 1.3 trillion dollars annually to solve the climate problem than the 2.7 trillion that were spent on wars last year,” he said.
The issue was also addressed by the COP30 president at a press conference, where he emphasized that the first step is to ensure the effective implementation of the $300 billion already committed, an exercise that, he said, “will have a direct impact on what can be achieved in the future.”
Adaptation and new NDCs
Stiell warned that current commitments are not reducing emissions fast enough.
Currently, work is being done on a list of more than one hundred indicators that will allow us to evaluate the level of exposure and response capacity of each country to extreme events.
Also read: Lula asks to increase the contribution of multinationals and rich countries to combat the climate crisis
Giving more weight to adaptation implies recognizing that mitigation goals have not been fully met. Therefore, countries must agree on concrete measures to turn aspirations into actions.
“We have already agreed that transition pathways must be inclusive and fair. Now we must define how to measure and finance that adaptation,” he said.
At the beginning of the COP, 113 countries had presented their new goals for reducing polluting emissions, known by the acronym NDC, which represents 69% of the planet’s total emissions.
Of that list of countries, 64 presented their NDCs at the last minute.
According to UN calculations, the new goals foresee a 12% reduction in global emissions in 2035 compared to 2019 levels.
The figure, however, remains insufficient to limit global warming to an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the limit stipulated by the Paris Agreement.
Stiell reiterated that the NDCs “are not reducing emissions fast enough” and urged countries to move forward in the transition away from fossil fuels, the main source of polluting emissions.
Multilateralism as the only option
Both Lula and Stiell defended multilateralism as the only effective way to confront the climate crisis.
“We are heading in the right direction, but at the wrong speed,” Stiell said.
In this regard, the Brazilian president called to impose “a new defeat on the deniers” who disdain global warming by “sowing hate, controlling algorithms and spreading fear.”
In this sense, Lula reiterated the Brazilian proposal to create a Climate Council linked to the UN, with the capacity to supervise and sanction.
With information from EFE
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and don’t miss our content
