Adaptation to climate change, fossil fuels, tropical forests… What to remember from COP30 after agreement reached in Belém

During two weeks of hot weather and torrential rain, the negotiators got a glimpse of life in an equatorial climate. COP30 ended in Belém, Brazil, on Saturday 22 November, and the gavel of the summit president, André Correa do Lago, formalized the adoption of a common text on climate action by nearly 200 countries.

Titled “Global Mutirão: uniting humanity in a global mobilization against climate change”, the document recalls “important decade” ongoing, noting delays in the global fight against the phenomenon and announcing some progress. Here’s what to remember from COP30, taking place at the gateway to the Brazilian Amazon.

There is no roadmap to ending the use of fossil fuels

This has been the subject of heated negotiations: certain countries, including European Union countries, want to reaffirm the goal of a shift away from fossil fuels, as Brazilian President Lula firmly called for at the opening. The final text ultimately makes no mention of the subject. “Fossil fuels are the primary cause of the climate crisis and there is no credible path to achieving science-based climate goals without a rapid, equitable and funded phase-out of fossil fuels.”commented Rachel Cleetus, policy director of the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

At COP28 in Dubai in 2023, more than 190 countries committed to doing just that “making a just, orderly and equitable transition from the use of fossil fuels into the energy system”. But for two years, negotiations have not produced significant progress in its implementation. “Roadmap (out of fossil fuels) as we imagine, what is written in the text no longer exists”complained the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut. However, André Correa do Lago announced the creation of a roadmap on this issue for volunteer countries, an initiative outside of official negotiations, which will be carried out on a voluntary basis. “guided by science”.

However, Belem’s text refers to the Dubai consensus, and launches a “Global Implementation Accelerator”A “cooperative, facilitative and voluntary initiatives” to note delays and correct them. “The new text explicitly mentions an accelerated work program with a focus on the UAE consensus, which in reality has the same impact as having a transition roadmap towards the elimination of fossil fuels”note from Belém Sébastien Treyer, general director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. For me, this is not a failure, because it also allows us not to reopen discussions regarding the formulation of the hard-won goals at COP28.”

At the same time, Colombia assembled a coalition of Pacific, Latin American and European countries (but not France) to provide support “calls to develop a roadmap towards a just, orderly and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, in order to intensify collective action and its implementation”. The country also announced the holding of the first international conference on phasing out fossil fuels on 28 and 29 April 2026, in collaboration with the Netherlands.

Better financing for adaptation to climate change

Although 71 countries have submitted national climate change adaptation plans, most of them lack funding. Therefore, the final text of the COP emphasizes “the importance of providing and mobilizing public resources and grants and funding with very soft conditions for adaptation in developing countries, especially very vulnerable countries (…), such as least developed countries and small island developing states”.

Countries meeting at COP30 decided to double the funding allocated for adaptation by 2035. “COP30 did not fulfill all of Africa’s hopes, but it made progress possible. It is now clear that historical actors have a special task when it comes to climate finance”said Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Reaffirmation of the Paris agreement

Ten years after COP21 and the Paris Agreement which, for the first time, set directions and goals for reducing greenhouse gases, countries must present, at a conference in Brazil, their new climate plans to keep global warming below +1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era. If this goal is now considered out of reach, then the Paris agreement has made it possible to limit its adverse impacts: instead of heading towards warming of around 4°C, the planet is instead following a tilt towards +2.5°C.

At COP30, countries took note of this “gap”. “Despite progress, the global greenhouse gas emissions trajectory is not yet in line with the Paris Agreement temperature targets, and opportunities to increase ambition and implement existing commitments to achieve them are narrowing.”regret the text. American “very reaffirmed” their commitment to multilateralism and the goals of the Paris Agreement and committed “to remain united in the pursuit of endeavor”. And this with “hope that this treaty will once again benefit from its universality”referring to the recent exit of the United States.

A brief reminder is given to countries that have not yet published their national roadmaps, as only 122 countries published their roadmaps on time. COP30 also launched a “Belem Mission for 1.5°C”For “strengthening ambition and implementation” of this plan.

A new type of fund to protect tropical forests

COP30, which took place at Amazon, highlighted this “the importance of preserving, protecting and restoring nature and ecosystems”. Thus, this indicates a desire to intensify “Efforts to stop and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030”. It was this issue that was the subject of one of the first major announcements at the summit: the Brazilian president created a new mechanism to protect tropical forests, namely the Tropical Forest Financing Facility (TFFF). Concretely, this is an investment fund, which will be added first by the state, then by companies to invest in the market and finance the energy transition. Profits, after interest payments to investors, will be returned to tropical countries with low deforestation rates.

The goal is to make tree conservation more profitable than logging, especially in developing countries, where most primary forests are located. The fund targets an average return of 5.5% over twenty years, or $3.4 billion in liquidity per year. Enough to double the non-repayable international funding allocated to forestry. Several countries have announced they will participate in this funding, including Brazil, Indonesia, Norway, Portugal, Germany and France.

However, the new system disagrees: “Without strong regulations to stop the flow of finance to destructive industries, the TFFF risks becoming a well-intentioned mechanism trapped in a broken system.”reacted Tom Picken, of the environmental organization Rainforest Action Network. The Global Forest Coalition, for its part, believes that this fund is a “wrong solution” and denounce “green capitalism”. Despite reluctance, this new fund “It’s better than waiting for the perfect solutionnuanced by Mauricio Voivodic, from the NGO WWF who took part in its development. There is no magic solution.” A roadmap to stop deforestation was also announced by the COP president on Saturday.

Better consideration of indigenous peoples

This is the remaining picture of COP30. Dozens of representatives of indigenous peoples peacefully blocked the entrance to the UN conference on Saturday, November 15. “We hope that world leaders gathered at COP30 will consider our existence and respect our rights”demanded members of the Munduruku community in particular.

Gathering on Saturday, November 22, countries from around the world signed in support of the recognition “the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their land rights and traditional knowledge”and highlight it “(their) important role and commitment”. At the close of the People’s Summit, held on the sidelines of COP30, on Sunday 16 November, the Brazilian government announced that more demarcation – and thus protection – of their territory would be implemented in the coming year. The demarcation is an intermediate step in the process of recognizing land belonging to indigenous communities, which obtains inviolable and protected nature reserve status after obtaining approval from the president. The new territory has been delimited in seven states in the country, specifically for the benefit of the Munduruku, Tupinamba, Guarani-Kaiwa and Pataxo communities, according to a press release from the Brazilian executive.

Commitment to reducing methane emissions

Invisible, odorless, but very dangerous… Several commitments emerged during COP30 regarding methane. Produced by livestock and rice fields as well as fossil gas leaks from pipelines and gas installations, this gas is the second most important greenhouse gas after CO2. Seven countries, including France, Germany, the UK and Canada, have committed to reducing their methane emissions linked to fossil fuels to almost zero, “fastest way to slow global warming” according to a joint statement.

Also on the occasion of COP30, Brazil and the UK launched a three-year program aimed at reducing emissions of super pollutants in countries eligible for official development assistance, aiming to involve 30 countries by 2030 by mobilizing $150 million. Finally, two organizations, the Global Methane Hub and the Global Green Growth Institute announced a partnership to accelerate the reduction of methane emissions in developing countries, with hopes of mobilizing $400 million.

Declaration to accelerate the transition to sustainable fuels

The leaders of 19 countries, including Brazil, Canada and Japan, adopted a declaration aimed at accelerating the transition to sustainable fuels, and thereby moving away from dependence on gas and oil. Concretely, the announced goal is to quadruple the use of sustainable fuels by 2035, compared to 2024, mainly through greater use of hydrogen, biogas and biofuels.