A ‘COP of Truth’: Key takeaways from this year’s climate summit

From 10 to 21 November 2025, world leaders and negotiators from the member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gathered in Belém, Brazil for the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties – or COP30. Official delegations from over 190 countries were at the climate summit. For the first time, however, the United States (US) did not send an official federal government delegation.

At COP, the world meets to discuss how to fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement, in particular how to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C (compared to pre-industrial levels), as well as to agree on concrete steps and necessary actions to address the global climate crisis. COP30, which Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described as a ‘COP of Truth’, was accompanied by high expectations. In the lead-up to the summit, debates were dominated by core agenda items such as the global goal on adaptation, new or updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the Baku-to-Belém roadmap to $1.3 trillion for climate finance, and the broader questions of climate justice and just transition.  

At COP30, the parties confirmed the $1.3 trillion annual climate finance goal from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and approved further key decisions in the Belém Political Package emphasising the urgent need for developed nations to significantly increase climate finance for developing nations. Yet, the outcomes of COP30 left many countries disappointed.

According to Soenke Kreft, senior expert, United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), one of the major issues raised after COP30 was the omission of a roadmap for phasing out  fossil fuels, despite the call for such a decision from several countries.

‘The negotiations were contrasted by deep divisions,’ Kreft said. ‘The failure to include explicit language on phasing out fossil fuels in the final text of the Belém Political Package was a significant disappointment.’

Adopted by 195 countries, the Package is expected to advance climate action. According to Kreft, it aims to close mainly two gaps: ‘One between current pledges and the necessary ambition and the other between current plans and actual implementation.’ The Package launched the two initiatives: Belém Mission to 1.5 and Global Implementation Accelerator, designed to drive ambition and implementation with the aim of helping countries in achieving their national commitments and meeting climate goals.

‘By launching the Global Implementation Accelerator, it [the Package] moves countries from planning to building, focusing on tangible projects like renewable grids and resilient infrastructure,’ Kreft explained, adding that the Belém Mission to 1.5 creates a formal platform for ‘high-level dialogue on investment barriers’ and will act as an additional ‘ambition ratchet’ before the next round of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2030.

‘To scale up, countries must use this Mission to align their climate plans with economic development, [and] finance ministries must be involved, not just environment ministries,’ Kreft said. ‘The Mission succeeds only if it unlocks the cheap capital needed for the Global South to leapfrog fossil fuels.’

Showing commitment to adaptation finance

The COP30-decision to triple adaptation finance by 2035 shows that the participating countries recognised that the current set-up falls short of what vulnerable nations need to effectively adapt to climate change.

‘Recognition must turn into investibility. We need to stop treating adaptation as charity and start treating it as an investment,’ Kreft said, adding that ‘If countries and other stakeholders actually deliver on the pledged $1.3 trillion by 2035, it provides the financial stability needed for developing nations to transition to low-carbon societies without wrecking their economies, which is essential for global climate stability.’

The entire continent of Africa, for example, is responsible for less than 4 per cent of global emissions. Yet the continent suffers some of the worst effects of climate change. At COP30, negotiators from African nations did not focus on the impacts of climate change but strategically positioned the continent as a climate solution by emphasising its potential for renewable energy production and green economy. Despite this, Kreft said the language on finance and adaptation indicators during the negotiations ‘lacked the necessary stringency’. ‘For Africa,’ he added, ‘adaptation is not a theoretical discussion, but a necessary key policy change.’

A welcome development is that Ethiopia will host COP32 in 2027, marking the first time a least-developed country will host the United Nations’ climate summit. Kreft believes this decision to be consequential, as it goes beyond the venue change, since ‘it forces the global community to confront the realities of the climate crisis in the Horn of Africa, shifting the centre of gravity to where the impacts are felt most acutely.’

Introducing a just transition mechanism

An additional positive outcome of COP30 is the creation of the Belém Action Mechanism (BAM) for a global just transition. This is not just a victory for civil society groups who developed BAM earlier this year, but also for factory workers and their trade unions who for the first time, will be involved in shaping net zero-related policies. 

Essentially, BAM involves stakeholders most affected by the transition to low-carbon and environmentally sustainable economies. This is particularly important for vulnerable communities and workers who depend heavily on carbon-intensive sectors for their livelihoods. 

‘While the exact shape of the mechanism is to be decided in the future, in broad terms, it should ensure that the transition to green energy and economies doesn’t replicate the exploitation of the fossil fuel era and that countries can maximise benefits to employment and wellbeing,’ Kreft said.

According to Kreft, to achieve a global just transition, countries need support modalities such as ‘international cooperation, technical assistance, and capacity building.’

A Call for reform in UN climate negotiations 

There are growing concerns over the current COP model and the climate summit process. Three decades on, global emissions continue to rise and though pledges are made to advance climate action by several countries and the private sector, accountability remains an issue. For this, civil society groups called for a change and a complete overhaul of climate negotiations. 

‘Climate negotiations have systematically failed to deliver climate justice and undermined international law, from marginalising vulnerable states, indigenous peoples, and civil society, to allowing the richest countries and the largest historical polluters to avoid legal obligations and accountability,’ reads a joint call issued by over 200 civil society and indigenous peoples’ organisations. 

Ahead of COP31, Kreft hopes negotiations will translate to real change that addresses the global climate crisis and helps countries suffering from the multiplier effects of climate change recover. Overall, he said, ‘COP30 was a summit of implementation, but it showed political will still lags behind scientific urgency.’