10 November 2025
“This is the
moment to match opportunity with urgency,” said Brazil’s
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, calling for a decisive
defeat of climate denial and faster action to keep the
1.5°C goal alive.
As negotiations begin at the annual
two-week summit, held this year in a city at the mouth of
the Amazon, UN climate chief Simon Stiell urged delegates
not to “squabble”, but to focus on turning ambition into
action.
“Your job here is not to fight one another
– your job here is to fight this climate crisis,
together,” he said. “This is the growth story of the
21st century – the economic transformation of our
age.”
Cautious optimism as pledges rise
A
sense of cautious optimism marked the first day of COP30,
following the announcement that dozens of new national
climate plans – known as NDCs – pushed the tally to
113 countries now committed to curbing global warming.
Together, they represent nearly 70 per cent of global
greenhouse gas emissions – a significant step forward in
the race to keep temperatures in check.
A preliminary
assessment by the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), which convenes the
yearly COPs, suggests these pledges could cut emissions by
12 per cent by 2035. It’s progress, but not yet enough to
guarantee the 1.5°C goal. The challenge now is turning
promises into action at a pace that matches the scale of the
crisis.
Emissions curve starts to bend
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In his
opening
remarks, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon
Stiell said that commitments and agreements made by
successive COPs were beginning to show impact, with the
global emissions curve now starting to bend
downward.
He acknowledged that much work remains but
highlighted that Belém – “home to the mouth of the
mighty Amazon River” – can serve as
inspiration.
“The Amazon is not a single river, but
a vast system sustained by more than a thousand
tributaries,” he said. “In the same way, implementation
of COP outcomes must be driven by multiple streams of
international cooperation.”
No country can go it
alone
Mr. Stiell warned that “no national plan can
solve this problem on its own,” stressing that no country
can afford the economic shock of climate disasters that
slash GDP by double digits.
“It makes neither
economic nor political sense,” he said, “to stand idle
while catastrophic droughts destroy crops and drive food
prices sky-high.” He called it “unforgivable” that
extreme weather continues to claim millions of lives when
proven solutions already exist.
Among the key
priorities for COP30, the UN climate chief
highlighted:
- A just and orderly transition away
from fossil fuels - Tripling renewable energy capacity
and doubling energy efficiency - Mobilising $1.3
trillion annually for climate action in developing
countries - Approving a global framework of adaptation
indicators - Advancing the Work
Programme on Just Transition and the Technology
Implementation Programme
‘We cannot
breach the 1.5°C limit’
In his opening address,
President Lula warned that “climate change is not a threat
to the future – it is a tragedy of the
present.”
Citing Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean
and a tornado in Paraná, the President declared this “the
COP of truth,” warning that denial and delay are no longer
options. “We are moving in the right direction – but at
the wrong speed,” he said. “Crossing 1.5°C is a risk we
cannot take.”
He went on to call strongly for an end
to climate denialism, underscoring that: “In the age of
disinformation, obscurantists reject not only scientific
evidence but also the progress of multilateralism. They
control algorithms, sow hatred, spread fear, and attack
institutions, science, and universities. It is time to
impose a new defeat on denialists. Without the Paris
Agreement, the world would be heading toward
catastrophic warming of nearly 5°C by the end of the
century.”
A path beyond fossil fuel
dependence
President Lula pressed world leaders to
adopt ambitious climate pledges and keep adaptation at the
heart of national strategies. He called for “a roadmap for
humanity to overcome, in a just and planned way, its
dependence on fossil fuels, reverse deforestation, and
mobilise the resources needed to do so.”
To back
that vision, he announced a new fund to support energy
transitions in developing countries, financed by revenues
from oil exploration.
The Leaders’ Summit, held on 6
and 7 November in Belém, has already mobilised $5.5 billion
for the Tropical
Forests Forever Facility – a fund designed to reward
nations for protecting rainforests. Other collective
commitments include recognising Indigenous land rights,
quadrupling sustainable fuel production, and linking climate
action to the fight against hunger, poverty, and
environmental racism.
Bringing COP30 to the heart of
the Amazon was, in Lula’s words, “a difficult but
necessary task,” giving the world a chance to witness the
realities of the planet’s most biodiverse biome—home to
more than 50 million people and 400 Indigenous groups.
“May the serenity of the forest inspire the clarity of
thought needed to see what must be done,” he
said.
‘COP of implementation, adaptation and
science’
Meanwhile, André Corrêa do Lago, COP30
President, presided over the official opening of the summit
following a musical performance by members of the Guajajara
Indigenous People.
He urged delegates to make this the
“COP of implementation, adaptation, and economic
integration of climate policy – and above all, the COP
that listens to and believes in science.”
He
concluded by recognising the crucial role of Indigenous
Peoples as guardians of the Amazon, the region now at the
centre of the world’s
attention.
