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Cop30 What Did Countries Agree To At The United Nations Climate Rnz

Leo Migdal
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cop30 what did countries agree to at the united nations climate rnz

COP30 President André Aranha Corrêa do speaks during a plenary session of the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil on 21 November, 2025. Photo: PABLO PORCIUNCULA / AFP The COP30 climate summit has drawn to a close after two weeks in the Amazonian city of Belem where protests, street marches and even a fire caused unexpected moments of drama. Beneath enormous tents erected over a former airport at the edge of the rainforest, nations also adopted some decisions on how to battle climate change. Here are the main negotiated outcomes, and the voluntary commitments, made during the summit attended by nearly 200 nations: The thorniest issues were bundled into a "mutirao" pact - the summit's slogan, drawn from the Tupi-Guarani word for "collective effort."

A voluntary plan to curb fossil fuels, a goal to triple adaptation finance and new efforts to “strengthen” climate targets have been launched at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil. After all-night negotiations in the Amazonian city of Belém, the Brazilian presidency released a final package termed the “global mutirão” – a name meaning “collective efforts”. It was an attempt to draw together controversial issues that had divided the fortnight of talks, including finance, trade policies and meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C temperature goal. A “mechanism” to help ensure a “just transition” globally and a set of measures to track climate-adaptation efforts were also among COP30’s notable outcomes. Scores of nations that had backed plans to “transition away” from fossil fuels and “reverse deforestation” instead accepted COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago’s compromise proposal of “roadmaps” outside the formal UN regime. Countries have reached a new deal to tackle climate change at the annual UN meeting in Belém, Brazil.

But many countries were unhappy with the outcome, with no new measures on fossil fuels or deforestation. COP30 was the 30th annual UN climate meeting. COP stands for "Conference of the Parties". "Parties" refers to the nearly 200 countries that have signed up to the original UN climate agreement of 1992. COP30 was due to run from Monday 10 November to Friday 21 November. A mitigation marathon, a mutirão of ideas and a maze of multilateralism.

But as the sun set over Belém, and the final gavel fell after two weeks of negotiations on the climate crisis, the world asked: did COP30 move us any closer to a safer, fairer,... This COP, hosted for the first time on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, carried enormous symbolic and political weight. It was billed by many as the “implementation COP” – a chance to turn the promises of the Paris Agreement and 2023’s Global Stocktake into real action. So, what did we achieve? Ahead of COP30, all countries were expected to put forward a new or updated climate plan – known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – showing how they will help keep global warming limited... Just before COP30 began, the EU confirmed its new NDC: a commitment to cut 66.25% to 72.5% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2035 (compared to 1990 levels), grounded in its newly adopted 2040...

Several major economies, including Brazil, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, also stepped up and submitted stronger climate plans in the run-up to COP30. But some of the world’s biggest emitters are still finalising their plans, or have announced targets that fall well short of what science says is needed. All eyes turned to Belém this weekend as divided nations scrambled to deliver a final deal at a UN climate conference battered by “roaring political headwinds”. COP30 kicked off with high hopes for a historic outcome, if not solely due to its poignant proximity to the Amazon rainforest, a crucial regulator of the climate. It was also the first UN climate talk where a US delegate was completely absent, following Donald Trump’s controversial decision to abandon the Paris Agreement. The charismatic heft of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fuelled the push for an ambitious final deal.

But, did any of this actually help in the end - and what has two weeks of strung-out negotiations actually achieved? Here are five key outcomes from COP30, and what they mean for the future. While transitioning away from fossil fuels wasn’t originally on COP30’s official agenda, political momentum around the issue rapidly transformed it into a flashpoint discussion during negotiations. Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Brazil's COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago during a plenary session in Belem, Brazil, on Nov 21. But beneath enormous tents erected over a former airport at the edge of the rainforest, nations also adopted some decisions on how to battle climate change.

Here are the main negotiated outcomes, and the voluntary commitments, made during the summit attended by nearly 200 nations: The thorniest issues were bundled into a “mutirao” pact – the summit’s slogan, drawn from the Tupi-Guarani word for “collective effort”. The 2025 UN climate talks wrapped on Saturday, Nov. 22 after negotiations pushed into overtime. The resulting decision secured some important wins, both inside and outside the negotiations. But it omitted some of the big-ticket items many hoped to see.

With efforts to halt temperature rise severely off track and climate disasters becoming ever-more destructive, the summit (COP30) aimed to establish clear pathways to deliver past pledges and put the world on a safer... A key question was how countries would address lagging ambition in their new climate commitments (NDCs). Hopes that countries would commit to roadmaps to end fossil fuel use and halt deforestation were ultimately dashed after opposition from petrostates. The final decision only included new voluntary initiatives to accelerate national climate action, though the Brazilian Presidency intends to move forward with fossil fuel and deforestation roadmaps outside of the formal COP talks. Building resilience to climate impacts took center stage, with COP30 securing a new target to triple finance for climate adaptation. The COP also laid out practical solutions to increase finance for the low-carbon transition.

In an era of trade wars and tariffs, negotiators also agreed for the first time to hold discussions on how trade policies can help — or hinder — climate action. Against the backdrop of the Amazon, nature also saw advances, including a new fund for tropical forest conservation. Indigenous Peoples and other local communities were recognized like never before. And outside the formal negotiations, the summit saw a raft of new pledges and action plans from cities, states, countries and the private sector. It is clear that we are moving from negotiations to implementation, and from wrangling over what to do to how to do it. These victories matter.

It shows that international cooperation can still deliver, despite deepening divides on climate action and a difficult geopolitical context.

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