Deep Divisions What Did Cop30 Actually Achieve And What Comes Next

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. 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. In three decades of these meetings aimed at forging global consensus on how to prevent and deal with global warming, this will go down as among the most divisive. Many countries were livid when COP30 in Belém, Brazil ended on Saturday with no mention of the fossil fuels that have heated up the atmosphere.

Other nations - particularly those with most to gain from their continued production - felt vindicated. The summit was a reality check on just how much global consensus has broken down over what to do about climate change. Here are five key takeaways from what some have called the "COP of truth". The most important thing to come out of COP30 is that the climate 'ship' is still afloat 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. After two weeks of heavy negotiations, this year’s UN climate talks or COP30, wrapped up yesterday. Set in Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon, with Indigenous leaders and civil society front and centre, this Summit was a chance to turn years of promises into real action. And did that happen?

Yes and no. COP30 was meant to be a “COP of Implementation” the moment governments would finally move from promises to action. And we arrived in Belém with three big fights on the table: While negotiators argued behind closed doors, a different — and much stronger — force was rising outside the rooms. After three COPs in petro-states where civil society was pushed to the margins, COP30 felt like a breath of fresh air. This Summit unfolded in the Amazon — one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, protected and defended by Indigenous Peoples long before the UN ever existed.

And for the first time in years, people could rally openly for real climate action. Indigenous Peoples, frontline communities, youth, activists, and everyday people came together and showed what genuine climate leadership looks like. Their voices spilled from the streets into the halls of COP30, raising the pressure on world leaders to deliver real progress.

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