COP30 Climate Conference in Belém
The 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) on will be held from November 10 to November 21, 2025, in Belém, located in northern Brazil, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest. It carries symbolic weight, coming ten years after the landmark Paris Agreement.
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The Tenth Anniversary of The Paris Agreement
COP30 comes ten years after the Paris Agreement, which brought together all the nations of the world for the first time in a common cause: mitigating and adapting to global climate change. For the first time, the Agreement set a clear limit on : keeping the rise in average global temperatures well below +2°C compared to pre-industrial levels, with an ambition to reach +1.5°C. This landmark text encouraged countries to make their own commitments to reduce emissions, while providing financial support to the most vulnerable countries. COP30 will be an opportunity to take stock of these commitments (see the list of previous COPs).
Belém, a Reflection of Climate Vulnerabilities
André Corrêa do Lago, the Brazilian diplomat chairing COP30, had a striking phrase:
Located on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, Belém is a city of 1.4 million inhabitants and a major port on the Atlantic Ocean, near the mouth of the Amazon River. Tall office buildings and luxurious apartments stand side by side with favelas built on stilts. This is a common sight in a rapidly expanding Brazil, rich in natural resources and highly industrialized, but marked by extreme inequality. Around 30% of the population lives below the poverty line as defined by the World Bank. These communities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as drought and extreme weather events.
The Crucial Role of The Amazon Rainforest
Due to the extent and density of its vegetation, the Amazon rainforest plays an essential role in regulating the global climate. It acts as a , absorbing CO2 and storing it in its and soils.
Until the 1990s, the Amazon rainforest absorbed up to 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. However, this absorption capacity has been greatly reduced to the point that some studies1 suggest the Amazon is becoming “neutral,” emitting as much CO2 as it captures. In the Brazilian part of the forest, some regions, such as the southeast, are even net emitters.
The causes are well known. The first is deforestation, caused by the cultivation of large areas of land and mining operations, which release stored carbon into the atmosphere. Global warming itself, which exacerbates droughts that lead to forest fires, also contributes to this trend.
The risk of “savannization,” transforming the rainforest into savanna, could release significant amounts of CO2, accelerating climate change.
A COP Dedicated to Forest Conservation
Faced with these challenges, Brazil wants to make forest protection the central theme of COP30. The official logo adopted for the meeting is “COP30 Brasil Amazonia.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has pledged to eradicate deforestation by 2030. He is reviving the efforts begun during his previous terms in office.
The country is proposing the creation of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF)2, a $4 billion per year fund to preserve tropical forests. It is supported by the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
BRICS is a group of countries that aspire to play a greater role in world affairs. The influence of the BRICS, and China in particular, is becoming increasingly felt in climate debates, especially since the United States, under Donald Trump's second presidency, withdrew from the Paris Agreement, changing the balance of among Western countries.
Climate Finance, a Recurring Issue at COP Conferences
At each “conference of the parties,” the question of financing energy and ecological transitions for the most economically vulnerable countries arises. Brazil is proposing ideas such as a tax on airline tickets or on major global assets. But the absence of the United States, which under Joe Biden was the leading donor, could limit progress.
National Contributions to be Revised
COP30 should enable a review of the “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs). At COP21, it was decided to call each country to take voluntary action, rather than setting global targets, which are rarely met. However, very few countries have submitted their proposals so far. Brazil is calling on countries to present updated and strengthened NDCs in Belém, aligned with the 1.5°C target. It has also pledged to make its own efforts.
This raises the question of the role of fossil fuels in the global . Brazil, the world's eighth largest oil producer, plans to increase its production, particularly through off the coast of the Amazon, and has expressed interest in joining OPEC.
[1] See the journal Nature
[2] See the main points of the TFFF
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