From 10-21 November, Brazil will host the United Nations climate change conference, COP30, in the northern city of Belém, the first such summit to be held in the Amazon region. This symbolic and strategic choice has placed nature, Indigenous peoples and the Global South at the centre of international climate diplomacy.
COP30 will focus on the delivery of the new annual climate finance target agreed at COP29: USD 300 billion a year in public climate finance from developed to developing countries – three times the previous target – by 2035; USD 1.3 trillion a year when combined with private sources.
The links between climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection will also be in the spotlight, as will the energy transition.
The delivery and implementation of recently updated national climate plans will be another focus, given that all parties to the Paris Agreement are expected to submit the next instalment of these five-year plans, called nationally determined contributions (NDCs), by September.
Ana Toni is Brazil’s national secretary for climate change. Being appointed COP30’s chief executive officer has granted her a key role in shaping the outcome of the conference.
Talking to Dialogue Earth, Toni speaks about the Brazilian government’s priorities for the summit, the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, and the challenging but necessary struggle for more climate finance.
Dialogue Earth: What would a successful COP30 look like from a Global South perspective?
Ana Toni: There are three issues we would like to be delivered, which are priorities for developing countries. First, adaptation. This is a key topic for the Global South.
We hope to make progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation [an international framework with progress targets] and also on adaptation finance, technology transfers, capacity building and nature-based solutions to adaptation.
Second, to protect the climate, we need to protect nature. That’s important not only for Amazonian countries but also for others in the Global South. Third, speeding up implementation broadly.
You’ve emphasised the need to break out of the “walls” of climate negotiations. What will that mean in practice at COP30?
We have made great decisions since the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] was born, and we know what we need to do.
We agreed on important things during the global stocktake at COP28 [the assessment of countries’ collective progress on the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement], such as stopping deforestation, tripling renewables and transitioning away from fossil fuels.
Now we need to ensure implementation and for everyone to go faster. Everybody has to be part of accelerating the action.
But many of the tasks needed won’t come from the UNFCCC or COP. For example, reforming the multilateral banks.
Brazil’s President Lula da Silva recently said the country will continue producing and exporting fossil fuels as global demand continues. How does that fit into the energy transition?
All countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels; that’s our common ground. Let’s not go back on this, as there’s an agreement in place. Lula said that we need to stop being dependent on fossil fuels.
There’s a dependency on consumption, despite cheaper and cleaner alternatives, and a dependency on revenue from fossil fuels, such as the royalties that countries get.
Guyana’s only income is from fossil fuels.* We need a better strategy on how the transition will take place. Every country has to have that debate, particularly in their NDCs, as Brazil did.
Finance for action on climate change is central to the Global South’s COP30 demands. What kind of breakthrough do you hope to see?
Signals from donor countries are going in the opposite direction – they are cutting their aid budget and spending on the military. There’s no indication that at COP they will review that.
We shouldn’t fool ourselves. The USD 300 billion finance commitment has already been agreed at COP29, and now the question is to ensure that the funds are delivered.
We are also in the process of mobilising the full USD 1.3 trillion. The process is going very well. There were several consultations and submissions by countries and we created a circle of finance ministers.
We expect the COP29 and COP30 presidents to come up with a robust roadmap to reach the USD 1.3 trillion. What happens to the roadmap after is up to the parties.
There’s been criticism over Belém’s infrastructure, lack of accessibility and preparedness. How are you responding to those concerns, and what’s being done to ensure COP30 is logistically successful?
Lula announced that the COP would be in Belém much in advance, at COP28. We want to show what the Amazon looks like – many people have different ideas about what the Amazon is.
Most of the emissions from Brazil come from deforestation, and we don’t want to hide that. Let us have COP in the same place that is the source of those emissions, but also a solution to climate change. I have no doubt that despite the logistical problems, we’ll be able to accommodate everyone comfortably.
Do you expect global geopolitical tensions to distract from COP30?
The military and tariff wars will take people’s attention from COP and negatively influence the outcome of the summit. They are taking away our energy and finances. But it’s the reality that we are dealing with. We will do all we can to reinforce multilateralism by getting all countries together to talk about climate. We need everyone on board.
* Editor’s note: According to data published by the World Bank, oil represented approximately 88% of Guyana’s total exports as of 2022. Guyana’s other exports include sugar, gold, bauxite, shrimp, timber and rice.
This post contains content that was first published on Dialogue Earth and republished here under a Creative Commons BY NC ND License. Read the original article.
