Author: Simone Briganti
COP (Conference of Parties) is the largest global UN event for the discussions and negotiations on climate change. The meeting is held annually, with the presidency rotating among the five UN-recognized regions. In 2025, the COP30 took place in the Brazilian city of Belém, at the heart of the Amazon. During the plenary sessions, the Brazilian president Lula invited the attending countries to work towards the creation of a Roadmap. He stated that it should lead to an acceleration of the transition process to renewable energies and to the implementation of different actions aimed at stopping deforestation. However, all these elements are not present in the final declaration, the Global Mutirão, agreed upon by participating countries.
In fact, in the final deal, there is no reference to fossil fuels and the necessity of transitioning away from them. Another weak result reached during the COP 30 concerns climate finance. Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing—drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.
Regarding this issue, the COP30 reaffirmed what has been discussed last year: the need to mobilize $300 billion from developed countries to developing ones. Therefore, the hoped goal of developing countries of tripling this amount has not been reached. The only acceptable result was represented by the shared recognition of the necessity to accelerate the implementation of actions aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5C degrees by the end of the century. However, without obligations to reduce the production and consumption of fossil fuels, this point cannot have a real effect. To summarize, COP30 adopted a series of measures to accelerate implementation and international cooperation:
- Launch of a Global Implementation Accelerator: The Accelerator will prioritize actions with the best potential for scale and speed in the climate fight, including for methane emission reduction and carbon removal through nature-based solutions. Concurrently, it will prioritize interventions that can leverage positive tipping points, such as renewables, batteries, reducing the cost of capital, digitalization, and multilateral bank reform, to drive exponential and cascading transformations. The Accelerator will work synergistically with the Action Agenda, which reached a new level of actor mobilization, resources, processes, and solutions at COP30.
- Tripling of Adaptation Finance: A landmark measure to support the most vulnerable populations—those least responsible for climate change but most affected by its impacts.
- Creation of the Belém Mechanism for Just Global Transition: A new instrument to support countries in ensuring that the transition to sustainable economies is just and inclusive.
- Adoption of Voluntary Indicators to measure progress in building resilience, within the framework of the Global Goal on Adaptation.
- Launch of the Technology Implementation Program (TIP), with a timeline and components to strengthen the implementation of technology priorities in developing countries.
- Adoption of the new Gender and Climate Action Plan, with activities to increase the influence of women in combating climate change.
- Launch of a sequence of dialogues on international trade and climate.
- Launch of a two-year work program on climate finance, focusing on the predictability of public resources from developed to developing countries.
- Recognition of the importance of the role of cities, states, and municipalities in climate action.
However, none of these actions are legally binding. They are useful tools but they remain voluntary.
In addition, it is essential to underline the role played by the European Union. During COP30, the EU was represented by European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Danish presidency of the Council by the minister for Climate, Energy and Public Services Lars Aagaard and the European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra. The Council agreed on the EU’s negotiating position at COP30 on 21 October 2025. In the Council conclusions setting out that negotiating position, the EU reaffirmed its Paris Agreement commitment to limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C. In Belém, the EU aimed to play a central role in advancing global climate efforts by pushing for higher ambition on mitigation and adaptation and for progress on climate finance. Key priorities for the EU included:
- strengthening global mitigation ambition and calling for a collective global response to keep the 1.5°C target within reach
- progress on adaptation goals
- enhanced climate finance mobilisation
- boosting global action for the energy transition
Summing up, during COP30, the EU:
- secured an agreement on a global response to keep the 1.5C limit within reach;
- presented an ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 66.25% to 72.5% below 1990 levels by 2035;
- called for tripling by 2035 finance for adaptation under the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) climate finance commitments agreed at COP29;
- endorsed a declaration to boost the recognition of carbon pricing and market mechanisms as key tools to advance climate action globally;
- backed a global innovative funding mechanism that rewards the conservation of tropical forests;
- reaffirmed its commitment to delivering the global pledges to transition away from fossil fuels, triple the installed capacity of renewables, and double the global rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, as agreed at COP28.
As analyzed by Angelos Pastras, engineer and climate expert, during an interview by United Citizens of Europe, Europe’s role is to become the leader in providing technology and support to developing nations facing existential climate threats. He emphasizes the principle of “shared but differentiated responsibility”. All nations must contribute to climate solutions on the basis of their capabilities.
To conclude, it is possible to affirm that, similarly to previous years, even in 2025 the COP has not achieved any relevant result. This is due to several reasons. First of all, developed and developing countries prefer to continue polluting and enriching themselves rather than taking meaningful actions against global warming. Moreover, since COPs operate on a consensus basis, which means that even a small group of countries can dilute the ambition of the final text or block progress altogether. Therefore, States with large fossil-fuel reserves or economies deeply tied to oil, gas, or coal have strong political and economic incentives to slow down negotiations. In conclusion, global geopolitical tensions make it increasingly difficult to build trust and forge robust compromises, especially in the field of climate adaptation and fossil fuel reduction.
References
About COP30, COP30 Brazil Amazonia Belém, 2025, in https://cop30.br/en/about-cop30 accessed November 25, 2025
Scott A., Zanini V., Cos’é successo alla COP30 di Belém, eccoclimate,2025, in https://eccoclimate.org/it/cose-successo-alla-cop30-di-belem/ accessed November 25,2025
Introduction to climate finance, Climate Finance , United Nations Climate Change in https://unfccc.int/topics/introduction-to-climate-finance, accessed November 25, 2025
Concaro C., Pellicci A., Global Mutirao, cosa dice il Testo di COP30, Italian climate change, 2025, in https://www.italiaclima.org/global-mutirao-cosa-dice-il-testo-di-cop30/ accessed November 25, 2025
Villamil E., COP30: landmark outcomes emerge from negotiations despite unprecedented geopolitical tensions, COP30 Brazil Amazonia Belém, 2025, inhttps://cop30.br/en/news-about-cop30/cop30-landmark-outcomes-emerge-from-negotiations-despite-unprecedented-geopolitical-tensions accessed November 28,2025
COP30 climate summit, Belém, Brazil, 6-7 November 2025, European Council, 2025, in https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2025/11/06-07/ accessed November 27, 2025
EU at COP30 Climate Change Conference, European Commission, 2025, in https://commission.europa.eu/topics/climate-action/eu-cop/eu-cop30_en accessed November 27, 2025
Pastras, A. (2025, 27 November)After COP30: Breakthroughs, setbacks, and the road ahead with Angelos Pastras|United Citizens of Europe Podcast