Opinion COP 30 moves needle on climate finance, but not on bringing temperatures down

At the UNFCCC’s annual conference of parties (COP), it’s almost par for the course for deliberations to stretch into extra time. COP 30, which concluded in Belem, Brazil, on Saturday, also had to extend its deadline by 18 hours. However, unlike most of the COPs in the decade after the Paris Pact, the Belem summit has moved the needle somewhat in breaking the impasse between developed and developing countries on climate finance. At COP 30, countries agreed to set up a two-year programme to enable developing countries to mobilise at least $1.3 trillion every year by 2035 — finance essential for their climate action in the next decade. The Belem deal also envisages tripling funds for climate adaptation over the next 10 years and operationalising the Loss and Damage fund set up at COP 28. The declaration falls short of asking for financial commitments from developed countries and, therefore, does not completely match the ambition demanded by emerging economies like India and China. However, it does send out an important political signal on the need to address the widening gap in climate finance and helps maintain pressure on developed countries to scale up their support.

Unilateral trade measures such as carbon adjustments — a tariff levied on imported goods that accounts for GHG emissions during their production — were a major flashpoint at Belem. India, China, and some other countries have called such measures discriminatory and in violation of international trade laws. The Belem declaration recognises their concern. The deal calls for aligning commerce with climate action, but it also underscores the need to avoid “disguised restriction on international trade”.

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The Belem summit was the first climate COP since US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the Paris Pact. The meeting’s outcome reflects a shift in power equations in climate diplomacy. Weakened by the US’s absence, the developed country bloc has shown some inclination to accommodate concerns of emerging economies. The more important question — how to sync climate justice with the imperative of addressing the global warming challenge — however, remains unaddressed. The Belem declaration does not have a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. As a face saver, though, COP 30 president André Aranha Corrêa do Lago proposed the creation of a platform to enable such a transition. This would be a voluntary initiative and not backed by the force of the UNFCCC. The Belem summit has restored some trust in the fraying global climate negotiation process. The challenge now is to take on the tougher challenge of expediting climate action.