By AFP - Agence France Presse
UN climate summits must keep their promises: COP30 chief
The Brazilian president of the next UN climate conference acknowledged on Monday the limitations of such global negotiations and the need to keep the promises made at these summits.
André Correa do Lago, a veteran climate negotiator, said that it is necessary to make a self-criticism and combat the belief that the so-called Conferences of the Parties (COP) involve a lot of talk and “meager results”.
Calls for reform of the UN climate change process have been made for years, including by previous COP presidents and other respected global figures.
“Given the climate urgency, we need a new era beyond negotiations: we must help put into practice what we have agreed,” wrote the COP30 president in a letter to nations on Monday, ahead of the conference, scheduled for November in Brazil.
In a separate briefing for journalists, Correa do Lago said it was essential to “do our best to link the abstraction of these negotiations and the COP decisions to real life”.
He said there was a perception that these talks - which every year bring together negotiators from almost 200 nations for almost two weeks of intense negotiation - were not producing what was needed.
He also spoke about the “limits” of the UN climate process and its landmark agreement, the Paris Agreement, in implementing decisions and thinking more holistically about how to deal with global warming.
At COP30 in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon River, countries will be judged on their national climate plans and promises of stronger action to control greenhouse gas emissions.
But the timing is not favorable for major new commitments on climate change, with Europe transferring money to defense and the United States withdrawing completely from the Paris Agreement.
“The international context is very difficult for negotiations,” said Correa do Lago.
“Let's see how we can accelerate what we've already decided.”
Decisions at the COP summits - which are overseen by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - are taken by consensus, which increases the complexity of reaching an agreement.
In his letter, Correa do Lago referred several times to the Indigenous concept of “mutirao”, in which communities unite around a common challenge, and invited the world to join the effort.
“Humanity needs you,” he said, urging not only governments but also the private sector, civil society, and academia to get involved.
The COP30 presidency also wants to bring together a “circle of presidencies” from the last decade and indigenous leaders.
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