Overview
- COP30 opened in Belém under Brazil’s presidency with about 50,000 participants, even as unfinished pavilions and other logistical gaps drew concern.
- The White House confirmed no senior U.S. officials would attend, and China and India also lacked high-level delegates, highlighting a strained diplomatic backdrop.
- Negotiators are tasked with revising 2035 national commitments, clarifying finance for vulnerable countries, accelerating a fossil-fuel phaseout, and targeting rapid methane cuts.
- Lula’s Tropical Forest Forever Facility secured early pledges exceeding $5 billion for tropical-forest protection, with Norway among the major contributors reported by organizers.
- Finance and near-term action showed traction, with a record US$3.26 billion in Green Climate Fund approvals, OECD signs the US$100 billion goal was likely met in 2023, a $100 million Bloomberg pledge for methane, and 400-plus local officials endorsing an ECF text for local implementation.