COP30 Presidency Letter Inspiring but Excludes Elephant in the Room

NOTE FROM THE CLIMATE OBSERVATORY

The letter sent to the international community this Monday (March 10) by the president-designate of COP30, André Corrêa do Lago, brings both relief and concern. The relief comes from knowing that the negotiations of the Paris Agreement are now in the hands of professionals who understand the gravity of the moment, with humanity caught in the unfortunate conjunction of accelerated climate emergency and the greatest global geopolitical setback in 36 years. The concern is seeing that the only real solution to the climate crisis—the just and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels—still does not appear on the list of priorities for the Belém conference.

The 11-page document presents the Brazilian presidency’s vision for the COP30 process and makes a call to all countries for joint work (“mutirão,” a word derived from the ancient native Brazilian Tupi language, meaning collective effort) against climate change. It clearly states that Brazil sees COP30 as a conference different from the others: the first in the “post-legislative” phase of the climate agreement, whose rulebook was finalized last year in Baku with the definition on carbon markets. It promises to “stimulate collective reflection” on the NDCs, the insufficient national climate targets that need to be delivered this year but which have no formal space for discussion at COP. It also lists the negotiating items that need to have important results or progress in Belém, such as just transition, adaptation, mitigation, and finance.

The letter has inspiring moments. Among the many points that deserve special attention, two stand out: the recognition that Belém is happening at a time when the climate crisis “has arrived at our doorstep” and needs to be treated as the emergency it is; and the call for reinforced multilateralism, at a time when it faces its worst crisis since at least the end of the Cold War in 1989. In a veiled critique of the foreign policy of  “might is right” implemented by Donald Trump, Corrêa do Lago states that “when we understand that we are all interdependent in the fight against climate change, we need to recognize that the international community can only be as strong as its weakest link.”

The corollary of this dual line of reasoning should be a strong and unequivocal appeal for the implementation of the COP28 decision in Dubai, to begin the gradual phase-out of fossil fuels, by far the main contributors to the climate crisis, which “has reached our daily lives” and disproportionately impacts the “weakest links” in the international community. However, this is not mentioned in the COP30 presidency’s statement. The only reference to fossil fuels in the text is factual, recalling the outcome of Dubai.

“For fossil fuels to enter the agenda of the conference, a broad process of pressure and unity on the issue will be necessary. Despite the adverse international scenario, Brazil’s leadership at COP30 opens up this opportunity,” says Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory. “The letter from the presidency says that COP30 can initiate a turning point in the fight against the climate crisis and that we can make a comeback. To turn this game around, Brazil will have to play offensively.”

About the Observatório do Clima
Founded in 2002, it is the leading Brazilian civil society network on the climate agenda, with 133 members, including environmental NGOs, research institutes, and social movements. Its goal is to help build a decarbonized, equal, prosperous, and sustainable Brazil in the fight against the climate crisis (oc.eco.br). Since 2013, OC has published the SEEG, the annual estimate of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions (seeg.eco.br).

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Solange A. Barreira – Climate Observatory
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