Brazil’s COP30 presidency wants to elevate grassroots solutions to the climate crisis to the global level in a bid to spur governments to bolster their national climate plans.
With six months until the climate summit gets underway in the Amazon city of Bélem, only 21 countries have put forward updated targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions through to 2035, despite a self-imposed end-of-February deadline, which has now been extended until September.
Yet, while encouraging governments to submit ambitious “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), COP30 President André Aranha Corrêa do Lago said this week that “we cannot expect only governments to act”.
“We have to act as individuals, corporations, professors etc,” he added in a press briefing. “There is a huge space for a movement that truly shows to the governments that populations are concerned about climate change, they believe we have to make very significant changes and they want to contribute to that.”
Slow progress towards Paris goals
The COP30 president issued the plea as more than 40 climate ministers and other leading officials gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, this week for key talks in preparation for the Bélem summit.
Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief, said “progress is being made” although more slowly than climate science dictates. He noted that, while the world is still on a trajectory to global warming of 3C above pre-industrial times, temperatures would have been set to rise by 5C without the international climate process guided by the Paris Agreement.
Stiell added that, after analysing all the updated NDCs, the world will see how close it is to limiting warming to 1.5C – the most ambitious goal of the Paris accord.
New figures published this week stoked fears over the ability to meet that target. The global average temperature over the 12-month period to the end of April 2025 was 1.58C above the pre-industrial level, according to the European earth observation programme Copernicus.
The increase does not automatically represent a breach of the Paris pact which tracks temperature increases over decades rather than months.
Call for ‘self-determined contributions’
In an open letter published on Thursday, Corrêa do Lago encouraged individuals and organisations to present ground-level climate actions that have already been delivered or are taking place now rather than “pledges to be fulfilled in the future”.
The COP30 president said these initiatives – which he called “self-determined contributions” – could include, for example, farmers embracing regenerative agriculture, tech companies working together to decarbonise data centres, or coastal towns restoring mangroves.
Comment: COP30 must heed the elephant in the room: fossil fuels
The COP30 presidency will launch a platform to gather climate contributions from civil society with the stated aim of inspiring global leaders in their preparation of NDCs. The initiative will be unveiled during the upcoming UN climate week due to start in Panama on May 19.
Corrêa do Lago told reporters that showcasing existing solutions can persuade some governments “less convinced than others” that the fight against climate change can make people’s lives better and benefit the economy.
‘Local action for global ambition’
In Copenhagen, the COP30 presidency and ministers also joined representatives from cities and regions across the world, in the first meeting of its kind with sub-national governments.
Chilando Chitangala, mayor of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, said cities are on the frontline of the climate crisis, but they cannot act alone. “We need to be part of the decisions that shape climate policy at every level. Without local climate action, global ambitions will remain out of reach,” she added.
First carbon credit scheme for early coal plant closures unveiled
The COP30 presidency has promised to involve city and regional leaders more closely in the climate process, especially after Donald Trump’s administration started the process for the US to leave the Paris Agreement.
Corrêa do Lago said that the US government is “just waiting for the year to pass” until it is officially out of the accord.
“Who is leaving Paris [agreement] is the government of the United States, not the US as a country,” he added. “The US is still very present in the fight against climate change through scientists, universities, businesses.”
The post Brazil calls on local groups to “inspire” governments in boosting climate action appeared first on Climate Home News.
Brazil calls on local groups to “inspire” governments in boosting climate action
SYDNEY, Thursday 30 October 2026 — In response to reports that the Albanese government is set to introduce draft legislation this year that would seek to ban data centres in Australia’s suburbs, Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“These reports are a testament to the growing community opposition to these completely inappropriate AI factories that have sprung up across our suburbs, and Big Tech corporations should take heed — the data centre build-out must not happen without the endorsement of the Australian people.
“But the government can’t simply ship this problem out to regional Australia without addressing the fundamental issues with this extractive new industry.
“We’re already seeing a trend of AI data centre proposals moving to the regions, in areas that are more water-scarce, more environmentally sensitive, and next to sources of fracked and coal seam gas to support their massive BYO gas-fired power plans — a pattern we’ve seen play out in the United States.
“From the Beetaloo Basin in the NT to the Western Downs in Qld, we’re seeing a wave of AI data centre proposals that would see new gas fast-tracked to support their massive energy demand, and threaten to completely derail Australia’s energy transition.
“Just as suburban Australians are asking, “what for?”, regional communities like Berry Springs and Dalby do not want dirty data centres setting up shop with absolutely no benefit to their communities. Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium on AI data centre developments until strict and enforceable safeguards are in place to protect our climate and our communities.”
-ENDS-
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on +61 406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
AI data centre ban in suburbs would not address fundamental issues: Greenpeace
In the thick of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in 2024, the UN climate talks were rattled by what can only be described as a major PR disaster. The BBC, Reuters and The Guardian all carried headlines, attributed to leading climate policy experts, that the COPs were “no longer fit for purpose”.
The articles outlined a series of reforms called for in an open letter signed by 22 eminent scientists and politicians, including a former UN secretary-general and previous UN climate chief, with a further 150 lending their support. The headlines shook confidence in the COP process, just as governments were wrestling over a new climate finance goal.
The Club of Rome – which handled the media relations for the letter – hurried to say that its “constructive, supportive ideas” had been “misinterpreted”. Negotiators kept calm(ish) and carried on, in the end landing the finance goal after some high-stakes drama on the final day.
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Early speakers’ list suggests few powerful leaders will attend COP31
Just 77 heads of state or government are scheduled to address the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, a third less than the COP28 peak -
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To my surprise, when I went back this week to read the letter again, I could not find the offending line about the COPs not being fit for purpose. The Club of Rome has yet to respond to my query about its disappearance.
Whatever happened to the wording, that sentiment has been widely shared. COPs have ballooned in size while the importance of their outcomes seems to have diminished since the 2015 Paris Agreement (with the exception of the 2023 COP in Dubai where countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems).
The same on the surface
Two years on from those painful headlines in Baku, has anything changed for the better? You might be forgiven for thinking not. Official decisions are still made by consensus rather than the majority voting some have called for to stop blockers.
Tens of thousands of officials, activists and business execs still scurry around the halls to an ever-growing list of side events, roundtables and dialogues, while deals still come down to rows, all-nighters and jargon-filled texts adopted to rounds of applause.
But it would not be true to say that COPs have completely failed to respond to the very real need to translate the words of the Paris Agreement into action in the outside world.
Global warming is projected to be around 1.3C lower this century than it would have been if the world had not committed to tackle the climate crisis under that accord. Developing countries have a valued space at COPs in which their voices have equal weight in decision-making, unlike in many other international fora. And most importantly, perhaps, there has been a subtle shift, tipping the balance away from negotiating towards doing.
Brazil branded last year’s summit in Belém as the “COP of Implementation”, corralling the sprawling Action Agenda into six axes. This was a bid to impose some structure on the mushrooming efforts between governments, UN agencies, cities, businesses and civil society to set targets and spur faster results on their pet issues, from methane emissions to health and adaptation in conflict zones. COP30 alone saw the launch of 120 “plans to accelerate solutions”.
COP30 roadmaps off the cuff
Meanwhile, as the formal negotiations drew to a close, it was clear that consensus decision-making was evolving into something a little more improvised.
With only around half of all countries on board with the idea of a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago announced his team would put one together over the coming year, along with another on how to meet a global goal to halt deforestation by 2030. Those roadmaps will be launched next week, presented and discussed at COP31, though it’s still unclear whether or how they’ll be incorporated into the formal negotiating agenda.
Some leading policy-makers don’t think that matters too much. Speaking to journalists before the Antalya summit, COP30 CEO Ana Toni and Dutch climate minister Stientje van Veldhoven said “coalitions of the willing” can move ahead without needing consensus from the COPs. This, they said, was evident this year at the first global conference on TAFF, co-chaired by van Veldhoven and attended by 60 countries.
“Consensus or no-consensus in the general COP doesn’t make a difference for the choices I have to make in my country to get my country to phase out fossil fuels,” said the Dutch minister. The Netherlands recently became one of the first to publish a national TAFF plan.
COP31 banks on flagship voluntary initiatives
This thinking has permeated the management and expected outcomes of this year’s COP too. Earlier this year, Türkiye, supported by international energy agencies, floated the idea of a voluntary goal to boost electrification to 35% of the world’s final energy consumption by 2035 – and this is now being touted as one of the main results to be expected from Antalya.
Türkiye is also championing a pledge on AI and climate, while co-host Australia is pushing to ease access to climate finance for least developed countries and small island states.
COP31 presidency announces AI pledge as UN climate chief says Big Tech ‘on thin ice’
None of these needs consensus. But with a political cover decision already in the works, as trailed by the COP presidents, they – and perhaps the fossil fuel roadmap – may find a home in the official text if language acceptable to most can be found, giving them them additional weight.
UNFCCC reform process in the shadows
Formal reform is underway too, if quietly. UN climate chief Simon Stiell is leading a review informed by ongoing consultations with a group of 15 well-respected climate policy experts, three of whom signed the open letter in 2024.
Among them is leading Swedish climate and sustainability scientist Johan Rockström who has strong ideas about how to make COPs function better, including a switch to majority voting. He told the same press briefing nothing stands in the way of this, because the rules of procedure for making decisions at COPs have never been formally agreed.
Still, to get away from the default setting of consensus would require agreement on a new system that may be impossible to achieve given the rise in bullying tactics by fossil fuel heavyweights.
Comment: The UN climate process was built for negotiation – now it must support implementation
The deliberations with the high-level policy gurus, as reflected in a summary of June’s session in Bonn, largely echo what’s already happening organically, calling for stronger partnerships and accountability both in and between the Action Agenda and negotiations. It doesn’t mention voting.
A general overview of the reform exercise says that “improving and optimizing the [UN climate] process over the medium to long term… will be critical to fostering trust, enhancing collaboration, and catalyzing increased ambition”.
In the short term, don’t hold your breath for anything concrete on reform at COP31 but watch for signs in what ends up dominating the headlines from Türkiye.
The post Editor’s Desk: COP reform is happening quietly, behind the headlines appeared first on Climate Home News.
Editor’s Desk: COP reform is happening quietly, behind the headlines
With the COP31 climate summit in Turkey looming, all eyes are on China to see what the country will push for in the negotiations.
At COP30 last year, China helped to secure a “dialogue” on climate-related “unilateral trade measures”, as well as a two-year “work programme” concerning climate finance.
The nation also championed south-south cooperation throughout the conference and co-led a summit on methane, alongside Brazil and the UK.
In a recent press conference, China’s environment vice-minister Li Gao noted the need to “uphold multilateralism” and send a “clear political signal” that the global community is united around climate action.