The 30th United Nations climate conference (COP30) has begun. The UNFCCC COP30 kicked off yesterday in Belém, Brazil. World leaders began gathering ahead of the conference on Thursday, November 6th, for the two-day world summit of world leaders that accompanies every COP. This year, the meeting took place a few days before COP30 began, rather than (as has been normal for the last few COPs) during the first two days of proceedings. Maybe this will leave more time and space at COP30 itself for negotiators to dig into business without the distraction of their boss’s bosses being in town. The leaders of China, the US, and India — the “planet’s three biggest polluters” — are “notably absent” from the two-day leaders’ summit. In fact, there will be no high-level U.S. officials at COP30, but the US may still try to shape negotiations from afar.
Onlookers have critiqued the accessibility of this conference due to COP30’s limited badges and high logistical costs. These barriers priced out many activists from countries at the forefront of the climate crisis, whose presence adds pressure to nations to take concrete, just action.
In late October, the UNFCCC published its 2025 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report. Based on the submissions of only 64 parties (countries that signed the Paris Agreement), it’s difficult to draw conclusions. What is clear is that ambitions and goals are not yet big enough. Nor are parties working fast enough to close the gap between the existing projected 2.6°C of heating this century, and the 1.5°C goal which the UN Secretary General recently warned is slipping from our grasp. The initial deadline for submitting 2025 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC was February 10, 2025, but most countries missed it, with a cut-off date in September 2025 set by the Secretariat for inclusion in this synthesis report, and most remaining submissions are expected during COP30.
Brazil’s President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has called for COP30 to be the “COP of Truth.” He has promised to put a stop to deforestation in Brazil by the end of the decade. He’s been successful so far; Brazil’s emissions fell nearly 17 percent last year, the biggest dip in 15 years, as his government cracked down on illegal deforestation. But the “Amazon COP” is also being overshadowed by Brazil’s decision in October to greenlight exploratory oil drilling at the mouth of the Amazon River. COP30 is expected to heavily focus on two central issues: deforestation and financing climate action.
Brazil has launched an initiative called the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). The TFFF aims to raise $125 billion, invest it in bonds, and use the returns to pay countries and communities for preserving existing standing forests. The World Bank has agreed to host the TFFF. Indigenous communities and climate justice advocates have criticized the fund, saying that it commodifies the forests rather than protects them, and gives control of preserving forests to global financial actors and the World Bank — institutions dominated by the Global North, and is dependent on the bond investments turning a profit. It could potentially divert funding from existing mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage funds. Financing climate initiatives is the other central issue expected at COP30. Financing that actually addresses the enormity of the climate crisis has been an ongoing and growing tension between the Global North — countries that have historically benefited from the carbon economy and are most responsible for the climate crisis — and the Global South — those least responsible but most impacted.
Others are calling COP30 the “Implementation COP”, in part because it has been 10 years since the Paris Agreement, which set a goal to limit greenhouse-gas emissions to 1.5 °C. Over those 10 years, the rules and mechanisms have been negotiated, and this year is a pivotal year for countries to actually follow through on their commitments. The Brazilian COP Presidency has declared there will not be a so-called cover decision — the main decision text that telecasts the conference’s political outcomes — this year.
Delegates representing the parties will be addressing the need to measure adaptation goals and will attempt to whittle down and codify a list of “indicators” that started with more than 10,000 different options.
Climate Justice advocates agree that this COP must be different. Given that we’ve passed that temperature limit agreed upon in the Paris Agreement, it will be critical that negotiating parties take action to:
- Phase out fossil fuels – committing to a full, fast, fair, and funded plan to stop producing and using fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil.
- Protect civic space – elevating the voice of activists, human rights and land defenders in the push for climate action, protecting them from the intimidation, harassment and criminalization they too often experience.
- Massively scale up non-debt-creating climate finance from high-income polluting countries – enabling lower-income countries to phase out fossil fuels and to protect their populations from the inevitable harms climate change is already causing.
The post Your Preview of Negotiations: Nov. 10 appeared first on Climate Generation.
Climate Change
Greenpeace activists block coal ship from entering world’s largest coal port at Rising Tide blockade
NEWCASTLE, Sunday 30 November 2025 – Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists have scaled and blocked a coal ship, bound for the Port of Newcastle today, during the Rising Tide People’s Blockade, deploying a banner with a message to the Australian government: “Phase Out Coal and Gas”.
Photos and video here – footage to be uploaded by 2pm AEDT
Three activists are secured to the anchor chain and sides of the ship, stopping its operations, and have unfurled the five-metre-long banner in a peaceful protest demanding the Australian government set a timeline to phase out fossil fuels including exports, and stop approving new coal and gas projects.
Australian musicians Oli and Louis Leimbach from Lime Cordiale joined the action with Greenpeace while activists painted a message to the Australian government on the ship’s side, using non-toxic soluble paint, reading: “TIMELINE NOW!”
It comes after Australia signed onto the significant Belém Declaration for the Transition Away From Fossil Fuels on the sidelines of COP30 in Brazil last week, but then doubled down on its support for coal and gas.
Oli Leimbach from Australian band Lime Cordiale, who performed at Rising Tide’s Climate Concert and joined the Greenpeace action said: “Rising Tide’s Climate Concert last night was such a beautiful festival; so many passionate people came together in a peaceful way to demand change from the government. By taking action today, we added another little exclamation mark on their voices. Stoked to be here with Greenpeace — it’s time to phase out coal and gas.”
Dr. Elen O’Donnell, doctor and Greenpeace activist who boarded the vessel, said: “We are taking action today, alongside thousands of people who have joined Rising Tide’s blockade, to show Australia’s leaders that if the government won’t act, the people will. Australia is the world’s third-largest fossil fuel exporter, and its outsized role in the climate crisis calls for serious action. Every shipment of coal that leaves this port contributes to more devastating bushfires, floods and cyclones. As a doctor, I have seen first-hand the impacts of climate disasters on people in Australia and around the world — I’ve seen how our government’s obsession with fossil fuels is harming people and killing our planet.
“From the side of this vessel we can see ships far out to the horizon, many of them on their way to collect coal. These industries, and the Australian people, are owed a clear plan and timeline for the phase out of coal and gas. We are risking arrest because we don’t want a future reliant on coal and gas.”
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The urgency of the climate crisis cannot be understated. Fossil fuel production is soaring and pushing climate pollution to deadly new highs.
“At COP30 in Brazil, the Australian government joined the landmark Belém Declaration — its strongest statement yet that acknowledges our international commitment to limit warming to 1.5°C means no new fossil fuels. But just days later the Albanese government doubled-down on coal and gas — completely at odds with Australia’s obligation and responsibility to address emissions as one of the world’s largest coal and gas exporters. It’s a joke.
“The Albanese government continues to approve new coal and gas projects at breakneck speed, expanding production faster than any other country, and with no clear exit strategy. Australian workers, communities and the public have been left in the lurch and deserve better.
“The clean energy transition is here and there is no going back. We have the solutions and what matters is what we do now — Australia must deliver a clear timeline to phase out fossil fuels, including exports, and commit to no new fossil fuel projects. Real leadership is judged on action, not talk.
“Greenpeace, alongside Rising Tide and thousands of everyday people, are taking actions big and small this weekend to send a united message to the Albanese government — we don’t need new fossil fuels, and we will continue to hold you to account.”
The ship was due in to port at around 12:15pm AEDT. Newcastle is the world’s biggest coal port. The Rising Tide People’s Blockade is a week-long annual peaceful protest at the Port of Newcastle calling for an end to new coal and gas projects and increased funding to support workers during the transition away from coal.
—ENDS—
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Kimberley Bernard: +61 407 581 404 or kbernard@greenpeace.org or Lucy Keller: +61 491 135 308 or lkeller@greenpeace.org
Greenpeace activists block coal ship from entering world’s largest coal port at Rising Tide blockade
Climate Change
Murdoch Media Wrongly Pinned NJ High Electricity Costs on Clean Energy, Says Watchdog
The op-eds and TV segments coincided with the gubernatorial campaign in the Garden State.
Media companies owned by Rupert Murdoch have found a “scapegoat” in clean energy for the rising electricity prices in New Jersey, according to two reports from watchdog Media Matters.
Murdoch Media Wrongly Pinned NJ High Electricity Costs on Clean Energy, Says Watchdog
A fire expert on the difference between prescribed burns and cultural burns, and why we should incorporate both into modern forest management.
From our collaborating partner Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by Aynsley O’Neill with Amy Cardinal Christianson, a senior fire advisor with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative.
How Indigenous Cultural Burns Can Help Heal Climate-Ravaged Forests—and People
Greenpeace activists block coal ship from entering world’s largest coal port at Rising Tide blockade
Building Infrastructure Efficiently
The Politics of Older People
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
Spanish-language misinformation on renewable energy spreads online, report shows
-
Climate Change4 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Greenhouse Gases4 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Spanish-language misinformation on renewable energy spreads online, report shows
-
Greenhouse Gases2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change Videos2 years ago
The toxic gas flares fuelling Nigeria’s climate change – BBC News
-
Climate Change2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Carbon Footprint2 years agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits
-
Renewable Energy5 months ago
US Grid Strain, Possible Allete Sale