Nov. 6 (UPI) — The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP30, began its first official activities with the arrival of about 70 heads of state, government leaders and senior representatives in Belém, Brazil, for meetings scheduled Thursday and Friday.
Some key world leaders, including those from China, the United States, India and Russia, are absent, raising questions about global leadership on the climate agenda.
The discussions among leaders will set the stage for two weeks of negotiations involving about 143 international delegations that seek to agree on a roadmap to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually in climate financing for developing countries.
The goal is to address the rising costs of climate adaptation and mitigation, while strengthening support mechanisms to respond to loss and damage in the most vulnerable nations.
A central question heading into COP30 is that while a roadmap to mobilize $1.3 trillion per year exists, it remains unclear where the funding will come from and how it will be divided among grants, loans and private capital.
As a result, the financial agenda is expected to dominate the opening sessions, driven by a proposal from host country Brazil. Its plan calls for deep reforms to the multilateral lending system, greater private-sector participation and new instruments to integrate carbon markets and lower the cost of green capital.
Brazil is proposing a transformation of the global climate finance architecture, focused on expanding innovative financial tools and creating regulatory frameworks that facilitate capital flows to developing countries.
The plan includes Sustainable Sovereign Bonds, the Eco Invest Brazil program and creating a coalition to integrate carbon markets, along with efforts to develop a common global classification system that would make sustainable investments comparable across countries.
The most ambitious part of the proposal is the Tropical Forests Forever Global Fund, intended to be the largest forest conservation mechanism.
The fund aims to protect nearly 1 billion hectares in 70 countries through a blended financing model. It would begin with $25 billion in contributions from sponsoring countries and then be leveraged up to four times through bonds, reaching a total volume of about $125 billion.
In parallel, Brazil proposes to reform the multilateral financial architecture through the creation of the Circle of Finance Ministers, an international coordination forum that would guide the roadmap toward the global goal of $1.3 trillion in annual climate financing.
Delegates from dozens of countries warn that the negotiations will be complex, but agree that without a clear target — and a credible plan to reach it — the climate transition will not be possible within the necessary timeframe.
To prepare for COP30, the city of Belém has carried out several infrastructure projects to host the technical delegations that will begin to meet Monday. Some are still underway. The city has also taken on symbolic status as the country’s capital during the summit, a role that will continue until the conference concludes Nov. 21.
To ensure security for the event, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree earlier this week authorizing the use of the armed forces in Law and Order Guarantee operations at the request of Pará Gov. Helder Barbalho.
The decree follows the same procedures used for other major international events held in the country, including the G20 summit and the BRICS meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
