Executive Secretary the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Simon Stiell, left, talks to he president of COP30, André Correa do Lago, in Belem, Brazil, on November 10, 2025. MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP
Will the Brazilians find their way through the complexities of the 30th Conference of the Parties on Climate (COP30)? This gathering is sometimes more intricate than the Amazon River itself. On Monday, November 10, the United Nations (UN) climate summit officially opened with warnings about the state of a planet where "it is now almost inevitable that 1.5°C of global warming will be exceeded in the near term," according to Jim Skea, president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The solution? To stop "lamenting," said UN Climate chief Simon Stiell, and to act to "deliver another defeat to the deniers," in the words of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
From the start, a fierce battle was underway behind the scenes over the direction of COP30. On Sunday evening, the Brazilian COP presidency listened to the wishes of all parties at length. Representatives from island nations and the most vulnerable states demanded that COP30 focus on raising the bar for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, particularly by strengthening state commitments.
