The 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30) began on Monday (10) in Belém, Pará, with speeches stressing the need to implement prior agreements. Despite logistical challenges like flooding and lines, leaders such as Minister Marina Silva called for a 'pororoca da implementação' for concrete actions. Over 110 countries submitted updated climate plans, but global emissions continue to rise.
COP30, hosted at Parque da Cidade in Belém, opened amid an unfavorable context, with CO² emissions hitting a record 57.7 gigatonnes in 2024, a 2.3% rise per a Pnuma report released on November 4. The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C, but UNFCCC analyses of 86 reviewed NDCs point to 2.8°C by 2100. By the afternoon of the first day, 111 countries had submitted their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), up from 64 in September, though major polluters like India, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are absent; the US withdrew in January under Donald Trump.
At the Brazilian pavilion, inaugurated around 18h, Marina Silva received an ovation and stated: 'Our commitment is to implement what has been decided. We have decided many things over these nearly 33 years, but unfortunately, we lack sufficient implementation.' She urged: 'Welcome! And may we now make the pororoca da implementação.' The minister praised the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), with $5.5 billion raised by November 7, and cited Paraná tornado victims as a sign of climate emergency.
COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago highlighted consensus challenges with 194 countries: 'Everything is difficult in a COP... It's wonderful to bring everyone to dive into this strange world that is a COP.' Indigenous Peoples Minister Sonia Guajajara celebrated 400 indigenous in the blue zone and the Aldeia COP as the 'heart of the COP.' COP30 CEO Ana Toni stated: 'This is the COP of implementation. The Loss and Damage Fund has started functioning, with a $250 million contribution.' However, the day featured flooding from heavy rain, lines at food areas, power and air-conditioning failures in pavilions, a controlled fire at Belém airport, and indigenous protests for inclusion.
The agenda covers adaptation indicators and financing, weakened by protectionism, but multilateralism is deemed essential to curb warming.
