Turn game around: COP30 president urges countries to move beyond talks, take action

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Countries should move beyond negotiations and put into practice what has been agreed, Andre Correa do Lago, the president of this year's UN climate conference, said on Monday.

In an official letter outlining the priorities of the UN climate talks (COP30), to be held in Belem, Brazil, in November, he urged countries to uphold multilateralism and make COP30 the moment "we turn the game around".

COP30 comes at a time when geopolitical issues such as wars, trade disputes, the US exiting the Paris Agreement, and developed countries' failure to deliver climate finance have weakened trust among nations and made climate action more difficult.

Correa do Lago said Brazil, as a football-loving nation, believed in "virada" -- turning the game around when defeat seems certain.

"Together, we can make COP30 the moment we turn the game around, when we put into practice our political achievements and our collective knowledge to change the course of the next decade," he said.

He added that COP30 would be the first conference to take place undeniably at the epicentre of the climate crisis, emphasising that 2024 was the warmest year on record globally and the first calendar year with an average global temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

"In view of climate urgency, we need a new era beyond negotiating talks: we must help put into practice what we have agreed," the COP30 president said.

He urged countries to align their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), or climate action plans, with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.

"Governments have the 'response ability' to pull the levers of climate action and ambition in their next NDCs... National leaders must honour their resolve to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius," he said.

Correa do Lago said the COP30 presidency looked forward to working with the COP29 presidency to guide the "Baku to Belem Roadmap to 1.3T", aimed at scaling up climate finance for developing countries from USD 300 billion to USD 1.3 trillion by 2035.

A report summarising this work will be released by COP30.

The COP30 president also said multilateral development banks and international financial institutions "should evolve into bigger, better, and more effective entities that structurally supported enhanced, ambitious climate action".

Key priorities for the conference include setting indicators for adaptation objectives, advancing the "Baku Adaptation Roadmap", and holding the Baku high-level dialogue on adaptation.

"If climate goals are to be achieved, both adaptation and mitigation financing will need to be increased manifold," according to the letter. PTI GVS GVS SZM SZM

Source: PTI