How to Make Sense of COP30 in Brazil (in 2 minutes)
By Yusra Suedi (PhD, Assistant Professor of International Law at University of Manchester)
Hey SAILers!
COP30 will take place from Monday, 10 November to Friday, 21 November.
What does “COP” mean?
COP stands for Conference of the Parties. The “Parties” are the 193 countries and the European Union (194 in total) that signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 — the first global climate agreement.
What does the UNFCCC do?
The UNFCCC aims to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and tackle climate change. It created the COP meetings so countries can meet every year to review progress and plan future action.
Who attends COPs?
COPs attract wide attention: World leaders, government negotiators, public figures like Prince William, scientists, Indigenous leaders, youth activists, journalists and even lobbyists (!) are there. Trump just announced that a U.S. delegation won’t be there, though.
What is the Paris Agreement?
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, builds on the UNFCCC. It sets out a clearer and more specific plan than the UNFCCC for how each country should work to reduce its emissions. (The U.S. announced plans to withdraw from it earlier this year.) So, at COP meetings, countries focus on turning the Paris Agreement’s goals into real action.
What comes out of COP meetings?
Once or twice, the outcomes of COPs have been major international agreements, like the Paris Agreement at COP21 (2015). But more often, COPs produce decisions that steer everyone in the right direction. E.g., a COP27 (2022) decision created a fund to help countries hit hardest by climate disasters, and a COP28 (2023) decision was the first to name fossil fuels as the main cause of the climate crisis.
What will they discuss at COP30?
Key hot topics include:
How can we raise $1.3 trillion from public and private sources to help developing countries?
How can we help every country become stronger and adapt to climate change?
How can we move away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy?
Why does COP30 matter?
It’s the 30th COP and the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
UNFCCC officials say we’re off track to keep the earth’s temperature under 1.5°C by 2030.
Recent decisions by international courts worldwide (here, here and here) are increasing pressure on countries to increase their efforts — and will likely shape debates at COP30.
Let’s see what happens! I’ll probably write another blog post to discuss the outcomes.