COP30 is taking place in November 2025 and will be a crucial summit, setting the tone of climate action for the coming years.

The call to move from ambition to delivery has never been stronger; yet outside forces are also placing ever greater pressure on the consensus for climate action.

The world stands on a tipping point between two futures: one where we deliver on the strong public mandate for climate action, or one where ambitions decline, setting us on track for 3+ degrees of warming.

While UN summits like COP30 have faced rising scrutiny for their failure to make change a reality, they have a pivotal role in setting the agenda. COP30 needs to reinforce the consensus and defend the pathway to a more sustainable world.

Ramping up efforts is more urgent every year. Earth has begun to fall past the ‘tipping points’, like increasingly acidic oceans, which may not be possible to return from.

Crossing 1.5 degrees of warming is an especially concerning threshold. Even if we only cross it temporarily, it will still increase the frequency and intensity of extreme events like flooding, heatwaves, storms, and droughts. COP30 is in Belém, Brazil, where the Amazon rainforest is on the front lines of many of these tipping points.

The wipeout of warm-water reefs is another sign that change has already arrived. If we want to control what the future looks like, we need to be ready to do more.

In the face of these risks, environmental science is an essential partner in the global dialogue on climate change.

To make the most of the short time we have to act, our messages need to be clear, actionable, and bring the world forwards, together.

Learn more in our briefing on COP30.