What happened at COP30?

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Joseph Lewis

What happened at COP30?

COP30 was held in Belém, Brazil in November 2025, resulting in the ‘Global Mutirão: Uniting humanity in a global mobilization against climate change’.

The text was agreed by international delegates, focusing on the need for implementation. Crucially, it failed to include plans to phase out fossil fuels, not acknowledging the key role they play in causing climate change.

This has been seen as a step backwards, as the goal of increasing implementation will be meaningless without addressing the carbon emissions from global energy systems.

Ultimately, despite the weakness of the final declaration, COP30 still achieved an important task: it maintained a consensus on action amongst the countries who attended and sets the scene for ongoing action over the next year.

For many recent climate COPs, the more important developments have emerged around formal negotiations. The same is true for COP30, where several other developments took place:

Progress on finance, including the Belém Package finance workplan; a commitment to triple adaptation finance by 2035; a new report setting out a pathway to mobilising $1.3 trillion USD of climate investments in developing countries per year by 2035; a call for action under the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage; Principles for Taxonomy Interoperability; and a Declaration on the Economic Cost of Climate Inaction.
Controversial action on adaptation, including indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation to support delivery, finance projects, and ensure accountability for commitments. Concerns were raised that the indicators did not fully align with climate science. Other activities included a new framework for nature finance; a Joint Statement on Water and Climate Action; and the Fostering Investible National Planning and Implementation initiative.
Questions about the future of climate action: Given the challenges faced by recent climate COPs, the future of negotiations has been an inevitable topic of discussion. The protests during COP30 and broadly critical commentary following its outcome have made clear that a new approach is needed. Discussions were framed around the idea of Global Mutirão, a collective approach to mobilising for climate action. Key delivery plans are still missing, especially the fossil fuel transition roadmap that many experts called for at COP30. Despite this, some progress was made on a new just transition mechanism; Brazil’s Multilevel Governance Solutions Acceleration Plan; the proposal for a Global Climate Council; and an agreement to include trade in future climate talks.

Read our briefing on COP30 for all the latest developments.

What are our key messages for climate action?

Before COP30, the IES held four discussion events with environmental scientists and other experts, identifying the most pressing priorities for COP30 and climate action.

Catch up with the recordings from each of the discussions.

Nearly 400 professionals signed up to attend the events, representing voices from industry, research, government, NGOs, and the wider sector.

The outcome of those discussions was a position piece, ‘Delivering change in a complex world’, which sets out 10 key messages for COP30.

Fight for a better future, not just to survive

Change is coming whether we want it or not, yet we can still choose the future we want. If we understand natural and social systems, we can transform them to forge the future people choose.

Facing complexity now makes the future simpler

Global problems are shaped globally — by people, economics, and the natural world. It’s complicated, but we can understand it. Science and modelling can help us understand systems. AI and digital twins can explore the benefits of different futures to find the one we want. Green finance can get money flowing to reshape the system.

Focus on better services to create more value

Our resources are limited, but we can get more value from them with a more efficient economy. By showing the value that services can create, we can make people less reliant on buying products that use up resources.

Do it the right way, don’t do it twice

One coordinated approach to climate, nature, and adaptation lets us realise a clear vision more effectively. If we don’t make these changes together, we will need to make many small, messy transitions, with much higher costs.

Doing more costs less

Climate action costs much less than inaction. The cost of climate change to the UK is estimated to exceed 1% of GDP by 2045.

Work together, share successes

If we don’t reduce emissions, everyone fails. If we succeed, we share in the benefits. Success depends on partnership, because we need to coordinate to change the systems that are driving climate change.

Make it fair, make it just

Everyone will be affected by climate change, but not everyone will be affected equally. People should be part of deciding how the transition affects them. Each community should be a partner in developing local plans for a ‘just transition’.

Plans need to add up, to deliver our ambitions

As well as a common vision, we need clear and coherent ways to deliver. To move private finance, investors need to know what they should put money towards, so policy needs to provide clear goals that add up to the change we need.

Embrace an era of local climate leadership

The historic approach to climate action, led from the international level downwards, has not been enough to meet our goals. We should do more to empower communities to take effective action that benefits people locally.

Don’t stop until it’s done

Despite rhetoric, what we are doing is not lined up with our goals. The next stage is action, which must take place all year round, beyond COPs and across government, business, NGOs, and communities. The time to act is now.

Learn more about our key messages from COP30 in our position piece: ‘Delivering change in a complex world’.

How is the IES supporting climate action?

Our interdisciplinary Climate Action Community (CAC) champions transformative approaches to reshaping unsustainable systems. We recognise that climate change cannot be addressed in isolation but requires solutions that address the interlinked challenges of biodiversity loss and pollution.

The Community holds regular events, discussions, and biannual community meetings covering adaptation, mitigation and resilience. It also engages with key organisations and initiatives across the sector, including UNFCCC, ISO and the Professional Bodies Climate Action Network.

Get involved: if you want to support the work of the IES to stand up for science and nature, become an affiliate, or if you’re an environmental professional, join the IES.

Find out more about the IES Climate Action Community and how you can join the IES
Read our briefing on COP30 and climate change
Take the next step towards delivering change in a complex world and how you can support our key messages
Catch up on our ROAD to COP30 roundtable discussion series

If you want to find out more about environmental policy or the training we offer for members, please contact Joseph Lewis, Head of Policy (joseph@the-ies.org).