'Our last chance': Pressure on Cop30 to deliver after divisive Cop29

Civil groups look to Cop30 next year to bridge the multilateral divide

Belem, Brazil, will host Cop30 in November 2025. AP

Read more: Cop29 secured a done deal but it needs to be built on

All eyes are on Brazil, the host of Cop30, after developing nations deemed the finance plan agreed at Cop29 to pay for the ravages of climate change to be too little, too late. The climate summit, which will bring together tens of thousands of delegates, will be held from November 10 to 21 next year in the northern city of Belem.

Marina Silva, Brazil's Minister of Environment, said that Cop29 was the finance Cop but Cop30 would be the Cop of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – plans set out by governments to tackle climate change. Climate activists hope more can be achieved in Brazil than in Baku, Azerbaijan, over the past two weeks.

"To be held in Brazil, a major developing country with huge forest reserves, it’s even more apt to push the frontier even harder for global funding and carbon markets advancement," Prof Lawrence Loh, director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at NUS Business School, told The National.

Clare Shakya, global managing director for climate of The Nature Conservancy, a US global conservation organisation, said the Paris Agreement process is still alive, albeit barely, post-Cop29. "Hopefully the ambition evident in fresh NDCs from Brazil and others, coupled with President Lula's recent G20 summit comments, will inject fresh vigour into UN climate at Cop30," she said.

Brazil's Environment Minister says Cop30 will be the Cop of action plans. AP Photo

Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, went further, inviting participants to make next year the "turnaround Cop". "Cop30 will be our last chance to avoid an irreversible rupture in the climate system," he said.

Civil rights groups are looking to Cop30 to mend the chasm opened by events in Baku. Sergio Chaparro Hernandez, international co-ordinator of Dejusticia (Colombia), said the $300 billion deal at Cop29 falls far short of the ambition the world needs to show to confront the climate crisis.

"We needed those most responsible for the climate crisis to go beyond speeches and commit to resources at the level of trillions," he said. "But this did not happen, which shows the crisis of these multilateral spaces, and the need to give new impetus to climate co-operation at Cop30 and seek to align financial flows."

Claudio Angelo, head of international policy at Observatorio do Clima, said: “Brazil now is given one more daunting task for Cop30: to scale up finance and rebuild the trust among countries.”

Cop29's finance deal was agreed in the early hours of Sunday. AP

From Baku to Brazil

A hard-fought agreement was reached in Baku after developed nations increased their offer from $250 billion to $300 billion, bringing the negotiations at the Cop29 summit to a delayed conclusion.

The compromise agreement urges "all actors" to contribute to the $1.3 trillion annual funding target sought by developing countries. However, the $300 billion core commitment from wealthier nations is smaller and more vague than the specific amount that poorer and more vulnerable countries had pushed for during the two weeks of negotiations in Azerbaijan.

"Cop29’s conclusion may seem to be a mixed bag with the difficulty in aligning the expectations of financing level between developed and developing countries. Even with the apparent discord, Cop29’s outcomes are commendable," said Prof Loh.

Laura Sabogal, a senior policy adviser at E3G, said that the adoption of the New Collective Quantified Goal marks a "critical yet imperfect step forward". "At the same time, its glaring shortcomings cannot be ignored, it reflects a troubling lack of urgency and ambition in addressing the deep inequities at the heart of global climate finance."

Beyond the finance plan, on day one of the Cop29 conference, the presidency had signalled an early win on pushing forward progress on carbon markets after almost a decade of standstill. "This resolution is probably most significant as the world is now ready to implement net zero through proper country-level carbon trading procedures and crediting mechanisms," Prof Loh said.

Known as Article 6 of the 2015 Paris Agreement, carbon markets allow nations to transfer carbon credits earned through emission reductions to help meet their climate targets. For instance, initiatives such as preserving rainforests or other carbon sinks could receive funding from credits from those looking to offset emissions.

Cop29 – in pictures

Participants at the Cop29 venue in Baku, Azerbaijan. Reuters

Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, speaks in the Germany pavilion. Getty Images

Nuclear power activists demonstrate. AP

Activists hold a protest calling on developed nations to provide financing. Reuters

An activist holds up a sign. Reuters

Conference participants arrive on day four. Getty Images

Another protest. Reuters

From left, Jorge Perez, Rolando Escobar, Miguel Vasquez and Esteban Cama at a session on Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon. AP

President Sheikh Mohamed attends the World Leaders Climate Action Summit at Cop29, in Azerbaijan's capital Baku. UAE Presidential Court

Sheikh Mohamed greets Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey. WAM

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Cop29. Bloomberg

Ding Xuexiang, China's first Vice Premier, at Cop29. Bloomberg

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at a plenary session at Cop29. AP

Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, at Cop29. Bloomberg

World leaders pose for a group photo at the Cop29 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Baku, Azerbaijan. AP

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, stands next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters

Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, addresses Cop29. Bloomberg

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev speaks during the Cop29 opening ceremony. Reuters

Rafael Grossi, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at Cop29. Bloomberg

Activists demonstrate for climate justice and a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, on day one of Cop29. AP

Cop28 President Dr Sultan Al Jaber and Cop29 President Mukhtar Babayev at the official handover. AFP

Dr Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, delivers a speech during the opening of Cop29 in Baku. AFP

Mr Babayev speaks during the opening plenary session. AP

An installation depicting a beached whale by the Belgian art collective Captain Boomer on an embankment in Baku. EPA

The Turkey Solidarity Centre pavilion. Bloomberg

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, speaks during the opening ceremony. EPA

People begin arriving for the start of Cop29 in Baku. Bloomberg

Dr Al Jaber at Cop29 with Moroccan climate researcher Cherif El Khalil. AP

A mosaic adorns a wall at the Cop29 venue, Baku Stadium, in the capital of Azerbaijan. Bloomberg

A woman tries out a VR headset at the tourism booth as the Cop29 UN climate summit gets under way in Baku, Azerbaijan. AP