Indigenous leaders join COP30 as climate summit opens
As COP30 opens for the more than 190 participating countries, it is unclear exactly what they will discuss at the two-week UN summit in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem.
It is also unclear how they will address thorny issues, such as the commitment to phase out polluting energy sources by 2023 and the demand for financing to make this happen.
But the biggest question mark was whether the countries would aim to negotiate a final agreement; It was a harsh sell-off in a year of fragile global politics and U.S. efforts to stem the transition away from fossil fuels.
Some, including Brazil, have suggested that countries focus on smaller efforts that do not need consensus, after years of COP summits in which big promises were left unfulfilled.
“My preference is that a COP decision will not be needed,” COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago said in an interview with Reuters and other media outlets.
“If countries have a very strong desire for the COP decision, we will definitely consider it and deal with it.”
Do Lago pointed out that China’s importance in the talks has increased as the United States has promised to withdraw from the Paris Agreement in January and the European Union has difficulty maintaining this desire amid concerns about energy security.
“Developing countries are taking part in a different role in this COP. China is coming with solutions for everyone,” said Lago, noting that China’s cheap green technologies are now leading the worldwide energy transition.
“You start complaining that China is moving GDP around the world,” he said. But “it’s great for this climate.”
The countries will be joined by Indigenous leaders, who arrived by boat on Sunday evening after traveling nearly 3,000 km from the Andes to the Brazilian coast. As climate change increases and industries such as mining, logging and oil drilling move deeper into the forests, they are demanding a greater say in how their territories are managed.
“We want to make sure that they don’t continue to promise and that they will start protecting, because it is us as Indigenous peoples who are suffering from these effects of climate change,” said Pablo Inuma Flores, a Peruvian indigenous leader who has complained about oil spills and illegal mining along the river.
Hours before the summit was due to begin, scientists at dozens of universities and scientific institutions from Japan to South Africa to Britain sounded the alarm about the world’s melting glaciers, ice sheets and other frozen areas.
“The cryosphere is destabilizing at an alarming rate,” the groups said in a letter sent to COP30 on Monday.
“Geopolitical tensions or short-term national interests should not overshadow COP30. Climate change is the defining security and stability issue of our age.”
The first order of business at COP30 will be to vote on the agenda. Do Lago said countries have been wrangling for months about what to include, a process he described as a healthy exchange of priorities.
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva hopes countries will consider creating a plan to divest from fossil fuels.
“How do we do this? Will there be consensus on how we do this? That’s one of the great mysteries of COP30,” Lago said.
Other possible topics on the agenda include deciding how countries will further reduce emissions because current plans to limit overheating fall short. As of Monday morning, 106 governments had submitted new climate plans.
More will present plans this week, including South Korea and India, people familiar with the talks said.
In a unique example this year, delegates are keen to tackle agricultural emissions; This issue is often sidelined given the difficulty of addressing farming and animal husbandry practices that are central to the food security and livelihoods of many countries.
