Focus on Arts and Ecology

November 17, 2025

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Halfway through the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30) in Belém, Brazil, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) hosted a webinar updating participants on the state of the talks. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) team reviewed negotiating items that progressed in the first week, where the greatest obstacles have arisen – and why, and what we can expect from week two of COP 30.

Summarizing week one of the talks, ENB team leader for COP 30 Jennifer Bansard highlighted swift agreement to launch substantive negotiations. Ahead of the Conference, individual parties and country groups had proposed items for inclusion on the agenda, she explained, and there were initial concerns that these would hold up the start of the negotiations. While these items were not included in the adopted agendas, she said the Presidency has been holding consultations on:

• Implementation of Paris Agreement Article 9.1 (developed countries’ finance provision obligation);
• Trade-restrictive unilateral measures;
• Responding to the synthesis report on nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and addressing the 1.5°C ambition and implementation gap; and
• Synthesis of biennial transparency reports (BTRs).

These consultations, which Bansard reported have been conducted in a transparent manner that is open to non-party observers, will continue during the second week of the talks, with ministers engaging on the more contentious aspects of these issues.

Bansard said the climate negotiations agenda, which has “ballooned” in recent years, reflects the increasing understanding that climate change touches all aspects of society and that climate responses should be similar in scope. However, she cautioned that the addition of new issues means that delegations “are stretched thin.”

Bansard outlined the status of several items, including:

• Indicators to track progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), where negotiations “took an unexpected turn” as contention around indicators related to means of implementation spilled over to other indicators, with developing countries leaning towards continuing work, including on guidelines to help with implementation;
• Technology, including reports by constituted bodies, linkages with the financial mechanism, and an implementation programme, which is a basket of issues increasingly important for the Group of 77 and China (G77/China);
• Gender, where discussions reflect evolution from a Secretariat-led process to one marked by country ownership;
• Finance, noting that a key ask is for developed countries to step up finance and calls for tripling of adaptation finance, which “has no home” under any of the negotiating tracks;
• Just transition, including in major economies, with Indigenous Peoples voicing concerns about impacts of mining for critical minerals on Indigenous lands;
• Enhanced cooperation with international organizations, where, in the context of UN budget cuts and UN reform, parties are calling for more substantive engagement, including on enhanced cooperation with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD); and
• Tensions around the work programme on mitigation and around how the outcomes of the Global Stocktake (GST) could inform the preparation of NDCs, with broad agreement that NDCs “are not up to the task” and continued divergence on how to address this.

She highlighted tensions “across the board” around top-down approaches versus the Paris Agreement’s bottom-up approach.

Bansard reported that the Subsidiary Bodies closed on Saturday, having adopted some decisions and forwarded some to the governing bodies. She flagged that positions on many issues are far apart and political guidance is needed on the GST, GGA, finance, just transition, mitigation, technology, and gender. She said the Presidency is planning to hold a mutirão (a Brazilian term for coming together to work on a shared task and support one another) early during week two. She also said a few discussions were held on increasing the efficiency of the climate process, noting parties’ desire to keep the process party driven.

Bansard noted there was agreement in the African region to nominate Ethiopia as the host of COP 32 in 2027. Australia and Türkiye have both maintained their bids to host COP 31 in 2026, so no decision has been reached for next year’s host for the COP.

On logistics and infrastructure, Bansard said “things have mostly been working,” even though many delegations sent “way fewer” people they normally would. She said disruptions by non-accredited intruders reported in the media were exaggerated.

Responding to questions from the audience, Bansard reflected on, inter alia:

• The possibility of a cover decision and what it might capture, including issues relating to deforestation and the Presidency’s roadmap to USD 1.3 trillion;
• Follow-up to the provision on transitioning away from fossil fuels in the GST decision from COP 28, noting resistance from countries with economies that are heavily reliant on oil and gas;
• The reluctance to reference the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the source of best available science, noting legitimate concerns over inclusivity in the IPCC process that are also used by some as a negotiating strategy;
• General references in the talks to the advisory opinions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; and
• The relationship between the negotiations and COP Presidencies’ initiatives, noting that often there is no follow-up to such declarations.

She said the best way to influence a country’s negotiating position is by voting and advocacy at home as well as by responding to calls for submissions from non-party stakeholders.  

The COP 30 Halfway Point Webinar took place on Sunday, 16 November. The 2025 UN Climate Change Conference is scheduled to conclude on Friday, 21 November. [ENB Coverage of COP 30] [SDG Knowledge Hub Sources]

(Sources: International Institute for Sustainable Development)