 |
Dear readers,
Welcome to the Climate Weekly Digest by the Centre for Science and Environment’s Climate Change programme and Down to Earth.
COP30 concluded on November 22, 2025, in Belem, Brazil, with a small win on the just transition agenda, watered-down finance decisions and eroding trust in the Paris process. CSE’s Climate Change programme and Down to Earth summarise the two-week summit, highlighting how the conference provided ambitious dialogue and roadmaps but delivered little of substance. COP30 saw the adoption of the Belem Political Package, which includes decisions on a new mechanism for international cooperation on just transition, language on tripling adaptation finance by 2035 and a new work programme to scrutinise finance flows under Article 9 of the Paris Agreement.
A rare win for developing countries and civil society at COP30 was the adoption of the Just Transition Mechanism which is intended to strengthen cooperation and capacity-building for just transition pathways. However, the mechanism contains unclear timelines and undefined functions, besides falling short of providing guaranteed finance for implementation.
On adaptation, Parties finally adopted a list of indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). Yet, the decision was overshadowed by concerns as developing Parties flagged the Means of Implementation indicators as being weak. Moreover, the commitment to triple adaptation finance was diluted with the timeline being pushed to 2035 (instead of 2030 as demanded by developing Parties) and a lack of clarity on contributors or baselines.
Finance remained a contentious issue throughout the summit. At Belem, developing countries were determined to secure a dedicated agenda item on Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement (which mandates provision of finance from developed to developing Parties) to demand scrutiny of public finance flows from developed nations. Instead, Parties adopted a two-year work programme on Article 9 as a whole, which has further been delinked from the implementation of the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance agreed at COP29. Trade came into focus as well, with developing countries securing a set of formal dialogues over the next three years to discuss issues related to trade (particularly unilateral trade measures) and climate action.
Lastly, CSE’s Climate Change programme and Down to Earth conducted a post-COP30 debrief webinar on November 26 to unpack the proceedings in Belem. The online briefing decodes the politics and final outcomes across the major negotiation tracks that shaped this year’s climate summit.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
By - Upamanyu Das
Climate Change, CSE
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
Asia’s megacities face deadly heatwave risk: UN Report, 26 November 2025
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
CLIMATE NEWS | SCIENCE| IMPACTS| POLITICS |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Carbon Politics: A Video Podcast by CSE |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
