In the assessment of the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), held in Belém, northern Brazil, the consensus on 29 items of the climate agenda was celebrated among the 195 parties that participated in the negotiations. The final document, expected at the end of each COP, does not include other agreements that fall outside official decisions but are nonetheless reached in the multilateral setting, such as the Action Agenda.

According to Bruna Cerqueira, general coordinator of the COP30 Presidency’s Action Agenda, producing a document at the end of COP30 with 120 plans to accelerate climate initiatives - and with 190 countries acting on at least one of them - was an unprecedented global achievement.

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For the first time, initiatives that support the implementation of COP decisions - developed by actors such as the private sector and subnational governments - were organized into a kind of global repository of good ideas. According to Bruna Cerqueira, the intention was to bring together voluntary actions to speed up the implementation of what has already been agreed.

“We created six axes for the Action Agenda, focused on energy, industry, and transport; on forests, biodiversity, and oceans; on food systems and agriculture; on cities, infrastructure, and water; on human and social development; and a final cross-cutting one on financing, technology, and capacity building,” Cerqueira explained.

Results

In practice, the results could already be seen throughout the activities held in Belém. One example was the global initiative for land protection, a plan to accelerate the Forests and Land Tenure (Pledge) commitment, which had already existed beforehand.

According to the member of the COP30 Presidency, a more results-oriented approach and the effort to connect negotiations to people’s lives led to greater country participation in the plan and renewed funding for the initiative.

“USD 1.7 billion was advanced, and now they have set a further target of USD 1.5 to USD 2 billion in new resources. This new phase was also accompanied by a commitment from some countries to improve their land management. Brazil, in fact, announced the demarcation of some lands during the COP as part of this commitment as well,” Cerqueira stated.

Levers

After being classified under the six axes, the initiatives received assessments based on twelve implementation levers, considering perspectives that range from the regulation of initiatives in the territories to demand, supply, and public acceptance.

“We made a diagnosis of what is going well and what needs to be prioritized, and the plans are actions to address these levers, so that we can remove the obstacles and move forward more quickly,” the general coordinator added.

As a guide for this work, the COP30 presidency used the Global Stocktake (GST), a transparency mechanism of the Paris Agreement that assesses progress on long-term greenhouse gas emission targets. Conducted every five years, the first GST was delivered during COP28, held in 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Connection

Based on the classification and diagnosis aligned with the GST results, the Action Agenda achieved an outcome that links formal negotiations to people’s daily lives, the coordinator assesses. “If we want to transform economies and bring everyone into the structure of these six axes, every economic actor and every member of society has to understand. Hardly anyone will know paragraph X of the GST, but if you talk about energy, industry, and transport, everyone understands,” she emphasized.

With 120 plans already developed, many of them underway, Bruna Cerqueira believes that the next steps will be to ensure that the Action Agenda is strengthened at future COPs. “The next presidency has already indicated, in the agreement between Turkey and Australia, that they appreciated the structure and intend to build on it. The challenge now is to consolidate this legacy and work with them to keep everyone at the table and accelerate implementation,” Cerqueira noted.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a warning this Sunday (Nov. 23) about the need to discuss countries’ sovereignty over the knowledge and added value of critical minerals. Lula spoke during the final thematic session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit – a gathering of the world’s largest economies in Johannesburg, South Africa.

On the agenda were critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and decent work - topics that were also discussed at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which concluded this weekend in Belém, northern Brazil.

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“The way we integrate these three vectors of development will define not only our present but also the future of the next generations,” said the Brazilian president.

Critical minerals are essential resources for strategic sectors such as technology, defense, and the energy transition, with their supply subject to risks of scarcity or dependence on a limited number of suppliers.

These minerals include lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements, which are fundamental for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and semiconductors.

This G20 Summit, under the South African presidency, will issue a document on critical minerals that emphasizes processing these resources in their countries of origin and outlines the principles to be observed in their extraction and processing.

For Lula, the energy transition offers opportunities to expand technological frontiers and redefine the role of natural resource exploitation.

“Countries with a large concentration of mineral reserves cannot be seen as mere suppliers while remaining on the sidelines of technological innovation. What is at stake is not only who holds these resources, but who controls the knowledge and added value derived from them,” the president told the leaders.

“Talking about critical minerals is also talking about sovereignty. Sovereignty is not measured by the quantity of natural deposits, but by the ability to transform resources through policies that benefit the population. We need environmentally and socially responsible investments that help strengthen the industrial and technological base of countries that possess these resources,” said Lula.

Brazil, for example, holds about 10 percent of the world’s reserves of these elements, according to the Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram), an organization representing the private sector.

In the country, research indicates that the pursuit of minerals needed for energy transition projects is already causing conflicts in new exploratory areas. Another study shows that this pursuit accelerates the climate crisis.

Lula recalled that Brazil created the National Council for Critical and Strategic Minerals to plan mineral exploration policies and stated that the country will not only be an exporter but also a partner in the global value chain for these elements.

AI and decent work

Similarly, the president argued that artificial intelligence (AI) represents a “unique opportunity” to promote equitable development for nations. He advocates establishing global and representative governance on the subject to ensure its benefits are shared.

“[AI] promotes innovation, increases productivity, encourages sustainable practices, and can improve people’s lives in a concrete way. The great challenge is not only to master the tool, but also to ensure that everyone can use it safely, securely, and reliably,” he said.

“When a few control the algorithms, the data, and the infrastructures linked to economic processes, innovation begins to generate exclusion. It is essential to prevent a new form of colonialism: the digital kind. It is urgent that the world’s largest economies deepen the debate on AI governance, with the United Nations at the center of this discussion,” the president added.

Lula also recalled that 2.6 billion people lack access to the digital world. According to him, 93 percent of the population in high-income countries has Internet access, compared with only 27 percent in low-income countries.

Finally, the president argued that technological development should be linked to job opportunities and worker protection, noting that 40 percent of the world’s workforce is in roles highly exposed to AI, at risk of automation or technological augmentation.

“Every solar panel, every chip, every line of code must carry the mark of social inclusion,” he noted. “We must build bridges between traditional and emerging sectors. Technology must strengthen - not weaken - human and labor rights,” Lula told the G20 leaders.

Agenda

The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation, created in 1999 following the Asian financial crisis. In 2008, it also became a political body, with summits of heads of state and government.

In 2025, South Africa will chair the G20 under the motto “Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability,” focusing on four priorities: strengthening resilience and disaster response capacity; ensuring the sustainability of public debt in low-income countries; financing a just energy transition; and promoting critical minerals as drivers of development and economic growth.

The South African presidency concludes a cycle in which every member country will have held the group’s leadership at least once.

On the sidelines of the summit this Sunday, Lula also met with the leaders of the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA). The trilateral initiative was launched in 2003 to promote cooperation among countries of the Global South.

Lula landed in Johannesburg on Friday (21) and spoke on Saturday (22) at the first two thematic sessions of the G20, covering sustainable and inclusive economic growth as well as climate change and disaster risk reduction.

He also held bilateral meetings with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Later today, the president will travel to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, for a working visit on Monday (24). The trip is part of the celebrations marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Lula is expected to return to Brazil later the same day.

The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) ended on Saturday (Nov. 22), with the Brazilian presidency highlighting advances in the adaptation agenda, new international climate-implementation tools, and pathways for debating how to end dependence on fossil fuels.

In a press conference after the end of negotiations, COP30 President Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment Ana Toni, Chief Negotiator Liliam Chagas, and Minister of the Environment Marina Silva detailed the results.

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Corrêa do Lago recalled that the conference began under strong negotiating pressure and with expanded autonomy for the co-directors. He noted that the adaptation package, one of the most complex at the COP, started with more than 100 indicators and was finalized with 59.

“There was consensus on only 10 percent of these indicators. We reorganized the metrics and will continue discussions in June in Bonn (at the Climate Conference in Germany),” said the ambassador.

In the energy debate, Corrêa do Lago said there were “two ways to move forward” in developing the roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, a sensitive issue since Dubai.

“As a diplomat, I saw a more conservative version. But President Lula’s speech put the issue at the center and opened space to make it a structuring agenda,” he said.

According to him, even without consensus, the Brazilian presidency will continue to debate the issue and gather research and actions capable of indicating a pathway for countries to move away from fossil fuels.

Consensus

Executive Secretary Ana Toni emphasized that COP30 achieved “consensus on such a difficult issue” and moved forward with a concrete implementation agenda, without any country giving up on the agenda involving the Paris Agreement.

The economist highlighted the presentation of 120 acceleration plans in commercial fuels, carbon, and green industry, in addition to the 29 documents approved.

“Small and large steps have been taken in difficult geopolitical times. We did not take all the steps we wanted, but we took firm steps,” Toni stated.

She noted that one of the main legacies was taking adaptation “to another level, above any other COP,” including the effort to triple international financing by 2035.

Toni also highlighted the unprecedented inclusion of women and girls of African descent in the climate agenda and the strengthening of the ocean agenda.

Trade

Chief negotiator Lilian Chagas believes that vulnerable countries have managed to join forces. According to her, the set of indicators approved will serve as a compass to measure progress and guide policies. “This will mark how each country has advanced and how to proceed,” Chagas added.

She also announced the strengthening of the Global Climate Action Accelerator, which will serve as a permanent space to promote concrete measures outside the formal negotiation track.

Another advance was the creation of an international forum to address the link between trade and climate. “It is a space to explore how trade can generate climate action, a topic of great interest to Brazil,” Chagas noted.

Liliam Chagas also highlighted important policy innovations, including the recognition of Afro-descendant groups as vulnerable, the strengthened role of indigenous lands as protectors of carbon sinks, and the inclusion of representatives from local communities in the process, the result of efforts carried out outside the official track.

Fossil fuels

Commenting on the process, Minister of the Environment Marina Silva noted that President Lula’s public stance strengthened the mitigation agenda and made it possible to integrate it with adaptation.

“We cannot adapt indefinitely, but it is impossible to think only about mitigation without considering the needs of vulnerable people who require financial resources, technological resources, and, above all, solidarity to be able to cope with the great hardships and suffering they are already experiencing,” Silva pointed out.

The minister noted that wealthy countries already have their own paths for phasing out fossil fuels, while poor, developing, or oil-dependent countries do not. She therefore stressed the importance of creating conditions for “these countries to build their foundations after more than 30 years of waiting for answers on how to break their dependence on fossil fuels.”

She also noted that the work includes the transition toward ending deforestation: “Only Brazil has this goal and its roadmap, but we want everyone to have the foundations to make these efforts.”

Silva also highlighted the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), a financial mechanism that moves beyond a donation-based model and creates ways for public resources invested in protecting forests and biodiversity to leverage private investment.

Legacy

When asked by journalists about the legacy of COP30, Silva said the conference broadened public understanding of climate change. She also highlighted contributions to the debate drawn from the knowledge and experience of Amazonian populations, who face isolation, logistical challenges, and limited access to food, water, and medicine.

“The Amazon not only receives a legacy, but offers a legacy,” the minister emphasized.

“We offered the best we had, and the best we had were our landscapes, our acoustic, visual, and pictorial beauties. The Amazon is an explosion of life and beauty that becomes a distraction whenever we look elsewhere,” said Silva.