COP30 presidency puts NDCs, fossil fuels, deforestation at centre of pre-summit talks

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) The Brazilian presidency of COP30 has said that current climate pledges are far from adequate and announced fresh consultations with countries on fossil fuels, finance and deforestation in the lead-up to the UN climate summit in Belem this November.

In its sixth letter to governments and stakeholders, COP30 president-designate Andre Correa do Lago said nearly 80 per cent of countries are yet to submit new climate targets, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), for 2035, despite a UN deadline for their inclusion in a synthesis report in October.

"If the image shown by our integrated NDCs turns out disappointing, it is our collective responsibility to convert it into a picture that will ensure a livable planet, protect all economies and improve living standards and life opportunities for all peoples, for all generations," Correa do Lago said.

NDCs form the core of the Paris Agreement, which requires countries to submit and update their climate action plans every five years, with increasing ambition over time.

Current targets, valid until 2030, are projected to push global temperature rise to about 2.7 degrees Celsius, well beyond the agreed 1.5-degree ceiling, according to the UN Environment Programme's Emissions Gap Report 2021.

Scientists say global emissions must fall 43 per cent by 2030 and nearly 60 per cent by 2035 if warming is to be kept within safe limits.

The adequacy of the new NDCs will be a defining measure of Belem's success or failure.

The COP President said that consultations with countries at the mid-year UN talks in Bonn, Germany, in June revealed "outstanding divergences" among governments on how to respond politically to the insufficiency of NDCs.

Correa do Lago said about four-fifths of countries under the Paris Agreement have not yet submitted their new 2035 climate plans (NDCs). These plans must reach the UNFCCC in time to be included in the official synthesis report.

The presidency letter also put the spotlight on fossil fuels, which remain the main cause of global warming. At COP28 in Dubai, countries agreed to a "transition away from fossil fuels", but without setting a timeline or mechanism, leaving the decision open to interpretation.

"We heard expectations from some parties regarding... accelerating the global energy transition, including on tripling renewable energy capacity globally, doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements, and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner," Correa do Lago said.

Brazil also took note of calls to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030, an issue not formally on the COP30 agenda but central to the credibility of climate action.

The Amazon, where Belem is located, is the world's largest tropical rainforest and a crucial carbon sink.

The COP30 President also addressed frustrations among developing nations over climate finance. Many developing countries say they cannot enhance ambition without predictable support.

At COP29 in Baku last year, governments agreed on a new collective quantified goal on finance, replacing the older USD 100 billion a year target, but left crucial questions on scale and delivery unresolved.

"Many parties raised concerns about their ability to engage in ambitious climate actions when there are frustrations related to climate finance and to measures that impact international trade," Correa do Lago wrote.

The Brazilian presidency said it will immediately launch "COP30 Presidency Consultations", a mix of online and in-person sessions, to tackle issues not formally listed on the agenda but crucial to credibility, including the adequacy of NDCs, the fossil fuel phase-down and halting deforestation by 2030.

The first consultation will take place on September 25 in New York, followed by another in Brasilia on October 15. At COP30, consultations will resume from November 10.

To support these efforts, Correa do Lago will appoint five pairs of ministers, each from a developed and a developing country, to facilitate talks on mitigation, adaptation, means of implementation (finance), just transition and the Global Stocktake.

Such consultations, it said, have proven effective in addressing politically sensitive issues outside the formal negotiating track.

COP30, to be held from November 10-21, will be the first UN climate summit hosted in the Amazon and comes exactly a decade after the Paris Agreement was signed.

Brazil last hosted a landmark climate event in 1992, when the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro produced the UN climate convention.

With the world experiencing record-breaking heat, floods and wildfires and geopolitical tensions complicating cooperation, Belem is being seen as a crucial test for multilateral climate diplomacy. PTI GVS GVS NSD NSD