COP30 in Belém unfolded against a turbulent geopolitical backdrop and at a moment when global climate signals have never been clearer: warming is accelerating, impacts are intensifying, and the window to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is closing fast. While negotiators assembled a sprawling ‘COP30 package’, the final outcome fell well short of the urgency reflected in science. Still, the conference delivered pockets of progress, clashes over process, and — crucially — signals of where the multilateral system may need to evolve to remain credible in an era of overshoot.
From the outset, COP30 marked by opacity, struggled with questions of procedure and transparency. Week one began smoothly, with the COP presidency proposing a ‘Mutirão’ process to advance pending items. Yet week two quickly turned contentious as key negotiations shifted into closed-door ‘shuttle diplomacy’, leaving Parties without access to evolving text and sidelining champions of ambition.
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