After years of patchy progress, the upcoming U.N. conference offers an opportunity for the region to take significant strides toward its climate goals.
As the world looks toward COP30, which opens next week in Belém, Brazil, Southeast Asia is reeling from intensifying climate impacts – from typhoons like Yagi to extreme heatwaves – that are hitting its most vulnerable communities.
COP30 will challenge Southeast Asian nations to confront the sobering reality that without adequate action on climate change, the 1.5°C global warming threshold is slipping away. Its breach could transform the region’s societies, economies, and ecosystems – the very foundations of its biodiversity and economic vitality.
Positioned as the COP that can connect climate to its impacts on people’s daily lives, decisions made in Belém will determine not only emissions reduction pathways but also the futures of farmers, fishers, and the urban poor across Southeast Asia.
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