COP30 Glossary: What You Need to Know About This Year’s UN Climate Summit in Brazil

Roughly 60,000 delegates from nearly all countries in the world are gathering in the Brazilian city of Belém for the 30th UN Conference of the Parties (COP30). Here is a breakdown of the key terms and topics from the next two weeks – from Article 6 and NDCs to the New Collective Quantified Goal.

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UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a multilateral treaty aiming to prevent “dangerous” human interference with the climate system. It was established in 1992, building upon the release in 1990 of the first Scientific Assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change. The report provided a comprehensive evaluation of the scientific understanding of climate change at that time.

While the UNFCCC does not set concrete targets, it provides a framework for future agreements and policies. Its primary objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous interference with the climate systems. Such levels, it says, “should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.”

A fundamental principle of the UNFCCC is the recognition of “common but differentiated responsibility”. The principle acknowledges that, while all countries share responsibility in addressing climate change, industrialized countries are historically major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and therefore bear greater burden in combating this global issue.

The convention also pushes for the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries for action on climate change. 

What Is COP?

Central to the UNFCCC is the annual Conferences of Parties (COP), the decision-making body of the convention. Its purpose is reviewing and advancing the implementation of the Convention. Countries who have joined the UNFCCC (197 states and the European Union) meet to measure progress and negotiate multilateral responses to climate change.

COPs brings together not only the government but also the private sector and thousands of representatives from the civil society, including non-governmental organizations, as well as green and polluting industries to tackle the climate crisis. They have created global milestones for the climate movement, setting standards and advancing action.

More on this topic: Navigating COP: A Deep Dive into the UN Climate Conference Process

COP Presidency

The COP presidency is held by the host country of the annual COP. The host country is responsible for hosting the event, which includes setting the agenda, leading negotiations, and guiding discussions on international climate policy.

The position rotates annually between the five UN regional groups: Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe.

This year, COP30 takes place in Belém, Brazil. Its chief negotiator is veteran climate diplomat André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, who is currently serving as Vice-Minister for Climate, Energy and Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The COP30 Executive Director is Ana Toni, Brazil’s National Secretary for Climate Change at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

Paris Agreement

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, a significant milestone for global climate action.

At the 2015 COP21 in Paris, world leaders agreed to accelerate and intensify the actions needed for a sustainable future. The agreement sets out a framework for limiting global warming to below 1.5C or “well below 2C” above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. 

The 1.5C goal is now virtually dead, with World Meteorological Organization’s Secretary-General Celeste Saulo warning last week that is it now “virtually impossible” to limit global warming to 1.5C “without temporarily overshooting this target.”

However, the world has managed to avoid the worst-case scenario, with projected warming decreasing from 4C to 2.5-2.9C.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are national climate plans that each signatory to the agreement must submit to the UNFCCC. These plans detail mitigation and adaptation goals, forming the foundation of the world’s collective efforts to tackle climate change. They must be updated every five years, reflecting progressively higher ambition and taking into account each country’s capacity.

Dozens of countries missed a September deadline to submit their updated plans. Only 79 countries, representing 64% of global emissions, have so far submitted new NDCs outlining their climate action plans through 2035, according to Climate Watch’s tracker.

Last month, the UN published its latest Synthesis Report on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which looks at current climate commitments and progress toward the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

The report is based on 64 new NDCs submitted between January 2024 and September 2025. Collectively, they represent just one-third of global emissions, and put the world on track to slash emissions by 17% below 2019 levels by 2035. But scientists say that staying within a 1.5C warming limit will require a reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 43% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, peaking no later than 2025.

“[H]umanity is now clearly bending the emissions curve downwards for the first time, although still not nearly fast enough,” said Simon Stiell, UNFCCC’s Executive Secretary. “We have a serious need for more speed.”

Baku to Belém Roadmap/NCQG

At last year’s COP29, delegates reached a last-minute deal to establish a structure for the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), a key element of the 2015 Paris Agreement aimed at setting a new financial target to support developing countries in their climate actions post-2025. They settled on $300 billion per year by 2035, replacing the existing $100 target originally proposed at COP15 in 2009 but not met until 2022. 

The target infuriated Global South delegates, who called it a “joke” and “insultingly low.” They had been pushing for “trillions, not billions” throughout the summit, in line with reports that put the amount needed to deal with the consequences of climate change at some $1.3 trillion annually.

A coalition of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) secured language in the final text that established a process to boost climate finance towards the $1.3 trillion goal. That effort was part of the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T”, which was tasked with looking for additional resources to “support low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development pathways.”

More on the topic: Climate Finance at COP30: What to Expect

Last week, the UNFCCC issued the Report on the roadmap, which outlines five “action fronts” to help deliver on the $1.3 trillion aspiration. These incorporate regional considerations, with a deliberate focus on addressing the needs of the poor and particularly vulnerable, including SIDS and LDCs. It also sets out short-term deliverables.

However, the plan can only be considered a theoretical proposal without buy-in from the parties at COP30. The plan itself states: “The Roadmap should not be interpreted, in any way, as an attempt to prejudge the Party-driven process on the implementation of the NCQG decision.”

Article 6

At last year’s COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the presidency fast-tracked the adoption of a centralized carbon trading mechanism, which allows countries to buy credits for removing/avoiding planet-warming pollution around the world, for example by planting trees or protecting rainforests.

The move cleared the way for the long-awaited global carbon market set out in Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, which will be open to countries and companies to trade through under UN supervision, to become operational. But while this is viewed as tangible progress Article 6, which has been stuck on issues that have plagued it since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, there is still no clarity on the methodology to implement it.

At COP30, the focus will be on how countries are preparing to use the new Article 6 rules, including the necessary administrative steps to enable transactions.

The COP30 Presidency has also been promoting the integration of global carbon markets. Last week, Brazil announced a coalition aimed at improving collaboration on carbon market, bringing together countries to align practices and standards for monitoring, reporting and verification of markets. There are currently more than 40 carbon taxes and 35 emissions trading systems worldwide, according to Bloomberg.

Among the countries joining the coalition on Friday were the European Union, China, the UK, Canada, Chile, Armenia, Zambia, France, Mexico and Germany. Others may join later.

Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA)

At COP30, negotiators are expected to narrow down and finalize a list of indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) established in Article 7.1 of the Paris Agreement. It is a set of objectives and targets that aims to guide and measure the progress and effectiveness of climate adaptation at the global level.

The GGA is intended to serve as a unifying framework that can drive political action and finance for adaptation on the same scale as mitigation. However, defining and operationalizing it has been a complex and contentious process involving multiple challenges over defining its scope, indicators, and mechanisms – 10 years on from the Paris Agreement, there is still not an agreed way to measure progress towards this goal.  

While adaptation finance has increased in recent years, it still represents less than 10% of global climate investments. Most of these investments go to mitigation initiatives, such as efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are driving global warming. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates the cost of adaptation finance needed in developing countries at between $310 billion and $365 billion per year by 2035 – a figure 12-14 times greater than current international public funding levels.

At this rate, and as the impacts of climate change multiply, the commitment made by developing countries at COP26 in Glasgow to double international public adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025 will not be achieved, UNEP warns.

At COP30, LDCs are pushing to boost adaptation finance to about $120 billion a year by 2030.

A 2019 study by the Global Commission on Adaptation found that investing $1.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030 in five areas of adaptation (early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved dryland agriculture, mangrove protection, and water resources management) could generate $7.1 trillion in net benefits by 2030.

Featured image: UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth via Flickr.

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