COP30: Will this be the year for real change?

On Monday, the COP30 climate summit officially opened in the Brazilian city of Belém at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest.

Brazilian organisers have insisted this will be the “COP of implementation” where measures needed to combat the climate crisis will take precedence over more promises and never-ending negotiations.

This year’s global summit marks a decade since the highly lauded Paris Agreement – the landmark agreement signed by almost 200 countries and designed to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

Its main goal was to limit future global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius above ‘pre-industrial’ levels. And while some progress has been made, ten years on from this legally binding agreement, emissions are still rising and UN secretary general António Guterres has acknowledged it is now “inevitable” that humanity will overshoot this 1.5 cap.

What exactly do world leaders hope to achieve over the coming fortnight?

How will the absence of a US-led delegation impact plans for cutting global emissions? And in a world deeply distracted by war, defence and ideological divisions, can China and the EU take the lead in pushing climate measures back up the list of international priorities?

Irish Times Climate and Science correspondent Caroline O’Doherty joins the podcast from Belém to discuss whether this year’s climate negotiations will move beyond plans and into concrete action.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. 

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