COP30 Dispatch

What Congress Needs to Know from Brazil

The first week of COP30 wraps up tomorrow, with delegates having a rest day on Sunday. Much remains to be resolved during week two, so stick with us as we keep the updates coming. And be sure to sign up for our Rapid Readout on November 25 to review the final outcomes.

So far, Brazil has worked hard to highlight its thriving democracy, which includes the right to peaceful protest. This morning, the Munduruku Indigenous Peoples from Brazil demonstrated in front of the COP venue. As a result, ministers from Brazil invited them to an adjacent city building to hear their concerns, a dialogue that continued throughout the day. In part due to Brazil’s initiative, about 3,000 Indigenous people are expected to be in Belém during COP30, with about one third having access to the Blue Zone, where negotiations take place.

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) continue to trickle in with the addition of Iraq’s updated plan. According to ClimateWatch, 114 updated NDCs have been submitted to the UNFCCC, representing 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Mauricio Lyrio, Brazil’s secretary for climate, energy and environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remarked that the status of NDC submissions is in a better place than he could have imagined back in February 2025, when only 21 countries met the initial deadline to submit updated climate plans.

Missed yesterday’s edition? Check it out here. We are also compiling key COP30 announcements throughout the conference—check back for updates.

You can find all EESI’s COP30 resources here. Getting lost in the COP lingo? Check out EESI's glossary of terms and other helpful guides in our Resources section! Looking for more information? Reach out to EESI Policy Director Anna McGinn at [email protected].

Key Takeaways for Congress

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is in Belém today and tomorrow, taking meetings and holding press conferences as the sole U.S. federal official at COP. (U.S. Updates)
What developing countries see as lackluster commitments and delivery on climate finance from developed countries is slowing down negotiations across the board. (Negotiations)
More than 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists were at COP this week, the largest ratio of lobbyists to other attendees in UNFCCC history. (Around the World)

Negotiations

Delegates review text during a negotiating session. | Credit: UN Climate Change - Kiara Worth via Flickr.

Baku (Non-)Buyers Remorse: Negotiators across multiple agenda items are resurfacing concerns with COP29’s final decision on finance—pointing to the “bitter harvest of Baku” coming back to haunt negotiations at COP30. According to ActionAid International’s Teresa Anderson, the lack of financial commitments from developed countries last year is “jamming up almost every negotiation track” today. For additional updates on the negotiations, see the Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s comprehensive daily reports and quick highlights posted every day.
- EESI Briefing: What’s on the Table for the Negotiations

In the Adaptation Room: The finance issue has brought adaptation negotiations to a standstill, with the Africa Group reluctant to agree to adaptation indicators before financial “means of implementation” indicators have been identified. Africa Group Representative Marlene Achoki denounced some of the indicators on the table as “too prescriptive” and unaligned with the needs of developing countries. These countries expressed concern that without finance, adaptation indicators will become an undue burden. On the topic of adaptation finance more broadly, Achoki asserted that the adaptation finance gap is widening, and that future finance must be publicly-sourced and easily accessible: “We don’t want … finance from private sources. We don’t want loans.”

Ministerial Pairs: The COP30 Presidency announced six minister pairs to lead negotiations going into the second week: the Gambia and Germany are paired on adaptation, Kenya and the UK on finance, Egypt and Spain on mitigation, Mexico and Poland on the just transition, Australia and India on technology, and Chile and Sweden on gender. These ministers will play an essential role in finding ways to move from unagreed drafts to texts that all countries can accept.

Transparency in Action: Since 2016, countries have engaged in a facilitative sharing of views as a way to update each other on the progress on their respective mitigation and adaptation commitments. Today, the 19th facilitative sharing of views featured reports from Bhutan, Honduras, and the UAE. Representatives from China, the EU, Japan, the UK, and others sought insight into each country’s approach, including how Bhutan is addressing climate data gaps and how it set up a bilateral hydropower agreement with India. The UAE was asked about its solar projects and government building energy efficiency projects.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: During the Presidency consultation on mountains and climate change, Armenia, Bhutan, Colombia, Nepal, Peru and other countries discussed the unique and sensitive ecosystems of mountains and underscored that they are vital to food, energy, and water security. Countries put forward a number of proposals to elevate mountains within the UNFCCC negotiations, including by integrating mountain considerations into the global stocktake, research and systematic observations, and Global Goal on Adaptation agenda items. The representative from Peru suggested an annual dialogue similar to the treatment given to the ocean. Many countries supported the idea of a new SBI and SBSTA joint agenda item on mountains and climate change.

U.S. Updates

Delegates navigate the COP30 venue. | Credit: UN Climate Change - Kiara Worth via Flickr.

Whitehouse Lands in Belém: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I) held a press call this morning from Belém, where he is serving as the entirety of the U.S. Congressional delegation. In his opening remarks, the Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee outlined four key messages that will guide his engagement at COP. First, he said that the Trump Administration represents the will of the fossil fuel industry rather than the will of the American people on climate issues. Second, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is our last “lifeboat” for climate safety. Third, economic shocks of the climate crisis are occurring, including an insurance crisis that is spreading across the U.S. And finally, the fossil fuel industry is the villain in this story of climate action.
- EESI Article: “Trade in the Age of Climate Change: The Role of a U.S. Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism”

Shipshow: Sen. Whitehouse said that one goal for his engagement at COP30 will be protecting CBAM from what happened to the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) Net-Zero Framework—a U.S.-led campaign that paused the process for a year, which Whitehouse described as a “thuggish battering.” The internationally-supported landmark IMO proposal would establish a marine fuel standard and impose an emissions fee on the global shipping industry.
- EESI Briefing: International Trade and Climate Policy

We Cannot Afford Fossil Fuels: Sen. Whitehouse was also asked if he agrees with Bill Gates’s controversial memo, which urged the climate community to shift its focus from rising temperatures to poverty and disease. Contrasting Gates, he instead proposed a new approach that connects fossil fuel “mischief” to the affordability crisis facing American consumers. Sen. Whitehouse added that innovation will never solve the climate crisis so long as the government continues to subsidize the fossil fuel industry.
- EESI Fact Sheet: Proposals to Reduce Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Around the World

Activists giving the Earth chest compressions. | Credit: IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis.

Polluter Presence: Kick Big Polluters Out, a global network of more than 450 organizations, reported that more than 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists are present at COP30. This is the largest proportion—one in every 25 attendees in Belém—in UNFCCC history. COP30 is also operating under new rules dictating that nongovernment observers must disclose their funding sources and institutional ties. However, this rule does not apply to government delegations, which account for 160 of the 1,600 lobbyists. Larry Rousseau of the Canadian Labour Congress remarked that “this is not what meaningful participation looks like .… If we are serious about an ‘implementation COP,’ if we are serious about the Paris Agreement, we must be serious about protecting these negotiations from the vested interests that profit from delay.”
- EESI Topic Page: Fossil Fuels

Drivers of Change: A new declaration on transportation decarbonization and resilience responds to a lack of specific global action on transportation emissions and calls for a shared framework with measurable goals and indicators to monitor progress. It also calls for a “just, inclusive, and tailored” transition; accordingly, the contributions of each participating country will be commensurate with the “differing capacities and realities” of developing countries. The declaration, co-led by Chile and Brazil, has so far been signed by Austria, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. At a press event for the declaration, one Chilean transportation minister touted an 8.5% improvement in efficiency standards for light-duty vehicles, and success in deploying 4,400 electric buses in Santiago. Meanwhile, a representative from the Dominican Republic reported success in meeting the country’s 2020 NDC to build out its capital’s metro system.

Resilience Stats: Race to Resilience, an initiative of the High-level Climate Champions, released its 2025 progress report. During his opening remarks, Chile’s COP25 High-Level Champion Gonzalo Muñoz highlighted the initiative’s accomplishments: 437 million people have been touched by resilience work, 18.4 million hectares of ecosystems in 78 countries have been conserved, and $4.2 billion in adaptation finance has been deployed. Muñoz underscored that the insurance sector has immense ability to accelerate progress. “Insurance companies know that they need to provide new conditions for business to thrive and for governments to be more stable … Race to Resilience can provide the link of the insurance sector to all of the other sectors of the economy to generate the conditions that we require for being resilient.”
- EESI Briefing: Risky Business: Insurance in the Era of Climate Change

Women Leading Towards a Net-Zero Future: A session at the We Don’t Have Time studio highlighted inclusive leadership by women who are shaping business and climate policy. We Mean Business Coalition CEO María Mendiluce shared that moving to net zero is not easy, but that when women take the lead on climate, positive change happens through collaboration. “Change is not linear, it’s exponential,” she said. Kerry Constabile, director of decarbonization strategy at Amazon, added that successful business strategies for net zero should focus on collective action over silos or competition. For women leaders specifically, Constabile highlighted the importance of mentorship.
- EESI Article: “Gender Equality Can Drive the Electric Vehicle Industry Forward”

A Win-Win-Win for Climate, Health, and Justice: A UNFCCC side event hosted by the World Health Organization and the United Nations University spotlighted the intersectional approach to climate, health, and justice through the lens of two major breakthroughs: the Belém Health Action Plan, which was released yesterday, and the International Court of Justice’s July decision that states are obligated to protect people from climate harm. This event also featured the release of two special reports supporting the Belém Health Action Plan: one that compiles evidence underpinning the plan, and another that offers guidance on social participation to strengthen the plan’s implementation.
- EESI Topic Page: Public Health

Data Center Discourse: A press conference held by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) focused on artificial intelligence data center infrastructure and the associated climate costs. Jean Su, director of the CBD Energy Justice Program, pointed out that the U.S. consumes more energy from data centers than anywhere else in the world, with dangerous consequences for environmental justice. Speaking on the situation in Brazil, Cynthia Picolo from the Laboratory of Public Policy and Internet shared that the country’s policy framework has been designed to streamline data center development without public input or socio-environmental considerations. Su and her fellow panelists proposed guardrails through the UNFCCC, such as the disclosure of national data center emissions in future NDCs.
- EESI Articles: “Data Center Energy Needs Could Upend Power Grids and Threaten the Climate” and “Data Centers and Water Consumption”

Resources

EESI Resources

Briefing series: What Congress Needs to Know About COP30
- What's on the Table for the Negotiations?
- Keeping it Cool: International Efforts to Reduce Emissions from Refrigerants
- International Trade and Climate Policy
Climate Change Solutions: Bi-weekly newsletter covering climate, energy, and environmental issues
COP30 Announcement Tracker: Key Announcements from the 2025 UN Climate Summit. Also, check out this article with updates on past COP announcements.
U.S. Leaders at COP30: Updates on Members of Congress and other U.S. Officials at the 2025 UN Climate Summit
EESI's United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Glossary of Terms

Tracking the Negotiations

CarbonBrief: Reporting and analysis on the UN climate talks, with in-depth tracking of country positions in the negotiations
COP30 Resource Hub: World Resources Institute's extensive set of resources on the climate negotiations
Earth Negotiations Bulletin: A play-by-play of the negotiations, plus expert analysis from the International Institute for Sustainable Development
ECO Newsletter: The climate advocate’s perspective from Climate Action Network International
C2ES Newsletter: Daily key takeaways from COP30 experts observing the negotiations
Nature Updates: Nature4Climate brings daily updates on all the nature-based solutions happenings at COP to your inbox

Background and Logistics

Brazil COP30 presidency website: Priorities, details, and logistics for the negotiations from this year’s host country
UNFCCC COP30 website: Conference details and all updates on documents produced during the negotiations
Congressional Research Service: Reports related to the UNFCCC

Questions about COP30?

Reach out to EESI Policy Director Anna McGinn with your questions. We will get back to you or include the information in an upcoming newsletter.

Thanks for reading!

This newsletter covering COP30 will be running from November 7 - November 24.
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Staff contributors: Daniel Bresette, Alison Davis, Laura Gries, Amaury Laporte,
Anna McGinn, Nicole Pouy, and Hannah Wilson-Black

About EESI

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing science-based solutions for climate change, energy, and environmental challenges to achieve a sustainable, resilient, and equitable world. Founded on a bipartisan basis by members of Congress, EESI has been informing policymakers about the benefits of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and environmental conservation since 1984.

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