OPINION By Adonia Ayebare The Climate Summit in Brazil, COP30 held in Belém, is not merely another climate conference, but a critical turnin...
OPINION
By Adonia Ayebare
The Climate Summit in Brazil, COP30 held in Belém, is not merely another climate conference, but a critical turning point where the global community must decide between bold action and gradual deterioration, between safeguarding the planet and accepting controlled decline.
In this context, in mid-August of this year, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, extended an invitation to heads of state and government to join the World Leaders Climate Action Summit, which occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 6-7, 2025. During this event, the first phase of the High-Level Segment was held — I served as the representative of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Uganda's inclusion in the leaders' summit in Brazil during COP 30 highlights the significance of global leaders, especially President Museveni, whose forward-thinking leadership has been instrumental in promoting environmental management and demonstrating a readiness to collaborate and raise ambitions, drive action to cut emissions, adjust to climate change, and deal with loss and damage, by turning crucial climate-related decisions into tangible actions and reliable strategies to combat climate change.
This is the defining feature of the Climate Convention that was finalized 33 years ago in Rio de Janeiro, and the pivotal Paris Agreement that was adopted in 2015.
The next question is: how much of our commitments have we managed to accomplish, both within the climate framework and through real-world actions, and to what degree can we guarantee that national responsibilities are fulfilled?
The annual COP conferences and negotiations are crucial in assisting countries in reaching their goals, partly through mutual engagement for the collective benefit, and by initially pursuing individual interests before identifying shared areas to tackle future climate challenges — the complex task of balancing these interests rests solely with the chairs of the subsidiary bodies, SBI and SBSTA.
On Monday, November 10, the official opening plenary of the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties, the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties acting as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties acting as the meeting of the Paris Agreement (COP 30/CMP 20/CMA 7), also known as the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2025, commenced at 10:00 am in Brazil.
Before the start, late at night on Sunday, November 9, the COP presidency and SB chairs were required to address the matter of extra agenda topics proposed by nations for addition to the supplementary agenda — according to UN procedural rules, each country has the right to suggest an agenda item for inclusion on the preliminary agenda.
The proposed agenda topics featured: Execution of article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement regarding funding — introduced by Bolivia on behalf of the group of developing nations with similar interests — suggesting that this establishes binding responsibilities for developed countries to assist developing nations in carrying out climate initiatives.
The second proposed agenda item involves responding to the synthesis report on nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and tackling the 1.5-degree target and implementation gap, with AOSIS advocating for international cooperation and addressing concerns regarding climate-related trade-restrictive unilateral measures, as suggested by China on behalf of BASIC. Additionally, the review of biennial transparency reports (BTRs), along with a separate assessment of the specific needs and circumstances of Africa, was proposed by the Africa group.
This enabled COP30 to proceed as scheduled on the morning of November 10, with President Lula present, who highlighted the significance of fulfilling commitments and NDCs, securing resources for developing nations, and speeding up climate efforts, in order to decrease dependence on fossil fuels and halt biodiversity and forest decline.
A smoothly executed agenda is a significant aspect of any UN gathering, partly due to the fact that the lack of agreement or absence of it can lead to procedural impasses that result in little tangible results.
Nevertheless, all of this is being viewed through the lens of scientific understanding, recognizing that the world is likely to exceed a 1.5-degree temperature increase in the near future because of inadequate climate measures. However, the IPCC states that it is still feasible to reduce temperatures below 1.5 °C by the end of the century. Practical solutions are already available to achieve this. The scientific evidence clearly shows that each additional degree of warming will lead to severe negative consequences, including increased loss and damage and significant economic effects.
What actions should countries take to bridge this gap at COP 30? The parties need to reach an agreement on the global adaptation goal — specialists involved in the two-year UAE Belém Work Programme have created and improved a possible set of indicators for evaluation and acceptance at COP 30. This is a directive that originated from Dubai at COP 28.
Nevertheless, persistent disagreements continue regarding whether the indicators should be implemented at COP30 or delayed to a subsequent meeting, and whether additional efforts are required following COP30.
Multiple groups stated they are unable to endorse the expert panel's existing set of metrics in their present format.
Pushing forward the global assessment: The COP28 global stocktake, as outlined in the decision, encourages parties to improve the procedural and operational aspects of the overall global stocktake process, drawing from lessons learned during the first global stocktake (the second one is scheduled to occur between 2026 and 2028).
Discussions about improvements have been ongoing since June 2024.
Regarding the alignment of financial flows under Article 2.1(c), there are demands to ensure financial flows correspond to a route that leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resistant growth.
Regarding guidance for the GEF, AF, and loss and damage fund — what is becoming clear is a strong effort by developed nations to shift the burden of providing climate finance to developing countries.
Many developing nations emphasize that this should occur within the framework of CBDR responsibilities. Regardless of legal complexities, Uganda must depart from Belém not only with documented decisions, but with a commitment to implementation domestically: speeding up the shift to cleaner technologies, enhancing climate governance, mobilizing funding, and ensuring that every community — from Mt Elgon, Karamoja to Kasese — experiences the effects of global climate actions. COP30 marks a pivotal moment, and history is already observing. The world now requires tangible results. Uganda, like Africa, has contributed its part despite limited resources. It's time for the global system to align Uganda’s aspirations with real action, investment, technology sharing, and authentic collaboration.
The global community cannot afford to delay addressing climate change until the next catastrophe. COP30 needs to be the COP focused on implementation — as the price of not acting is much higher than the cost of taking necessary actions today.
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