What is COP30 and where and when is it taking place?

World leaders will soon gather for their annual meeting to discuss how to combat climate change.

COP30 comes ten years after the Paris climate agreement, in which countries pledged to try to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

COP30 is the 30th annual UN climate meeting where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for further climate change.

COP stands for Conference of the Parties. “Parties” refer to the nearly 200 countries that signed the original UN climate agreement in 1992.

COP30 will officially take place from Monday 10 November to Friday 21 November.

World leaders will gather before the summit opens on Thursday, November 6 and Friday, November 7.

Conferences often break down due to last-minute negotiations aimed at reaching a deal acceptable to all participants.

The conference is being held for the first time in Brazil, in Belem, in the Amazon rainforest.

The host nation is officially chosen by the participating countries following a nomination from the host region, which tends to rotate – much like the FIFA World Cup and Olympics tend to jump between continents.

But the choice of Belem caused serious logistical problems due to poor transport links and a lack of available hotels.

Some delegations have struggled to find compromise, leading to fears that poorer countries could be left out.

Solution clear a patch of Amazon rainforest The issue of building a road that will be used for the summit has also proven controversial.

Brazil also continues to provide new oil and gas licenses ahead of COP30. Oil and gas, along with coal, are fossil fuels and the leading cause of global warming.

Representatives from countries around the world are expected, but many world leaders have yet to confirm their participation.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be there, as well as Prince William, who will be there on behalf of King Charles.

It is unclear what form the American delegation will take.

Shortly after his inauguration in January 2025, President Trump promised to withdraw from the Paris Agreement which underlies international commitments to combat climate change.

It followed a similar move during his first administration in 2017, but the move was quickly reversed on former President Joe Biden's first day in office in 2021.

China, world's largest emitter planet-warming gases is expected to send a delegation, but President Xi Jinping is unlikely to be there.

The politicians will be joined by diplomats, journalists and activists.

Previous summits have been criticized for the large number of participants linked to the coal, oil and gas industries, which campaigners say shows the continued influence of fossil fuel supporters.

COP30 comes at a crucial time when global climate targets are under severe pressure.

Almost 200 countries in Paris in 2015 agreed to try to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above “pre-industrial” levels of the late 1800s and keep them “well below” 2°C.

There is very strong scientific evidence that the effects of climate change – from heatwaves to rising sea levels – will be much worse at 2 degrees of warming than at 1.5 degrees.

But although the use of renewable energy sources, especially solar, growing rapidlyCountries' climate plans consistently fall short of what is needed to achieve the 1.5°C temperature reduction target.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries were required to submit updated plans ahead of COP30 detailing how they would cut emissions of planet-warming gases.

But only a third of countries did it.

Given how close the target is and how high emissions remain, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has admitted that “exceeding” the 1.5°C target is now inevitable.

He added that he hoped that by the end of the century the temperature could still be reduced to the target of 1.5°C.

The UN hopes that COP30 will demonstrate increased commitment to the process outlined in the Paris Pact.

Brazil hopes to agree on steps to implement the commitments made at previous COPs.

In addition to countries' new plans to reduce carbon emissions, certain areas may be subject to discussion.

Fossil fuel

At COP28 in 2023 countries agreed for the first time on the need for a “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems.”

But this language was not strengthened at COP29 in 2024, as many had hoped.

Money

At COP29, richer countries pledged to provide developing countries at least $300 billion (about £227 billion) per year by 2035 to help them cope with climate change. But this is much less than what poor countries say.

The agreement also included a push to increase that amount to $1.3 trillion from public and private sources, but there were no specific details about that.

Renewable Energy

At COP28, countries agreed to triple global renewable energy capacity such as wind and solar by 2030.

Although renewable energy is projected to grow rapidly, the International Energy Agency says the world is not currently on track to meet this goal.

Nature

One new development could be the launch of the Rainforest Forever Fund, a fund to prevent the loss of tropical forests.

This year, a major step forward looks difficult, not least because of the influence of the Trump administration.

IN speech at the UN in SeptemberThe US president has called climate change “the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the world” and falsely criticized the overwhelming scientific evidence about rising temperatures.

He also promised speed up oil and gas drilling and abandon the green initiatives put forward by his predecessors.

Consensus has been difficult to reach at other 2025 environment talks, such as efforts to negotiate the first global plastics treaty in August, which collapsed for the second time.

In October landmark agreement to reduce global emissions from shipping was postponed due to pressure from the US and some other countries.

Some observers, such as campaigner Greta Thunberg, have accused previous COPs of “greenwashing” – allowing countries and businesses to promote their climate achievements without actually making the necessary changes.

However, important global agreements have been reached at the COP, allowing for more progress than national measures alone.

Despite difficulties in achieving the 1.5°C warming limit agreed at COP21 in Paris, the commitment has led to “almost universal climate action,” according to the UN.

This has helped reduce the level of expected warming, although the world is still not acting at the speed needed to meet the Paris goals.