Brazil COP to push for Global Ethical Stocktake, transition policies

Brazilian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, said COP30 will also come up with roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) will push for the Global Ethical Stocktake (GST) to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C and focus on adaptation and transition policies aligned to achieve it, Marina Silva, minister of the Environment and Climate Change of Brazil, said.

 

COP30, which is slated to be held in Brazil between November 10 and 21, will also come up with a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, deforestation, triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency, have a negotiation agenda for climate finance and implement the outcomes of the Dubai COP, Silva told Business Standard on Wednesday.

 

Climate adaptation measures are the need of the hour to respond to the extreme effect of global warming and consequent climate change.

 

January 2025 was the warmest globally as compared to the same period in 2024, with temperature reaching 1.75°C above the pre-industrial level.

 

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3), January 2025 recorded an average temperature of 13.23°C, 0.09°C warmer than the corresponding period in 2024 and 0.79°C above the 1991-2020 average, despite the development of La Niña, a climate pattern that usually brings cooler global temperatures.

 

“We have a negotiation agenda regarding climate finance and the implementation of the outcomes of COP28– all the efforts to implement what was agreed upon in COP28. We are going to have a roadmap towards transitioning away from fossil fuels, triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency, and to have NDCs (nationally determined contributions) which are fully aligned with the 1.5°C. Also, we need to work towards transition and adaptation,” the minister said.

 

“We must advance in the transition away from fossil fuels and deforestation, while scaling up climate finance to $1.3 trillion per year, building upon the $300 billion already pledged by developed countries. Beyond action, negotiation, and mobilisation, we are incorporating a new dimension to our efforts, the Global Ethical Stocktake,” Silva said.

 

The GST is a process that assesses how well countries are meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, aimed at limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C. The GST is conducted every five years and involves countries and stakeholders identifying gaps and opportunities to improve climate action. It also helps countries strengthen their climate policies and commitments.

 

This initiative, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, will promote up to six dialogues in different regions of the world, including critical points such as the Arctic, bringing together different sectors, youth, women, scientists, religious leaders, artists, business leaders, activists, indigenous people, and traditional communities to emphasise the urgent need to align individual behaviour and decision-making with the overarching goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the Brazilian minister said.

 

“I reaffirm my commitment to working toward a just ecological transition, more equitable societies, and for the construction of a new cycle of prosperity that allows us to be just, more diverse, and more sustainable,” she added.

 

“Things related to adaptation are fully determined by national circumstances, but we will mainly look towards the most vulnerable communities, urban settlements, people that live under extreme conditions of heatwaves or wildfires, food systems which are vulnerable to climate change, where there are people which depend on food production, which are compromised because of extreme weather events, and early warning systems to protect those people,” Silva said.

 

Brazil has a plan of adaptation measures, involving 16 sub-programmes in different sectors of society.

 

“The key agenda is a priority because we have been living through the effects of adverse climate change, but the root of how to solve that problem is to reduce GHG emissions,” the minister added.

 

The world may lose about 12 per cent in gross domestic product (GDP) for every 1°C of warming, a study by the World Economic Forum revealed.

 

According to a United Nations report, current climate policies will result in global warming of more than 3°C by the end of the century, more than twice the rise agreed to nearly a decade ago.

 

The annual Emissions Gap report, which takes stock of countries' promises to tackle climate change compared with what is needed, finds the world faces as much as 3.1°C of warming above pre-industrial levels by 2100, if governments do not take greater action on slashing planet-warming emissions.

 

According to an Asian Development Bank report, climate change could cause a 24.7 per cent GDP loss in India by 2070. Therefore, the Indian Economic Survey 2024-25 highlighted the need for a multi-pronged adaptation strategy to address climate change in India and lamented the lack of international climate finance for adaptation and the impact the usage of domestic resources for adaptation action would have on the country’s development.