COP out? The world's climate talks on global warming seem stuck in repeat

30 years, 30 COPs - still counting degrees. Is this where promises go to melt? This two-part series on COP30 tracks how the UN's flagship climate summit lost its direction and what's at stake

On the eve of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), the United Nations (UN)–led global climate conference in Brazil next month, a veteran participant likened it to a “mela” — a grand but “pointless” jamboree of over 40,000 people from across the world: heads of state, diplomats, corporate chiefs, investment bankers, NGOs, activists, students, and protesters, all gathering under one roof for two weeks to discuss the warming of the planet — a crisis that disproportionately hurts developing nations such as India.

 

To put it mildly, COP has lost its mojo and “needs to go back to its roots”,