COP30: Divisions, consensus, goals amid global climate urgency

The ongoing 30th UN Climate Change Conference, or COP30, held in Belem, Brazil, has seen both divisions and areas of consensus among participating countries as they discussed the urgent issue of global climate change. The reality of climate change is undeniable, with many already experiencing extreme weather events, highlighting the importance of moving from discussion to decisive action at this critical timing.

According to a recent report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the mean near-surface temperature between January to August 2025 was 1.42 degrees Celsius ± 0.12 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. Concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases and ocean heat content, which both reached record levels in 2024, continued to rise in 2025.

"This unprecedented streak of high temperatures, combined with last year's record increase in greenhouse gas levels, makes it clear that it will be virtually impossible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next few years without temporarily overshooting this target. But the science is equally clear that it's still entirely possible and essential to bring temperatures back down to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

This alarming trend underscored a core issue of COP30: the gap between current actions and the global climate targets that need to be met.

"It's no longer time for negotiation. It's time for implementation, implementation and implementation," urged the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the Plenary of Leaders of the Belem Climate Summit ahead of COP30.

Current challenges in driving implementation

Under the Paris Agreement, all parties must submit and periodically update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – national climate plans that outline each country's efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts.

So far, a total of 118 countries have submited their new NDCs.

Wang Yi, vice chair of China's National Expert Committee on Climate Change, said that a major challenge in implementing NDCs is ensuring the adequacy and ambition of these goals. "There is a need to assess how much these pledges fall short of global targets."

Moreover, developing countries require support to achieve their NDCs, such as financial aid, without which it will be difficult for them to achieve the targets, said Wang.

The adaptation to climate change is also a central topic of this year's discussions, he added.

U.S. absent from COP30

The United States, the world's largest economy and the largest historical emitter, did not send an official delegation to COP 30, which has a significant impact.

"This conference has been particularly challenging, and one of the main reasons is the U.S.'s absence for the first time," said China's special envoy for climate change Liu Zhenmin.

As a superpower and the largest developed nation, the U.S.'s absence has significantly impacted the integrity of multilateral climate cooperation, said Liu. Furthermore, it has caused difficulties in internal coordination among developed countries, with some saying that they are not yet prepared to fill the gap left by the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

"This has made it significantly harder to achieve high-quality outcomes at this conference," noted Liu.

Wang echoed Liu's remarks, saying the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement for the second time was even more pronounced, as it not only refused to take action but actively influenced other countries to follow suit, which has affected many countries' strength and ambition in taking action.

China-proposed NDCs 'ambitious and pragmatic'

China announced its 2035 NDCs in September, pledging to reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent to 10 percent from peak levels; increase the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30 percent; expand the installed capacity of wind and solar power to over six times the 2020 levels, striving to bring the total to 3,600 gigawatts; scale up the total forest stock volume to over 24 billion cubic meters; make new energy vehicles the mainstream in the sales of new vehicles; expand the National Carbon Emissions Trading Market to cover major high-emission sectors; and basically establish a climate adaptive society.

Pan Jiahua, vice chair of China's National Expert Committee on Climate Change, hailed two major breakthroughs in China's 2035 NDCs: the inclusion of all greenhouse gases, not just CO2 in its targets and the introduction of an absolute emissions reduction goal.

Wang described the NDCs as "both ambitious and pragmatic."

"By setting clear goals, China hopes to have more concrete ways to implement them and strives to do better," said Wang.