Fourth Letter from the Presidency

Building on the 2014 Lima COP20, the international community recognized ten years ago at COP21 that the transformation needed to tackle climate change requires actions, solutions, and partnerships from the whole of society, well beyond national governments. The Paris Agreement then marked a new era in governments' collective response to climate change, while similarly inaugurating a collective, concerted Global Climate Action Agenda to involve all corners of the economy, all segments of society, and all levels of government towards multilateral climate goals.

Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed unstoppable growth in engagements, initiatives, and innovations from a wide range of stakeholders, both from the public and private sectors. We celebrate and applaud those who have helped innovate and lead these efforts. As I noted in my previous letters, despite outstanding breakthroughs and progress, we are still off track to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. To course-correct, the world must exponentially scale and speed up efforts to meet the commitments we made.

The incoming Presidency is working to ensure that the Action Agenda, together with all other dimensions of COP30, contributes to putting into practice what we have collectively agreed so far. In strengthening multilateralism, connecting the UNFCCC to peoples’ lives and accelerating the Paris Agreement implementation, the COP30 Action Agenda will endeavour to address three major challenges: (i) Aligning the Action Agenda with what we have already collectively agreed under successive UNFCCC COPs and the Paris Agreement; (ii) Leveraging existing initiatives to accelerate and scale climate implementation; and (iii) Driving transparency, monitoring and accountability of existing and new pledges and initiatives.

To tackle those challenges, the incoming Presidency envisions an Action Agenda that will stand on the shoulders of its predecessors to honour the invaluable legacy already achieved and shift its scope towards the future: from merely complementing negotiations to actively implementing agreed outcomes, with a focus on the Paris Agreement first Global Stocktake (GST).

The GST as our Global NDC

The first Global Stocktake stands as our compass for Mission 1.5. It guides our collective efforts to pursue the goals of the Paris Agreement, in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. The Action Agenda must drive momentum towards the full implementation of the GST. It must mobilize all stakeholders to work alongside governments in advancing global efforts, such as halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. It must also support the acceleration of the global energy transition, including tripling renewable energy capacity globally, doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.

As the GST reaffirmed Parties’ commitment to multilateralism, it also underscored the invaluable contribution of non-Party stakeholders, particularly those in civil society, business, financial institutions, cities and subnational authorities, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, youth and research institutions, in supporting Parties and contributing to the significant collective progress towards the Paris Agreement goals; advancing responses to the already existing effects of climate change; and raising ambition — including through synergies with other intergovernmental processes. It further welcomed current international cooperative efforts and voluntary initiatives for enhancing climate action and support by Parties and non-Party stakeholders, among others, through information sharing, best practices, experiences, lessons learned, resources and solutions. Finally, it urged Parties and non-Party stakeholders to join efforts to accelerate delivery through inclusive, multilevel, gender-responsive and cooperative action.

The incoming Presidency invites all Parties and non-Party stakeholders to work together towards the full implementation of the Paris Agreement informed by the GST not only in countries' NDCs and in international cooperation, but equally in voluntary commitments made within the Action Agenda. Our aim is to bring a new dynamic to global climate action, aligning the efforts made by businesses, civil society and all levels of government in coordinated action — a global mutirão around the achievement of the GST as a "Global NDC", or rather a "GDC" — the world’s “globally determined contribution”. Like the Southern Cross constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, the GST must be positioned as the global guiding compass to amplify our multilateral ambition, joint action, and collective assessment of progress across the five pillars of the UNFCCC - mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, and capacity building.

The GST allows for global alignment in climate action and ambition, while helping enhance transparency and accountability of climate-related initiatives worldwide. Using the GST as a reference, we will be able to transform climate action from cacophony into an orchestrated symphony — where multilateral negotiations set the score, and NDCs and the Action Agenda provide the instruments.

One Agenda, Six Axes

To support the full implementation of the GST, the COP30 Action Agenda will be shaped as a "granary of solutions" — a reservoir of concrete initiatives that connect climate ambition with development opportunities in investments, innovation, finance, technology, and capacity-building. Guided by GST findings, the incoming presidency proposes that the Action Agenda be organized into six thematic axes covering mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation: (i) Transitioning Energy, Industry, and Transport; (ii) Stewarding Forests, Oceans and Biodiversity; (iii) Transforming Agriculture and Food Systems; (iv) Building Resilience for Cities, Infrastructure and Water; (v) Fostering Human and Social Development; and the final cross-cutting axis of (vi) Unleashing Enablers and Accelerators, including on Finance, Technology, and Capacity Building.

This framework represents a unique approach based on the GST to promote systemic transformation and broad stakeholder engagement. In this context, solutions to help implement GST outcomes should be concrete, ambitious, designed to generate global impact, based on the best available science, and built upon the synergies between climate action and sustainable development.

The Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that climate action "approaches that align objectives and actions across sectors provide opportunities for large-scale, multiple benefits while avoiding short-term harm." According to the report, cross-cutting climate action enhances cascading co-benefits across sectors; prevents isolated and fragmented approaches with limited systemic impact; and promotes effective interconnections between the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

Combating hunger and promoting food security, for instance, is a key driver of resilience and a long-term objective under Article 2.1(b) of the Paris Agreement. An example of a concrete initiative designed to address climate-related food security challenges is the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, launched in Rio de Janeiro in 2024 under Brazil’s G20 Presidency. The Alliance offers a portfolio of evidence-based solutions that integrate social protection, food security, climate-resilient smallholder agriculture, and sustainable livelihoods, demonstrating how climate action can deliver broad, replicable benefits across multiple dimensions of sustainable development.

The implementation of Action Agenda initiatives must be designed with flexibility and adaptability to different geographic, economic, and social contexts. The multifaceted nature of the climate challenge requires innovative solutions to be adapted according to regional, national and local circumstances to benefit more communities and countries. Our intention is to showcase a pool of replicable and scalable actions at different levels, within a framework that aligns specific solutions with a coherent process for tracking global progress.

Most importantly, initiatives under the COP30 Action Agenda must be guided by both ethical and scientific imperatives of just transition and equity. They must seek to address structural inequalities that exacerbate the vulnerability of specific groups, countries and regions to the climate crisis. A balanced distribution of the benefits and costs involved in transitioning to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies will allow us to build a fairer, more inclusive, and safer future.

A Solutions-Based Agenda to Accelerate Action

It is time we work together towards a solutions-oriented Global Climate Action Agenda that matches the scale of the challenges we face. The architecture proposed for the COP30 Action Agenda aims at a more streamlined and integrated framework that brings together the efforts of COP Presidencies, High-Level Champions, Parties, and Non-Party Stakeholders in a coherent and powerful "globally determined contribution" to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement worldwide. It must provide the space for all actors to connect and work in unison whilst regularly taking stock of progress achieved.

The incoming Presidency also intends to highlight a number of solutions that may be uniquely positioned to contribute to accelerating progress in climate action across the six proposed axes. The thirty key objectives identified under these six axes reflect the breadth and depth of action required to implement the GST outcomes and deliver on the Paris Agreement fast, everywhere and for all. These objectives were chosen to spotlight promising “super-leverage points” where accelerated implementation, enhanced cooperation, and targeted support can drive systemic transformation. They also include areas where Brazil's experience can contribute with concrete solutions. We invite other countries, regions, cities, business, investors and communities to join the Action Agenda Mutirão and offer what they can to the global climate fight.

The 30 key objectives for COP30 are as follows:

I. Transitioning Energy, Industry, and Transport: (1) tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency, (2) accelerating zero- and low-emission technologies in hard-to-abate sectors, (3) ensuring universal access to energy, and (4) transitioning away from fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.

II. Stewarding Forests, Oceans, and Biodiversity: (5) investments to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation, (6) efforts to conserve, protect and restore nature and ecosystems with solutions for climate, biodiversity and desertification, and (7) efforts to preserve and restore oceans and coastal ecosystems.

III. Transforming Agriculture and Food Systems: (8) land restoration and sustainable agriculture, (9) more resilient, adaptive, and sustainable food systems, and (10) equitable access to adequate food and nutrition for all.

IV. Building Resilience for Cities, Infrastructure and Water: (11) multilevel governance, (12) sustainable and resilient constructions and buildings, (13) resilient urban development, mobility, and infrastructure, (14) water management and (15) solid waste management.

V. Fostering Human and Social Development: (16) promoting resilient health systems, (17) reducing the effects of climate change on eradicating hunger and poverty, (18) education, capacity-building, and job creation to address climate change, (19) culture, cultural heritage, and climate action.

VI. Cross-cutting issues — Unleashing Enablers and Accelerators, including on Finance, Technology and Capacity Building: (20) climate and sustainable finance, mainstreaming climate in investments, and insurance, (21) climate-integrated public procurement, (22) harmonization of carbon markets and carbon accounting standards, (23) climate and trade, (24) reduction of non-CO2 gases, (25) development and access to climate technologies, (26) governance, state capacities and institutional strengthening for climate action, planning and preparedness, (27) Artificial Intelligence, Digital Public Infrastructure and digital technologies, (28) innovation, climate entrepreneurship and small and micro businesses, (29) bioeconomy and biotechnology, (30) information integrity in climate change matters.

Mobilizing Action and Shaping the Future Together

The incoming Presidency believes these key objectives will offer a structured and inclusive framework to mobilize collective action. We invite all existing initiatives and coalitions created in previous COPs, which gather thousands of subnational governments, businesses, investors, NGOs and communities, to accelerate implementation in these areas and bring forward your solutions. We will soon invite these to join Activation Groups under each key objective and shape with us the results of COP30.

The incoming Presidency will work hand in hand with the High-Level Champions in this single Action Agenda. Dan Ioschpe and Nigar Arpadarai will soon publish the work programme of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, further detailing our plans. We will also count on the support and leadership of the Youth Champion, the COP30 Special Envoys, and the Circles announced in my second letter to mobilize governments, societies and economic actors to implement solutions, track progress, and ensure no one is left behind. Only with the engagement of all can we rally the necessary action to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement. We urge all actors to focus on follow-through and implementation of existing initiatives, commitments, and declarations.

Looking forward, we expect that the proposed new architecture for the Action Agenda can guide the future of global climate action. The incoming Presidency will conduct an inclusive consultation with Parties and non-Party stakeholders, led by the two serving High-Level Champions from COP29 and COP30, to help lay out a clear vision and plan for the next five years of the Action Agenda. We welcome inputs and ideas that help shape a solutions-oriented Action Agenda focused on the full implementation of the GST.

We invite all to participate actively both in building the new agenda and laying the foundation for this critical decade of exponential climate progress. We must respond decisively through an ambitious, integrated, and solutions-oriented Action Agenda that matches the urgency and scale of climate change. Following science through accelerated action, we will demonstrate that we can work together to achieve our shared goals and fully implement the GST as our "globally determined contribution".

Let COP30 be the moment we inaugurate a new era when collective action becomes our most enduring climate solution. The time for the Action Agenda mutirão is now.

André Aranha Correa do Lago
COP30 President Designate