COP30 Presidency launches support circles on key issues for the conference

Leadership circles will serve as levers for COP30, focusing on climate finance, traditional and indigenous peoples and communities, climate governance, and global mobilization.

On Saturday, April 12, the COP30 Presidency launched four leadership circles aimed at leveraging key issues for the future of climate action and global mobilization ahead of the conference in Belém (PA) in November. The groups will facilitate debates on climate finance, traditional and indigenous peoples and communities, climate governance, and global mobilization.

The circles aim to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, to promote climate action beyond the two weeks of the COP and the Climate Change Convention, and to advance the call for a global effort against climate change. Each group will operate independently and in parallel with the negotiations, with work that will support the COP30 Presidency.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with the support of the Presidency of the Republic, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima/MMA), and the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Climate Action and Just Transition (Secretário-Geral da ONU para Ação Climática e Transição Justa), will lead the “Global Ethical Stocktaking” (Balanço Ético Global). The Global Ethical Review will hold dialogues in different regions, some of them at points of no return, involving political, cultural, indigenous, Afro-descendant, and traditional community leaders, entrepreneurs, and religious leaders, among others. The contributions in multiple forms —music, poetry, documents, and visual arts— will be presented at COP30 and used to mobilize society.

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad will lead the Finance Ministers Circle for the Baku-Belém Road Map to USD 1.3 trillion annually for developing countries. The group will bring together finance ministers and experts, as well as the private sector and civil society, for regular consultations and discussions on climate finance. The Group will provide input to support the COP30 Presidency and, together with the COP29 Presidency, will prepare a report on the roadmap to be presented at the Belém Conference on how to mobilize USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035 for climate finance in developing countries.

Minister Sonia Guajajara will lead the People's Circle to increase the representation of Indigenous Peoples, traditional peoples and communities, and Afro-descendants at COP30. The initiative, designed to complement existing forums for the participation of these groups, aims to ensure that traditional knowledge is respected and integrated into the international debate on climate and its mitigation.

A fourth circle will gather, for the first time, the presidents of previous climate COPs since COP21, in 2015, adopted in the Paris Agreement. The "Circle of Presidents" will be led by former French Foreign Minister (2012-2016) Laurent Fabius, who presided over COP21. The presidents of the last ten COPs will be invited to join the group, whose work will focus on reinforcing global climate governance efforts and accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

English Version: Trad. Bárbara Menezes

Proofreading by Enrique Villamil