COP30 Evening Summary – November 18

Day 9: Tuesday, 18 November

Prepared by the COP30 Communications Team

Thematic Focus Areas: Forests, Oceans, Biodiversity, Indigenous peoples, Local and traditional communities, Children and Youth, and Small and Medium Entrepreneurs

Summary Recap:

From Coastlines to Communities - Supporting Vital Ecosystems

On Day 9, cross-sector support for vital ecosystems came to life today through a surge of actions demonstrating how ocean and nature protection are accelerating real-world climate implementation.

The day started with 17 countries joining the Blue NDC Challenge, committing to embed ocean-based solutions directly into national climate plans, while the One Ocean Partnership launched a global network of regenerative seascapes designed to mobilize at least USD 20 billion for a Regenerative Blue Economy. New tools—including the Ocean Breakthroughs Implementation Dashboard and the Marine Biodiversity and Ocean Health toolkit—strengthened accountability and transparency, helping track progress across marine conservation, shipping, aquatic food, coastal tourism, and clean energy.

Critical nature-based breakthroughs advanced coordinated action on mangroves, peatlands, and saltmarshes, supported by new financing facilities and science-based targets that bring climate ambition into the real economy. The Climate-Proofing SMEs Campaign and the South-South Collective for Climate showcased how small businesses and startups are rapidly scaling solutions, while a new global coalition on sustainable wood united governments and industry to protect forests and decarbonize construction.

The day’s Global Mobilization agenda reinforced that climate action must be equitable and people-centered. At a High-Session, the outcomes of The Global Ethical Stocktake (GES) were presented as part of the launch of the Global Ethical Stocktake Report, emphasizing justice, ethics, and cultural listening as foundations for implementation. On Children and Youth Day, young leaders, Indigenous peoples, and traditional communities led discussions on inclusive climate policy, renewable energy access, territorial governance, and community-driven adaptation.

Together, today’s outcomes show COP30 delivering on its commitment to accelerating implementation, empowering frontline communities, and turning commitments into tangible progress for ecosystems and people—from coastlines to the communities who depend on them.

Notable Actions and Outcomes:

• Action Agenda:
  
  “In practice, in the real world, we need a basket of solutions. This is what our action agenda is bringing to the table - accelerating a number of solutions. In total, across the six pillars, we have over 114 plans to accelerate solutions that are building on past initiatives created and putting in place plans that bring them together to deliver.” 
  - Bruna Cerqueira, General Coordinator, COP30 Presidency Action Agenda
  
  
  - Advancing Ocean Conservation
  ▪ Today, 17 countries joined the Blue NDC Challenge to advance the integration and implementation of ocean-based actions within NDCs, ensuring that commitments are translated into concrete policies, measures, and tangible results for nature and people, while highlighting new Blue NDC announcements at COP.
  ▪ Blue Package: The five Ocean Breakthroughs launched a collective and coordinated Plan to Accelerate Solutions to scale implementation across the five strategic areas: marine conservation, aquatic food, ocean renewable energy, shipping, and coastal tourism. These solutions sit at the crossroads of all major challenges facing humanity today - from biodiversity loss to food or energy security. In this sense, the plan contributes to achieve the synergistic implementation across the Rio Conventions and offer a pathway for non-state actors to support the implementation of Blue NDCs.
  ▪ Governments also unveiled a series of ocean-based actions to accelerate implementation, including:
  ● The One Ocean Partnership launched today establishes a global network of Regenerative Seascape that will accelerate regenerative ocean action by catalysing at least $20 billion of investment in the Regenerative Blue Economy by 2030, besides generating 20 million jobs.
  ● Across the ocean-climate nexus, new breakthroughs are accelerating implementation by pairing science-based targets with the tools and finance needed to scale action. A global Implementation Tracker now provides transparent, country- and sector-level progress across the five Ocean Breakthroughs, while the Saltmarsh Breakthrough—supported by a dedicated policy taskforce—mobilizes major finance and restoration efforts to protect 500,000 hectares by 2030. The Mangrove Breakthrough is unlocking investment through its new $80 million Mangrove Catalytic Facility toward a $4 billion goal, and the Peatland Breakthrough’s new science-based framework gives governments and investors a shared roadmap to drive high-integrity protection and restoration at scale.
  
  
  “While ocean-based climate actions are increasingly recognized in NDCs, they remain underfunded and overlooked. The Blue NDC Taskforce will be key to driving ambition and unlocking the ocean’s full climate potential.”
  - Tom Pickerell, Global Director for the Ocean Program, World Resources Institute
  
  
  - Small Businesses Are The Heartbeat of the Green Economy
  ▪ The Climate-Proofing SMEs Campaign, now spanning 49 initiatives, supported nearly 90 million SMEs through mentorship programs, carbon footprint assessments, and in ESG practices relevant for their businesses, showcasing that SMEs are taking action.
  ▪ As part of the campaign, more than 250 global companies – including IKEA, Schneider Electric, Tech Mahindra, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Natura – are helping smaller suppliers cut emissions and build resilience through supply chain programmes that include capacity building, technical assistance, and financial incentives. With Scope 3 emissions often reaching 70% of corporate footprints, this is where climate ambition becomes operational.
  ▪ The day also saw the launch of the South-South Collective for Climate (S2C2), backed by climate-tech leaders in Brazil and India, which aims to support 5,000+ climate start-ups by 2030, generating solutions that could cut or avoid 1 gigaton of emissions across Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and beyond. As an intermediary goal, the initiative committed to supporting 600+ startups via market access accelerators and mobilizing USD 220m+ in funding for Latin American, Indian/South Asian and African startups by 2027. This ambition builds on the results delivered already: S2C2 members have collectively supported close to 2,000+ climate tech startups since 2016.
  
  - Promoting Synergies Across the Three Conventions Action Agenda:
  ▪ For the first time, the five current and future Presidencies of the three Rio Conventions (Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Armenia and Mongolia) released a joint declaration committing to collaborate in mobilizing non-state actors to promote synergistic action that delivers for climate, biodiversity, land, and people. This symbolic moment celebrates the legacy of Brazil as the birthplace over 30 years ago of the three Rio Conventions on climate change, biodiversity, and land degradation.
  ▪ The presidencies shared the vision of stronger coherence and alignment among the actions mobilized through the Global Climate Action Agenda, the Riyadh Action Agenda, and the initiatives launched at CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia.
  
  - 15 governments, +300 Industry Partners Unite on Forest Protection
  ▪ Fifteen national governments, two local governments, and more than 300 industry partners are joining forces under the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction to launch the Building for Forests Acceleration Plan, marking the largest collaboration to date between government and industry to scale responsible timber use.
  ▪ The Building for Forests Acceleration Plan, developed by Sustainable Wood for a Sustainable World (SW4SW), the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP), and Built by Nature, promotes forest-positive and low-carbon construction. The coalition aims to engage 30 countries in sustainable wood housing by 2028, deliver innovative finance products for smallholders and SMEs, and align timber construction with national climate and forest strategies. National governments endorsed: Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Luxembourg, Spain, Brazil, New Zealand.
  
  - Launch of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Implementation Alliance
  ▪ The NAP Implementation Alliance is a Plan to Accelerate Solutions within the COP30 Action Agenda, initiated by UNDP, Italy, Germany, and Brazil with the support of the COP30 Presidency. It brings together governments, multilateral institutions, development banks, investors, insurance sector, philanthropies, as well as technical assistance providers that support the implementation of NAPs. The objective of the Alliance is to foster collaboration among the different players to improve coherence in this ecosystem and contribute to mobilize public and private resources for adaptation.
  ▪ The launch included Parties such as Vanuatu and Kenya, organizations like the NAP Global Network, the NDC Partnership, the Atlantic Council, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The funding community was represented by the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, Itausa, ClimateWorks Foundation, the Asian Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
  
  
  “We are not creating a new institution. We are actually co-creating a process, looking into the next 12 months, the climate Weeks and NAP Expo to bring the different entities together and find ways to improve collective action to support the implementation of NAPs. We all want to see Adaptation Plans beyond a paper submitted for the UNFCCC, but as an instrument that guides investment decisions of private and public finance institutions on the ground.”
  - Alice Amorim, Director of Programs, COP30

• Global Mobilization:
  
  - Global Ethical Stocktake Highlights Ethical Foundations for Climate Action
  ▪ A high-level session at COP30 brought together ministers, UN leaders, and civil society representatives from across all regions to present the outcomes of the Global Ethical Stocktake (GES). The event marked the launch of the GES Global Report, which consolidates insights from Regional and Self-Organized Dialogues held throughout 2025 and outlines ethical, cultural, and justice-based recommendations to accelerate implementation of the Paris Agreement. Participants including Minister Marina Silva, Mary Robinson, Michelle Bachelet, Wanjira Mathai, Karenna Gore, and Simon Stiell reflected on how integrating ethics and cultural listening can strengthen accountability and guide future climate decision-making. The discussion also explored pathways for making the GES a permanent platform within the UNFCCC process.
  
  - Young Leaders Push for Inclusion and Climate Justice on Dedicated Day for Children and Youth
  ▪ In the Blue Zone, the Youth Led Climate Forum convened emerging young climate leaders and youth delegates to drive conversations around inclusive climate policy and youth-led advocacy.
  In the Green Zone, Youth Climate Champion Marcele Oliveira convened a discussion with young leaders from across ▪ Brazil to examine how race, gender, disability, and territory shape young people’s experiences of the climate crisis. Participants shared perspectives from marginalized and frontline communities, underscoring how climate impacts deepen existing inequalities and why Brazilian youth and children must have a stronger role in shaping national and global climate policy. A recommendations report based on the discussion will be prepared to help strengthen youth inclusion in future climate decision-making.
  
  - Indigenous and traditional community leadership advances climate action at COP30
  ▪ A session organized by the Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples highlighted how Indigenous communities across Asia, Africa, and Latin America are advancing renewable energy solutions rooted in ancestral knowledge and self-determination. Speakers shared examples of Indigenous-led projects strengthening energy access, climate resilience, local governance, and collaboration with partners such as IFAD and UNDP.
  ▪ People’s Circle spotlights Indigenous and traditional community leadership: In the Green Zone, the People’s Circle hosted dialogues led by Indigenous peoples, quilombola organizations, coastal women, and youth groups, covering themes such as gender and climate justice, forest protection, territorial governance, and community-driven adaptation. Sessions also highlighted women’s leadership in climate emergencies, the impacts of mining on affected territories, and the role of ancestral knowledge in shaping bioeconomy pathways. Together, the discussions emphasized the central role of traditional communities in safeguarding the Amazon and driving just, locally rooted climate solutions.

What to Expect on Day 10:

Thematic Focus: Agriculture, Food Systems and Security, Fishing and Family Farming, Women, Gender, Tourism

• 9:30AM – 12:00PM Women: Voices that Guide the Future

• 10:30AM – 12:00PM High-Level Event: RAIZ – Resilient Agriculture Investment for Net-Zero Land Degradation

• 12:30PM – 1:30PM Integrating Women in the Fight Against the Climate Crisis

• 12:30PM – 2:00PM Scaling Up Practical Solutions for Resilient Agri-Food Systems

• 3:00PM – 5:00PM COP 30 Global Climate Action High-Level Event: Accelerating Implementation

For More Information:

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UNFCCC/COP30 Daily Events Schedule:
● COP 30 - Overview Schedule
● Belém Climate Summit Documents
● COP 30 - Main conference schedule
● Global Climate Action at COP 30 | UNFCCC
● Climate High-Level Champions Website
● Top of the COP Newsletter
● 2025 Action Agenda Granary of Solutions
● INSIDE COP by Outrage+Optimism