Taking place Monday 10 November to Friday 21 November in Belem Brazil

COP30 is short for the 30th Conference of the Parties to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  The UNFCCC is an international treaty and process aimed at combatting dangerous human interference with the earth's climate system by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Almost every year since 1995 the 198 signatories to the treaty have met to work out the details how to accomplish its original aim.  Because the UNFCCC is also a process, several major agreements have emerged.  The most noteworthy of these being the Kyoto Agreement (1997 - which set legally binding for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions) and the Paris Agreement (2015 - which set a goal of keeping the increase in average global temperature in 2100 to no more than 2°C while making strong effort to keep that increase to as close to 1.5°C as possible).

Each year, UNFCCC signatories meet in several preparatory meetings (SBs or Subsidiary Body) culminating in a larger year end meeting (COP or Conference of the Parties).  This year's meeting is in Belem Brazil near the mouth of the Amazon River.

The core priorities for this year's COP include...

• Accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement through more ambitious national committments in emission reduction, adaptation, and climate finance.

• Translating the findings of the first Global Stocktake into accelerated action.

• Implementing a Just Transition work plan.

Links to General Information about COP30

Official UN COP30 Website   ----------   Official COP Presidency (Brazil) Website       

Link to Quaker Youth UN Ambassador Program   

In addition to negotiators, UN officials, and support staff, many UN treaty meetings also include observers.  Simply put, an observer is a representative of a civil society organization who are present to witness negotiations, represent their communities, and bring back to those communities what they learn.  Observers can be present at negotiations but generally can not participate in them.  Observer groups often organize side events and press conferences, and in many instances participate in public demonstrations supporting or objecting to trending policy.

A note about civil society: Civil society organizations include environmental organizations, service clubs, faith communities, trade groups, industry and business representatives, tribal nations and indigenous groups, youth groups, etc. etc.  Admitted NGOs - A UNFCCC secretariat web page talking about observer groups.

Becoming an onsite observer is often complicated and time-consuming because the number of people who can attend a meeting is limited by the resources available at the meeting site.  It also tends to expensive to be an observer because of the cost of travel, lodging, food, etc.  The number of observers at COPs have grown significantly since the UNFCCC treaty was signed into force nearly 33 years ago.  At the same time the need for increasing this number has also grown because of the need to foster society wide support for and involvement in climate action.  Unfortunately it is increasingly apparent that it is becoming physically impossible to accommodate more observers at meeting sites.

Fortunately, with more meeting events being broadcast over the internet, it is becoming much more common for civil society observer groups to be hybrid, with a few of its members attending UN climate events in person, while a larger portion of the delegations participate virtually.  In addition to reducing the stress on conference hosts, this arrangement reduces the costs for observer delegations, and provide the delegations with ways of more quickly and readily engaging their own communities in the issues presented in the meetings.

A note on remote observers:  For several years now the UN has been credentialing what they call virtual-only observers.  These are observers who have access to meeting digital platform containing schedules with links to recorded and live-streamed meeting and a variety of networking tools.  A great many of the recordings are available via the UN YouTube channel, meaning that it is still possible to keep up with COP30 and other UN climate meetings without being credentialled virtual observer.

This website exists to provide all those in the general public wishing to observe events related to COP30 with a gateway for accessing recordings of meetings, press conferences, negotiations, and other events happening during the conference.  It is being written as COP30 evolves.  So it will be growing throughout the week and a half of the conference, and will continue to grow for a while after it is done.

In addition to links to official UN on-line resources, it will also include notifications of events by civil society groups, as well as recording of events by those groups and new agencies.

Questions, comments, and suggestions should be directed to Frank D. Granshaw at < fgransha@gmail.com > 

• COP30 Belem: Turning Promises into Action - Globalissues.org

• COP30 Resources - Environmental and Energy Study Institute

• COP30 unpacked: Why and How Belem could be a Turning Point for Climate Adaptation - Stockholm Environmental Institute

• Forging Africa's path to COP30 and beyond - Institute for Security Studies

• Moments that Paved the Path to COP30 - An infographic from State of the Planet News from the Columbia Climate School

• NAP Global Network at COP 30 - National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Network

• Path to COP 30 - World Resources Institute

• Q&A: COP30 could - finally agree - how to track the "global goal on adaptation" - CarbonBrief

• State of Climate Action in 2025  - World Resources Institute

• UN Conference Engagement Guides - Justice Coalition of Religious

• 'We are asking the world to act': African women on frontlines of climate change demand justice at COP30 - A news article from the National Catholic Reporter

• What's at Stake for Climate Change Adaptation at COP30? - International Institute for Sustainable Development

• Who wants what at COP30 - CarbonBrief

UNCC YouTube Channel (Upcoming and recorded channels)

• UN Climate Change events / Livestream - A source of upcoming livestream events from the conference.   Each listing has an option to notify you when the events takes place and lists the event according to your time zone.

• UN Climate Change events / Recorded - A source of upcoming livestream events from the conference.   Each listing has an option to notify you when the events takes place and lists the event according to your time zone.

COP30 Briefs from the Brazilian Presidency from COP30 Brazil News

• Nov 12 (W) - Morning summary

• Nov 11 (Tu) - Evening summary / Morning summary

• Nov 10 (M) - Evening summary

• UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Steill's opening speech at COP30 - A video recording from UNCC

• President Lula Opens COP30 in Belem with an urgent call to action - A video recording from TeleSUR 

Introduction to Mitigation 

UNCC information page

• Where Do Emissions Come From?  4 Charts Explain Greenhous Gas Emissions by Sector - An article from the World Resources Institute

Additional events and resources upcoming as they become available

Adaptation and Resilience 

UNCC information page

Additional events and resources upcoming as they become available

Introduction to Climate Finance 

UNCC information page

Additional events and resources upcoming as they become available

What is just transition? And why is it important? 

United Nations Development Program news story

Climate change is a matter of justice - here's why
United Nations Development Program news story

• Window into COP30 - A Minnesota based climate education organization (Climate Generation) that regularly sends youth delegation to the COPs

• Global Systems Science (GSS) curriculum materials - Free high school geoscience materials that looks extensively at climate systems.  From Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkely 

• Teachers COP - An online event for teachers from the Office for Climate Education (related to UNESCO)

• A Call to Action towards COP30  (World Council of Churches)

• Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP) 2025 - A non-denominational Christian precense at COP30 and training program for observers.

• COP30: Connecting Global Advocacy to Local Climate Action - News article on the Lutheran World Federation delegation to COP30

• Faith Based Side Events at COP30 - A listing of side events at the conference organized by faith groups.  From Interfaith and Climate Change

• Faith Leaders gather for "Peoples COP" - An article from Premier Christian News about a conference being held in tandem with COP30

• Global Jewry Declaration to COP30 - A declaration from 13 Jewish environmental groups.

• Interfaith Talanoa Dialogue - Organized by Interfaith and Climate Change

• Interfaith Call to Climate Action - An article on the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the UNFCCC from Quakers and Climate Worldwide

• Loretta Community to COP30 - Links to a virtual delegation from The Congregation of the Sisters of Loretta 

• Lungs of the World - A campaign of the Anglican Communion.  This campaign has a delegation to COP30.

• Pre-COP30 Ecumenical Faith Leader's Press Conference - World Council of Churches new release 

• Quaker Youth UN Ambassador Program (Quaker Earthcare Witness)

• Stay up to date on COP30 - An article in the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement Newsletter

• Taking action for COP30: Guided by Faith, Acting for Justice - Islam and Climate Change from Ummah for Earth

• The Laudato Si' Movement at COP of Hope: Turning Faith into Hope and Action

Under construction - This space will contain post conference summaries and webinars as they become available