Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.With the clock ticking down at the COP30 climate conference, nations are split on key issues and an outcome marred by weak climate commitments or insufficient financial pledges looms. In particular a carbon tax – the European Union’s flagship policy – is in the crosshairs.
The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is taking place in the Brazilian city of Belém, is due to end on Friday but the UN’s annual climate talks usually spill into overtime as negotiators struggle to find compromises over how to tackle climate change.
The host, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, warned of a “climate apocalypse”, with some states shifting their attention from global warming to security or even straight-up denial. The United States of America, for example, did not send a delegation.
“There will be no energy security in a world on fire,” Lula warned, saying the conflict in Ukraine had “undone years of efforts to reduce emissions” of greenhouse gases.
What does Brussels want?
The European Union is aiming to fill the void and be a leader in climate diplomacy, following a hard-won agreement on its climate targets. Brussels said ahead of the conference it aimed to play a central role in advancing climate efforts at home and globally.
Its key priorities include strengthening global mitigation and adaptation efforts, boosting climate finance mobilisation, and accelerating the energy transition to a climate-neutral economy while ensuring a just transition away from fossil fuels.
The EU’s position at COP30 is to advocate for stronger global climate action by submitting an ambitious new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – the effort by each country to reduce its emission and adapt to the impacts of climate change – to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by between 66.25 and72.5 percent by 2035.
Carbon tax trouble
The EU is also pushing carbon pricing as a key policy to meet climate targets. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen encouraged countries to launch their own domestic compliance carbon markets.
“Carbon pricing has become a central tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with a strong business case for the economy and for the people.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
Carbon credits are tradable permits representing a verified reduction of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere. The EU has set up an Emissions Trading system (EU ETS) and sets a cap on how much CO2 can be emitted anually.
Companies must buy or receive allowances corresponding to their CO2 emissions. This for example would make energy production from clean power sources cheaper.
But one of the biggest bones of contention is the EU’s carbon tax on imports. “Pricing carbon is something that we need to pursue with as many [countries] as possible, as quickly as possible,” the EU’s Climate Commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, told the gathering.
China, India and other allied countries however want COP30 to adopt a decision against unilateral trade barriers. This would counter the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Having been tested since 2023 and set to become fully operational in 2026, CBAM targets imports of carbon-intensive goods such as steel, aluminum, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen.
European industries have to decarbonise their manufacturing, but that could risk their competitve advantage. CBAM extends the EU’s “polluter pays” principle to outside the EU.
Rising temperatures at home
Ahead of COP30 tempers in the EU rose over the bloc’s new climate targets.
The EU member states and Parliament agreed to reduce emissions – but with significantly more flexibility and fallback options than proposed by the Commission.
Parliament voted for an amendment to the EU Climate Law, setting a 2040 climate target of 90 percent reduction (including up to 5 percent of international carbon credits) in net greenhouse gas emissions compared to levels in 1990.
Reactions to the new EU climate target have been mixed. Several EU countries, such as Poland and France, resisted the 90 percent target, citing economic burdens, problems for industry and a tense geopolitical environment.
While the agreement was generally regarded as a strong signal, several compromises raised concerns with environmentalists. The original Commission proposal for example only provided for up to 3 percent international carbon credits. Also, plans to include the buildings and the road transport sectors to the EU’s emissions trading scheme are to be pushed back by one year to 2028 under the compromise.
Spain has consistently advocated for greater ambition in addressing climate change and considers that emissions-reduction targets are compatible with economic growth and job creation. Although it believes that the EU is arriving in Brazil with its homework done, it would have preferred to go a step further than what was ultimately agreed.
“It is not a perfect text, but it is a very good one,” said Spain’s Third Vice-President and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, of the European reduction targets. Spain had defended the 90 percent target as a “red line” and had been in favour of limiting the use of international credits to 3 percent.
The Swedish government has strongly been advocating for a 90 percent target for 2040 and a strong NDC from Europe. At the same time, the government has been heavily criticised by the opposition for not sending its climate minister to the COP30. Instead, King Carl Gustaf took part in high-level meetings, but this also caused upset as the king in his speech in Belém expressed doubt on whether everyone will sign up to a final document and stated that “the rest of the world is much worse” than Europe when it comes to emissions.
Also, while unity is on display in Belém, in Brussels the EU risks splitting once again over its own green agenda. Lawmakers in the European Parliament last week voted in favour of steep cuts to the EU’s sustainability reporting and due diligence laws. This includes the elimination of the obligation for companies to prepare climate transition plans. Von der Leyen’s conservative European People’s Party (EPP) teamed up with parties on the far right for this vote.
Degrees of opposition
Another divisive issue was a push by island states – backed by Latin American nations and the EU – for the conference to respond to the latest projections showing the world will fail to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. But major emerging countries, from China to Saudi Arabia, are wary of any text that implies they are not doing enough to curb climate change.
Last year’s summit in Baku (Azerbaijan) ended with an agreement for developed countries to provide 300 billion dollars annually in climate finance to poorer nations – a figure criticised as greatly insufficient. Developing countries, especially from Africa, want COP30 to point the finger at developed nations for falling short on providing financing to help adapt to climate change and cut emissions.
Germany is contributing 60 million Euro this year, Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said. According to the government in Berlin, Germany has been the largest donor to the Adaptation Fund since it was established in 2007.
Individual efforts
Aside from joint EU policies, individual member states give focused support, or are expected to do so:
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised a “substantial sum” for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility set up by Brazil. Under the rainforest fund, countries that preserve forests are rewarded, while those that destroy forested land pay penalties. Rainforests play a crucial role in climate stabilisation, including by acting as carbon sinks. According to Brazil’s estimates, the fund, with a target volume of 125 billion dollars, could distribute around 4 billion dollars annually after an initial start-up period.
The Portuguese government announced 1.5 million Euro last week to finance a transparency program on climate legislation made by Portuguese-speaking countries. Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho said that the aim of this program is to give support to climate action and concrete legislation and to make sure that the money spent goes to specific proposals and has real consequences in mitigating climate change. All the Portuguese-speaking countries are in areas of the globe under extreme pressure from extreme weather, mainly South America and Africa.
Slovenia’s Environment Minister Bojan Kumer said his country was proof that small countries could play an important role in climate efforts. He mentioned Slovenia’s 2045 climate neutrality goal, set in the country’s first climate law, which was adopted in July. Slovenia is gradually increasing funding for climate action, both through bilateral projects and multilateral contributions to various funds, including the fund for responding to loss and damage, which finances initiatives to help vulnerable communities recover from climate-related losses and damage.
This article is an ENR Key Story. The content is based on information published by ENR participating agencies.