COP30 Opens Today

COP30 opens today in Brazil. The COP President has called this the “Adaptation COP”. I welcome that framing. It is long overdue for global leadership to acknowledge that severe climate impacts are already here, and that resilience and preparedness must now stand alongside emissions reduction, not behind it.

But I have to be honest: I said at COP26 that we would likely look back on that summit as the moment 1.5°C slipped out of reach. I argued then that the COP process was failing us. 

Since then, emissions have continued to rise, and communities around the world have been left exposed. So while I am glad to see adaptation finally recognised, I do not expect this summit to deliver the scale of action required.

Still, there are places where real work is happening – led by communities, councils, local organisers and networks preparing themselves for the impacts already unfolding. That is where I now place my hope.

I speak about this alongside Simon Evans, climate journalist and deputy editor of the website Carbon Brief, in a just released New Scientist COP30 special edition podcast.

Some of you may recall earlier reflections when I questioned the fate of 1.5°C at COP26; later wrote about whether the COP format can meaningfully deliver; and before COP27 suggested that, without a more honest reckoning with worsening impacts, further failure was likely.

While we may not be able to rely on COP to deliver what is needed, we can build the foundations of resilience close to home, in our communities, in our institutions, in our networks of trust. That work is already underway, and I’m grateful to be doing it alongside so many of you.