Brazil closes COP30 presidency with roadmaps, telling governments to act

Brazil is closing out its year-long turn at the helm of the UN climate process, and its parting message is blunt: stop talking and start doing. COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago, who ran last November's summit in Belem, said the era of fresh pledges is over. The presidency is leaving behind two roadmaps — one to speed the shift away from fossil fuels, one to curb deforestation — meant to push governments toward delivering on deals they already signed.

Neither roadmap made it into the final COP30 agreement. The fossil fuel plan had European backing but ran into a wall of opposition from major oil-producing countries, who were reluctant to embrace measures that could hurt a key revenue source. The deforestation plan stalled over the same old fight: who pays for protecting forests. Correa do Lago told Reuters the work doesn't need renegotiating anyway, because that negotiation already happened. Now, he said, it needs to be implemented.

The energy roadmap lays out a timeline. Through 2028, countries would assess their energy systems, tighten regulations and institutions, and draw up national transition plans ahead of the second Global Stocktake — the check on whether the world is actually on track. By 2030, infrastructure upgrades and renewable investments should be underway. From 2031 to 2033, the focus shifts to rolling out renewables faster, replacing fossil fuels and locking in cleaner systems. The roadmap itself flags an awkward truth: most recent renewable growth has gone toward meeting new demand, not displacing oil and gas. Global renewable capacity hit a record 5,149 gigawatts at the end of 2025, up 692 GW from the year before, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

On forests, the money gap is stark. UN Environment Programme figures cited in the plan say annual forest funding must climb from $84.5 billion in 2023, with the 2030 target sitting above $300 billion. National governments already carry 88.3% of forest finance, while international public funding makes up just 3.4% — leaving developing countries, home to most of the world's tropical forests, holding the bag. Brazil's proposed Tropical Forests Forever Facility would funnel returns from a sovereign fund into ongoing payments for countries that keep their forests standing. It had pulled in $7.6 billion by the close of COP30, short of its $10 billion target, per Correa do Lago. The roadmap also pushes stronger carbon markets, direct finance access for Indigenous peoples and local communities, and debt-relief tools.

Correa do Lago called public financing from developed countries absolutely essential, but argued the new plan offers a more diversified way to fund deforestation cuts. Its real value, he said, is showing how complicated the problem is — not just about money, though money is central. He also wants finance, infrastructure and transportation ministers at the table, not just environment officials. Next up: COP31 kicks off in Antalya, southern Turkey, on November 9, with summit president and Turkish environment minister Murat Kurum saying the agenda leans on implementation over new pledges, built on dialogue, consensus and action. The 1.5C goal set in Paris in 2015 is the backdrop to all of it — and a UN report last month said it is increasingly out of reach.