COP30 outcome: slow progress, but insufficient to meet climate crisis urgency 

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.

Following the end of the 2025 climate negotiations, the MEPs leading Parliament’s delegation reacted to the outcome of the COP30.

“At COP30, despite our persistent efforts and the European Parliament’s clear mandate on mitigation and the phase-out of fossil fuels, we faced a unified BRICS–Arab front and a Presidency unwilling to match our level of ambition, and we must regret that the final outcome did not go further. Still, we secured acknowledgment of the response to the emissions gap, a high-level event on implementation, and progress through the Belém 1.5°C Mission, the Global Implementation Accelerator, and a plurilateral initiative on transitioning away from fossil fuels. On adaptation, finance was protected within the new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG) framework, and we achieved a recommendation to at least triple support by 2035, reinforcing solidarity with the most vulnerable. Trade elements of negotiations remained intact with an added report. And while momentum for global climate action is slower than it should be, multilateralism held, and we remain determined to push for the ambition the science demands.”, said Lídia Pereira (EPP, PT), delegation chair.

“The outcome of COP30 secures a very minimal basis for global climate action, but the pace remains far too insufficient to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. This result confirms that the gap between climate ambition and concrete emission reductions remains consistently large. This is not the major step the world needs now. President Lula set the bar high, and the EU came with the intention of taking the lead in a coalition of ambitious countries. However, the resistance from, among others, the oil states was too great, and the geopolitical balances have clearly shifted. Together with the United Kingdom, the EU had to row against the tide to salvage any ambition. This increasingly isolates Europe from the rest of the world. The EU must now urgently forge coalitions to prevent us from becoming isolated again in future negotiations.”, said Mohammed Chahim (S&D, NL), vice-chair of the delegation.

Background

The 30th United Nations climate conference (COP30) was scheduled to take place from 10 to 21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil (a final agreement was reached on 22 November). An official Parliament delegation attended the conference from 17 to 21 November.

A joint press conference with delegation chair Lídia Pereira and Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, took place on Wednesday 19 November (watch the recording).

Parliament’s delegation co-hosted two side events, debating the future of EU climate policy and taking stock of the ten years that passed since the Paris Agreement, and had exchanges with ministers, parliamentarians, civil society representatives, leaders of international climate organisations and other delegates. Video extracts and photos are available here.

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