Brazil leads global effort to expand climate targets by 2030

247 - Promoting a just, orderly, and equitable energy transition, tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency, restoring ecosystems, and reducing methane emissions are central goals of the Global Balance Sheet of the Paris Agreement (GST). The report assessed the implementation of the first Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and defined priorities that should guide climate action until 2030. This information comes from the COP30 presidency.

With the delivery of the new NDCs scheduled for 2025, a crucial window of opportunity opens for countries to review and expand their commitments, making their goals more ambitious and anchored in concrete actions.

In his fourth letter to the international community, the president of COP30, André Corrêa do Lago, emphasized that the Action Agenda should be a collective instrument of engagement. “The Action Agenda must create the collective motivation for the full implementation of the GST. It must mobilize all stakeholders to work alongside governments on global causes, such as halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030,” he stated.

The diplomat added that the same agenda should “support the acceleration of the energy transition worldwide, including tripling global renewable energy capacity, doubling the global average annual rate of improvements in energy efficiency by 2030, and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a fair, orderly and equitable manner.”

For Corrêa do Lago, the Action Agenda and the NDCs represent the central instrument of global climate action. “Using the GST as a reference, we can transform climate action, moving from cacophony to a well-orchestrated symphony—in which multilateral negotiations set the tone, and the NDCs and the Action Agenda provide the instruments,” he wrote.

The new round of climate commitments

The NDCs detail the goals and policies that each country intends to adopt to limit global warming to 1,5°C, as per the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015. Every five years, the 195 signatories must submit their new contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

To date, 101 countries have pledged to deliver their new NDCs by COP30, which will be held in Belém in November 2025. Of these, 62 have already submitted their commitments, according to updated data from the UNFCCC, available on the organization's official website.

During the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva emphasized the importance of this process. "The NDCs are the roadmap that will guide each country in this change," he stated, calling on all nations to present their plans by COP30.

COP30 CEO Ana Toni highlighted Brazil's role in the international mobilization. "For the first time, a COP presidency held two Summits on NDCs – one at the beginning of 2025 and another during Climate Week in New York – signaling the global effort towards more ambitious and well-structured commitments," she emphasized during the Pre-COP briefing.

Brazil, which also co-chairs the NDC Partnership, has collaborated with more than 70 countries to improve their climate targets and ensure robust implementation plans, with an emphasis on sectors such as energy, agriculture, and financing.

Energy transition at the heart of the NDCs.

The energy sector is the main contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore is at the heart of climate strategies. “Three-quarters of global emissions come from the energy sector. So, the energy transition is the world's answer to curbing global warming,” explained Karen Silverwood-Cope, Director of Climate, Finance and Economics at WRI Brazil.

In the NDCs presented so far, solutions are heavily focused on expanding renewable energy. Silverwood-Cope noted that this trend is expected to intensify: “The growth of renewable energies, such as wind and solar, is expanding and should continue. The same is true for biofuels. In addition, there will be greater demand for bioenergy sources, such as energy harnessing from solid waste or biomethane.”

According to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2024 report, there has been significant progress since COP28, when the global goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 was set. Previously, only 14 countries had explicit targets on the subject; today, around 70—responsible for 80% of global capacity—have already achieved or exceeded their goals.

Brazil as a model for clean energy.

Brazil is a world leader in renewable energy, with over 90% of its electricity matrix composed of clean sources such as hydroelectric, solar, and wind power. “We started with hydroelectric power because we didn't have coal. Not that we were thinking about climate change in the 1960s or 1970s. Later, we moved on to solar and wind energy,” recalled Corrêa do Lago during New York Climate Week.

Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio also highlighted Brazil's leading role in biofuels. "In many countries, there is no option to refuel with ethanol at gas stations, nor cars with 'flex' technology, which allows the use of renewable fuels," he stated in an interview with the COP30 website.

Financing: the most critical link

Despite the progress, climate finance remains the biggest challenge. During the UN meeting on NDCs, the European Union reaffirmed that it will continue to be the main global financier, with up to 300 billion euros allocated to the clean transition. China, meanwhile, presented its first absolute emissions reduction target.

Leaders from the Global South, such as Xi Jinping (China) and William Ruto (Kenya), have argued that the energy transition should reduce inequalities and not deepen the gap between rich and poor countries.

The COP30 presidency emphasizes that the challenge is collective: no single country will be able to close the gap between promises and actions. The Action Agenda aims to mobilize governments, businesses, cities, and civil society to accelerate the implementation of what has already been agreed upon—transforming commitments into concrete results by 2030.