By Marina Grossi for Estadão*
The first UN climate conference held in Brazil and on Amazonian soil, COP30 also celebrates the first decade of the Paris Agreement. The international treaty signed in 2015 by 195 countries was a fundamental milestone for climate diplomacy, forging a new global pact to curb the climate crisis. Besides being unanimously approved, it established objectives for all countries worldwide, the main one being a commitment to prevent the global average temperature from rising above 2°C, with additional efforts to limit this increase to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. It also made history by bringing about a change in attitude not only among countries, but also among businesses, civil society, the financial market, and subnational governments—the so-called non-state actors—who began committing to the Action Agenda, joining forces.
Since the Paris Agreement, progress has been visible. Countries have begun presenting their long-term strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), which, revised every five years, become more ambitious and aligned with science. We're also seeing the emergence of transformative initiatives and stronger business and social coalitions: climate neutrality has become a corporate norm, shaping strategy, investments, incentives, and even product design. The Race to Zero campaign, created by the United Nations to engage companies in climate action plans, has more than 15,000 members by 2024, with a growth of 65% since 2022.
All of this has given an economic boost to technologies linked to the energy transition, which reached US$2.1 trillion in investment for the first time in 2024, doubling the volume of funding since the turn of the decade, according to BloombergNEF. Of note are renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar, which have become cheaper, driven by corporate acquisitions and long-term contracts; electric vehicles are becoming more popular and now account for more than US$1.3 trillion of global new car sales, with charging networks expanding and battery supply chains becoming more globalized. The next step is to secure essential minerals, expand charging to heavy-duty vehicles and emerging markets, and build circularity through battery recycling.
Another undeniable advance has come in the markets' perception of climate risks. Initiatives like the TFCD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) have broadened the understanding among companies, investors, and financial institutions that these risks need to be measured, reported, and incorporated as important variables in decision-making. Climate risk has come to be understood as a financial risk and a threat to global stability. The challenge now is to seek large-scale climate finance, so that private capital can be used as an instrument to help countries achieve the US$1.3 trillion needed for the transition—one of the central discussions of COP30.
As the Belém conference approaches, the private sector's mobilization for the Action Agenda is also growing. Aware that this will be the COP for implementation, whose decisions will be reflected in the coming years, companies have been increasing their participation in high-level preparatory events. One example was the presence of leaders from 50 major companies from all over the world at a meeting I convened in my role as COP30 Special Envoy for the Business Sector, together with the COP30 Presidency—represented by the Conference President himself, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, CEO Ana Toni, and High-Level Champion Dan Ioschpe—and with the support of several partners, during New York Climate Week in September. Since 2009, New York Climate Week has established itself as one of the most important events for climate action, and this year's program featured over 1,000 meetings. Their tone is reflected in the slogan “Power On,” a call from the organization to intensify efforts to contain the climate crisis.
This spirit of continuous engagement, with a focus on implementation, echoes the idea of a global task force launched by the COP30 Presidency, where all nations and non-governmental actors can and should mobilize to accelerate the transition to a new, low-carbon, prosperous, and inclusive economic model. Also inspired by the spirit of Rio 92—the foundation of the COPs and a milestone in global environmental governance—and the Paris Agreement, now entering its first decade, we must look ahead and ask ourselves: what are the key drivers of decarbonization? How can we scale? How do we adapt solutions to different realities? How can we finance and implement them effectively? The answers to these questions are already under construction, with much progress already made, and they will shape the future of the planet and humanity.
* Marina Grossi is president of CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development), an organization with 28 years of experience and 120 large associated companies, Special Envoy of the COP30 Presidency for the Business Sector
