COP30: Slow and insufficient progress according to the European Parliament delegation.

The final outcome fails to address the urgency of the climate crisis. Brussels fears growing isolation in global negotiations.

At the end of the 2025 climate negotiations, officially concluded on November 22 in Belém, Brazil, the European Parliament delegation expressed critical assessments of the COP30 outcome. Despite some progress, the overall assessment by the European working groups openly speaks of progress that is too slow and incapable of addressing the scale of the global climate crisis.

Pereira: "Multilateralism is safe, but the agreement could have gone much further."

Lídia Pereira (EPP, Portugal), chair of the European Parliament delegation, acknowledged that during the conference the EU had to contend with a united front of BRICS countries and several Arab states, as well as a COP Presidency deemed reluctant to push for more ambitious goals.

"Despite the European Parliament's clear mandate on mitigation and the phase-out of fossil fuels," Pereira said, "the final outcome did not go as far as we would have liked. However, we have achieved some important results: the recognition of the need to close the emissions gap, the organization of a ministerial event dedicated to the implementation of commitments, and progress through the Belém 1.5°C Mission and the Global Implementation Accelerator."

On the adaptation front, Pereira noted that the new collective quantified target for climate finance (NCQG) includes a recommendation to triple support to the most vulnerable countries by 2035, a signal he described as “crucial for strengthening global solidarity.”

Despite the slow pace of negotiations, Pereira stressed that "multilateralism has held" and reiterated that the EU remains determined to demand a level of ambition consistent with scientific evidence.

Chahim: "Minimal results, the gap between objectives and reality remains enormous."

Mohammed Chahim (S&D, Netherlands), vice-president of the delegation, took a more severe view. According to Chahim, the COP30 outcome "ensures a minimum basis for global climate action," but fails to adequately address the urgency of the crisis.

“The gap between climate ambition and actual emissions reductions remains dramatically wide,” he said, “and this agreement does not represent the decisive step the world needs.”

Chahim also highlighted how the geopolitical balance of power is changing rapidly, influencing the entire negotiation:
President Lula had raised the bar of expectations, and the EU arrived with the intention of leading a coalition of ambitious countries. But the resistance from the oil-producing countries was too strong. Europe, along with the United Kingdom, had to swim against the current, and this is increasingly isolating it.

According to the vice president, to avoid a similar scenario at the next COPs it will be necessary to "create new international alliances and strengthen the ranks of countries committed to a real ecological transition."

A difficult negotiation, in an increasingly complex global context

COP30, held from November 10 to 21 in Belém, was the scene of long and complex negotiations. The main issues concerned:

• the exit from fossil fuels, still opposed by several producing countries;
• climate financing, with the need to guarantee certain and increased funds to the most vulnerable countries;
• adaptation and resilience, central themes in a year marked by extreme weather events;
• the review of national commitments (NDC) to keep the trajectory towards the 1,5°C goal alive.

The EU, along with its more aligned partners, has pushed for clearer language on the fossil fuel phase-out, an issue that continues to represent the main divide in international climate negotiations.

The European delegation: meetings, side events, and diplomatic pressure

During the conference, the European Parliament delegation participated in meetings with ministers, parliamentarians, NGOs, civil society representatives, and international climate organizations.
Two parallel events were also co-organised at the Finnish pavilion, dedicated to the future of European climate policies and to a review of the ten years that have passed since the Paris Agreement.

A joint press conference between Pereira and European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra was also held on November 19.