The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Inger Andersen, has described the outcomes of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, as evidence that the Paris Agreement is still working, even as she warned that far greater global ambition and urgency are required to keep the 1.5°C goal alive.
In a statement issued at the close of the climate talks, Andersen noted that COP30 took place “at the gateway to the Amazon” against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions and global uncertainty. Despite these challenges, she said the negotiations delivered meaningful progress, including a call to triple adaptation finance by 2035, the establishment of a Just Transition Mechanism to ensure equitable benefits from the emerging green economy, and new dialogues on climate-resilient trade and on integrating the protection of mountain ecosystems into climate policy.
According to Andersen, UNEP’s scientific assessments continue to show the magnitude of the climate challenge but also confirm that viable and proven solutions remain within reach. She stressed that countries must treat their new national climate plans as a starting point, not the limit of their ambition.
“No one is saying this will be easy or that we are on track,” she cautioned. “We must do much more, move much faster, and stretch our collective ambition even further.” She added that accelerating the era of implementation is critical to delivering the everyday benefits people deserve, including affordable clean energy, good jobs, clean air and a more resilient future. Andersen also emphasised the urgency of boosting financing for climate adaptation as impacts escalate across all regions.
COP30, she said, reinforced rising global momentum toward a transition away from fossil fuels, as first agreed at COP28 in Dubai. She also welcomed renewed commitments to halt deforestation, including the launch of the US$6.7 billion Tropical Forest Forever Facility, and highlighted growing support for rapid, high-impact action such as cutting methane emissions.
Andersen praised the Brazilian Presidency’s inclusive Action Agenda, which saw unprecedented leadership from Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon and beyond, as well as strong contributions from businesses, cities, local communities, civil society, women, youth, and people of African descent. This broad-based mobilization, she noted, is becoming a defining feature of global climate action.
“UNEP will continue our work to support all partners deliver the promise of the Paris Agreement, for people and for planet,” she affirmed.
