COP30 was billed as the adaptation COP. But did the summit live up to expectations?
In this episode, E3G Senior Policy Advisor Ana Mulio Alvarez returns to the Climate Proofers podcast to deliver a frank post-mortem on the Belém conference. She gets into the gory details on how the Brazilian presidency tried to center adaptation in the talks, only to have its own messaging derailed somewhat by President Lula’s energetic push for a fossil fuel roadmap. The result: a COP defined by competing priorities and scrambled narratives.
Ana walks us through the summit’s headline-making call to triple adaptation finance, and why it matters despite the ambiguous language used and lack of a clear baseline. She also comments on the supporting infrastructure of work programs, networking hubs, and financing roadmaps that may (or may not) continue to strengthen adaptation financing efforts heading into Bonn and COP31.
Then, she offers a forensic account of the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) indicator negotiations, which collapsed into a confusing — and controversial — mess at the conference’s climax. She explains how the final set of 59 indicators now face a legitimacy problem that could haunt the adaptation agenda for years to come. Still, she sees a silver lining. With fresh scrutiny, new analysis, and a healthy dose of political pressure, the flawed indicators have the potential to be transformed into something more useful down the line.
Ana also touches on a range of other adaptation issues spotlighted at the summit, from the overdue assessment of National Adaptation Plans to the disappointments experienced by the cash-starved Adaptation Fund.
If you want the most honest, deeply informed readout of COP30’s adaptation highs and lows — Ana’s got you covered.
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We talk about:
👉 How COP30 drifted off its “Adaptation COP” script, with Lula’s fossil fuel and deforestation roadmap overshadowing the presidency’s year-long push to elevate adaptation
👉 The politics behind the new adaptation finance target, including why tripling finance by 2035 matters despite the weak language used in the final text
👉 The GGA indicator controversy, from the scramble of week two to the last-minute gaveling of a flawed set of indicators
👉 The state of National Adaptation Plans, the completion of the long-delayed NAP assessment, and new efforts to turn NAPs into investible pipelines rather than static documents
👉 Chronic underfunding of the Adaptation Fund and the emerging push for solidarity levies — including premium-flyer taxes — as potential new sources of adaptation finance
Thanks for listening!
Louie Woodall
Editor
