Climate Action
Everything You Wanted to Know About COP30 and Were Afraid to Ask
November 10, 2025
COP30, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 30th Conference of Parties, has just begun in Belém, Brazil, making it the perfect time to ask: how did the idea of COPs get started? Why do they exist, what progress have they made, and what might COP30 achieve?
Come In Planet Earth – We Have A Problem!
In its simplest form, these meetings are about sharing ideas to tackle climate change and protect the planet.
It really all began in 1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden,which is widely considered the starting point of modern international environmental diplomacy. One of its key outcomes was the Stockholm Declaration, which included principle 1: “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being.”
This is often interpreted as a recognition of the “right to a healthy environment.”
So while the Stockholm conference didn’t create COPs, it set the scene for their creation by sparking global environmental cooperation between countries and paving the way for the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Here leaders wrote the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), an international agreement acknowledging that the planet is warming and that all countries must work together to address it. Finally we had some teeth!
We Have Lift Off
In 1995, the first COP took place, cunningly named – COP01 – it took place in Berlin, Germany, where the focus was mainly on setting up the Berlin Mandate, which recognized that some countries, having contributed most to greenhouse gas emissions, needed to take stronger action to reduce them.
The work wasn’t finished, so leaders met again in 1996 at COP2 in Geneva, Switzerland . Around 155 countries participated, with more than 1,500 representatives from governments, intergovernmental organizations, and NGOs. At this meeting, countries agreed that the science was clear: climate change is real and driven by human activity. There was no fake news about climate change being a theory. It was rightly recognized as real and happening.
Interestingly, given that this year the United States federal government will not be at COP30, at COP2, the U.S played a key leadership role, shifting its position to support a legally binding agreement under the Berlin Mandate. With the problem clearly defined and international consensus growing, it was finally time for countries to take meaningful action.
The Race to Slow Down Climate Change
At COP3 in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, leaders agreed on a landmark deal: the Kyoto Protocol. Think of it as the world’s first “rulebook” for climate action, setting targets for rich, industrialized countries to reduce their greenhouse gas, GHG, emissions, with each country’s target based on how much it had historically contributed to climate change.
These greenhouse gases are mostly released by human activities and they act as an unwanted planet blanket – trapping heat and warming the climate up. The main gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and some synthetic gases used in industry and refrigeration.
We need to fast forward to COP11 in Montreal (2005), where the Kyoto Protocol officially came into force. For this to happen, enough countries had to ratify it — and together, they had to account for at least 55% of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by developed countries in 1990, ensuring that the world’s biggest polluters were part of the agreement.
Notably, the United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, it was the ratification of Russia in 2004 that finally meant the threshold needed for it to take effect was met. Yep you heard that right, Russia.
At the same meeting, leaders also launched the Montreal Action Plan, a roadmap to extend the Kyoto Protocol beyond its first commitment period which ran from 2008 to 2012. As well as outline plans for deeper emissions cuts in the next phase, meaning countries would aim for stricter targets to further reduce their contribution to climate change. The
What Did All This Talking Actually Mean?
During the first commitment period, 2008-2012, developed countries were expected to reduce their GHG emissions by 5%, from 1990 levels. COP15 (2009) in Copenhagen, Denmark was a damp squib and a much need binding agreement to follow Kyoto, didn’t happen.
The turning point came at COP21 in Paris, France (2015). Nearly every country in the world signed the Paris Agreement, pledging to keep global warming below 2°C, and to aim for 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. A few countries, including Iran and North Korea, have still not signed, while Turkey and Nicaragua joined later. The United States signed under President Obama, later withdrew under President Trump, rejoined under President Biden, then withdrew again under President Trump in 2025.
But in 2015 every signatory country made its own climate plan, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC for short, outlining how they would limit global warming to well below 2°C target. NDCs are officially updated every 5 years.
After skipping 2020 due to COVID, COP26 took place in 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Some countries pledged to end deforestation of 85% of the world’s forests by 2030, some agreed to cut methane emissions by 30%.
At COP27 in Sharm el‑Sheikh, Egypt (2022), a major milestone was reached with the Loss and Damage Fund, providing money to help countries hit hardest by climate change. It was also here at COP27 that EARTHDAY.ORG made a big impact amplifying the need for climate education in all schools, with a dedicated Climate Education Hub Pavilion.
Put simply, climate education builds a much needed green skilled workforce. The World Bank estimates the global green transition could create around 100 million new jobs, with India alone seeing 35 million green jobs by 2047. The global transition to clean power is driving this need for skilled workers as renewable energy investment reached over $1.8 trillion in 2023 alone, and renewable energy jobs tipped 16.2 millions worldwide the same year.
Education is King
The good news is that climate education is gaining traction. In the 2020 NDCs, only 40 countries mentioned climate or environmental education in their strategies for mitigation, adaptation, or resilience. By October 2025, after years of dedicated campaigning by groups like EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO), 152 countries now meaningfully include, reference, or institutionalize climate education. The European Union, all 27 nations just added it to their NDC mirroring EDO language.
EDO also launched the Climate Education Coalition, bringing together over 100 youth organizations worldwide, championing the planet saving qualities of teaching climate education. But w indeed your support – please add your name to our Climate Literacy Petition. Help us make our voices louder!
Plus, EARTHDAY.ORG has a presence on the ground at COP30. If you would like to speak to our team, contact our Director of Climate Education, Bryce Coon at [email protected] or feel free to email our Regional Director of Brazil and South America, Rodolfo Beltran at [email protected]. He is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese.
COP30 in Brazil?
COP30 is a milestone. Thirty years of climate talks have seen global emissions still rising, and the 1.5°C target slipping out of reach. To succeed, countries must deliver ambitious, credible climate plans, close the climate finance gap, support developing nations, and heed the signals of the natural world.
Which is why President Lula of Brazil wants to put nature and Indigenous leadership at the center of the talks. Many are calling this the “Forest COP” and a chance to show the world that protecting forests is not just symbolic, but crucial. But Brazil faces what some call the “Brazilian paradox.” On one hand, it champions forest protection and renewable energy. On the other hand, it has recently approved new oil exploration projects at the mouth of the Amazon River.
While there is a tension between economic growth and the urgent need to shift away from fossil fuels, countries like Colombia are already moving to phase out oil exploration. If Brazil follows suit, the region could lead the next decade of climate solutions.
If you want to learn more about why COP30 must take meaningful action to protect the world’s forests, check out our newest series. EARTHDAY.ORG, in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center, will jointly present Underreported Earth: Tree Tales from November 17–19. The series features conversations with Pulitzer Center investigative journalist grantees sharing their powerful forest stories from Brazil and the Congo Basin. Tracy McVeigh of The Guardian, global development desk and editor of foundations and philanthropic projects, will go behind the scenes with investigative journalists to reveal how they uncovered compelling stories about deforestation and conservation and why these stories matter to us all.
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