Global climate diplomacy must shift focus from highly “politicised” negotiations to advancing real collective action on the ground to remain credible, Brazil’s COP30 presidency has warned.

In a long letter setting out his vision, André Aranha Corrêa Do Lago, president-designate for this year’s UN climate summit in the Amazon city of Belém, called for a “new era” in which “words and texts” agreed by countries bring about economic and social transformation.

The seasoned diplomat set out his belief that it is necessary to find solutions beyond the multilateral climate regime and “create levers” in other institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, while working more closely with regional governments, civil society and the private sector.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the letter’s publication on Monday, Do Lago suggested a more pragmatic approach could help circumvent some of the longstanding divisions in climate talks. “There are few negotiations that are as politicised as climate change negotiations,” he said.

“You can see very clearly that there are limits to what the UNFCCC [the UN climate body] and the Paris Agreement can do in implementation,” Do Lago added. “We need to be much more practical, much more objective, much quicker so that we can use other institutions in the best way possible. We have to think of those who are really going to implement the COP decisions.”

New approach for challenging times

Marking ten years since countries agreed to the landmark Paris pact, COP30 will have to contend with an unprecedented geopolitical context.

US President Donald Trump is pulling the US out of the international climate agreement, while slashing financial support for global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a warming world. While, on paper, major European nations have reiterated their commitment to climate action, their attention is increasingly shifting towards security concerns, with defence spending taking precedence.

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Ambassador Do Lago acknowledged the world has changed in just a few months, ushering in a “really challenging context” for climate diplomacy.

But, he added, this creates an opportunity to be “very open”, engage as many actors as possible and find a better path towards combating climate change.

The US remains a “central” country for climate discussions and solutions, Do Lago told reporters. “There is the US government that will probably limit its participation [but] the US is a country with such amazing technology, amazing innovation – this is the US that can contribute,” he added.

‘Circle of Presidencies’

Brazil wants to set up a new mechanism called the “Circle of Presidencies” to advise on the political process and the implementation of climate action. The country presidencies of the last nine climate COPs – from Paris to Baku – and the current presidencies of the UN talks on biodiversity and desertification will be invited to join the body and provide suggestions on the future of global climate governance.

As all countries are due to submit their updated national climate plans this year, before COP30, Brazil plans to “stimulate a frank collective reflection on bottlenecks that have been hampering climate ambition and implementation”, Do Lago wrote in his letter.

He also indicated that Brazil will work together with COP29 host Azerbaijan on a “roadmap” to scale up climate finance to developing countries from all public and private sources to at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035. Countries agreed to that headline figure in the final moments of last year’s summit, without specifying where the money would come from.

“Experts are clear: we only have a few years. If climate goals are to be achieved, both adaptation and mitigation financing will need to be increased many-fold,” Do Lago said.

‘Ethical stocktake’

The incoming president then spotlighted some of the thorny negotiating issues that still need to be resolved in Belém after flopping at COP29, including the work programme on just transition and the dialogue on implementing the outcomes of the Global Stocktake, issued at COP28 after