By Lucas Guaraldo*
A new letter published by André Corrêa do Lago, president of COP 30, states that the Belem conference “shed light on the limits of climate multilateralism and consensus decision-making”. The document also highlights the need to adopt new approaches capable of linking international debate with faster implementation.
“Climate urgency will not wait until political and socio-economic conditions become ideal […] No longer waiting for solutions imposed by decree, climate action has irreversibly transcended the limits of international law, negotiating rooms and technical reports. From a niche to the center of the agenda, the conditions have been created for a global structural transition towards low-carbon, climate-resilient development,” he says.
The difficulty of reaching consensus and including urgent but still controversial issues in the so-called “Belem Package” has raised debates about the capacity of the current model to tackle the climate crisis with the necessary speed. In addition, faced with obstacles in the discussions on fossil fuels, COP30 broke new ground by promoting intense debates on the subject and developing the Road Map for the transition away from fossil fuels.
“For three decades, political, public policy and business cycles operated under the illusion that the pace of global warming could match that of diplomacy, while climate change itself continued to outpace our international response. Let’s remember that the response to climate change no longer depends on formal authorization, nor is it confined to a single country, actor or sector. It is now an unstoppable movement, capable of uniting humanity around a common purpose: change by choice, together,” he adds.
As a way of adapting to a new climate change paradigm, André Corrêa suggests adopting a “two-speed” model for the debate on mitigation, implementation and adaptation. While the first institutional speed should remain based on consensus, ensuring legitimacy, the second should focus on implementation and on “allowing coalitions and actors ready to do so to mobilize resources, implement solutions and generate learning at scale”.
The declaration is part of an effort by the Brazilian presidency to open up new fronts for implementing mitigation and adaptation measures that are independent of global debates and negotiations. Created by the presidency, the so-called “Action Agenda” aims to mobilize climate action from civil society, companies, investors and other groups that are not part of the formal United Nations negotiation process, creating alternatives more quickly.
Another measure defended in the letter as essential for the new multilateralism is the Global Mutirão, adopted in Belém as a way of oxygenating the debates with the participation of civil society, social movements and local governments. In the recently published letter, André Corrêa argues that the inclusion of new points of view and adaptation processes is fundamental and that this does not represent a break with the current model, but a necessary adaptation to face the crisis.
“As the Afro-Brazilian tradition and Yoruba wisdom evoke through the figure of Ogum, the blacksmith, the moments of transition are not those in which the iron breaks, but in which it is placed in the forge. Climate multilateralism has reached this point,” he concludes.
IPAM journalist, lucas.itaborahy@ipam.org.br*