![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762889589_195_4552.jpg\")
People inspect the damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, in Black River, Jamaica. Photograph: Raquel Cunha\/Reuters<\/p>\nWorld must “honour 1.5C”, small island states insist<\/p>\n
Small island states have described the 1.5C limit for global heating as \u201ca lifeline\u201d and demanded that the world honours it, amid increasing gloom that the symbolic target has already been breached.<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall island states are here to demand we honour 1.5,\u201d Toiata Apelu-Uili, mitigation coordinator for the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not a political slogan. This is a lifeline for our survival, for our small islands. We\u2019re here because our survival, our people, our lives are not negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n
People inspect the damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, in Black River, Jamaica. Photograph: Raquel Cunha\/Reuters<\/p>\n
Apelu-Uili, who travelled for two days to get to Belem from Samoa, spoke at a side event on day one of Cop30<\/a>, where representatives of small island states offered delegates a start reminder of what failure at the climate talks looks like.<\/p>\n \u201cHurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica a week-and-a-half ago and every single Jamaican now knows the word catastrophic,\u201d said UnaMay Gordon, a former director of climate change for the Jamaican government and adviser to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, which coordinates climate action.<\/p>\n The strongest ever storm to hit Jamaica left dozens dead and caused billions of dollars worth of damage, roughly equivalent to 28% to 32% of last year\u2019s gross domestic product, according to the island\u2019s prime minister.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lost cultural heritage, 300-year-old churches are lost. A part of our identity was lost with it. People are hurting,\u201d Gordon told reporters.<\/p>\n Scientists say that breaching 1.5C would lead to several irreversible changes, like melting ice caps driving faster sea level rises of the kind that supercharged the winds driving Hurricane Melissa. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, last week described its breaching as a \u201cmoral failure and deadly negligence\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.39 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n California governor Gavin Newsom will be speaking at Cop30<\/a> in a few minutes.<\/p>\n Embedded at the top of the blog is a live feed of the summit\u2019s session on adaptation, cities and climate innovation, at which Newsom will speak alongside Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief.<\/p>\n Newsom is in Belem representing America Is All In and the US Climate Alliance, two organisations trying to keep America relevant in the fight against climate breakdown.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Removing carbon from the atmosphere will be necessary to avoid catastrophic tipping points, one of the world\u2019s leading scientists has warned, as even in the best-case scenario the world will heat by about 1.7C, writes Jonathan Watts, the Guardian\u2019s global environment writer.<\/p>\n Johan Rockstr\u00f6m of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who is one of the chief scientific advisers to the UN and the Cop30<\/a> presidency, said 10bn tonnes of carbon dioxide needed to be removed from the air every year even to limit global heating to 1.7C (3.1F) above preindustrial levels.<\/p>\n To achieve this through technological means, such as direct air capture, would require the construction of the world\u2019s second biggest industry, after oil and gas, and require expenditures of about a trillion dollars a year, scientists said. It would need to be done alongside much more drastic emissions cuts and could also have unintended consequences.<\/p>\n Rockstr\u00f6m was among several leading climate experts who spoke at a first public event for the Science Council, which was set up as an advisory body by the Bel\u00e9m Cop30<\/a> presidency.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>A group of women hold up a banner saying “feminists demand climate justice” at the Cop30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil. Photograph: Jonathan Watts\/The GuardianActivists at the Cop30 summit calling for what they call a \u201cBel\u00e9m Action Mechanism\u201d, a proposal to actualise nations’ pledges to protect workers in the transition away from polluting industry. “Though there are negotiations, there are some things that should be non-negotiable,” one activist said. Photograph: Dharna Noor\/The GuardianShare<\/a>California will prioritise green tech and climate, governor tells Cop30<\/p>\n California will continue to prioritise green technology and climate policy, the state\u2019s governor, Gavin Newsom, told delegates at Cop30, in defiance of Donald Trump\u2019s opposition to the green agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States of America is as dumb as we want to be on this topic, but the state of California is not,\u201d Newsom said, in the first of several scheduled appearances at the U.N. climate summit in Brazil<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so we are going to assert ourselves, we\u2019re going to lean in, and we are going to compete in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n Gavin Newsom speaking during an event at the COP30 summit on Tuesday. Photograph: Andr\u00e9 Penner\/AP<\/p>\n Newsom, one of Trump\u2019s most strident opponents, who has for months been teasing a run for the White House in 2028, arrived this week in Bel\u00e9m with a message that his state will continue to be a \u201creliable partner\u201d on green policy.<\/p>\n Though California is just one of 50 US states, the size of its economy \u2013 the world\u2019s fourth-largest \u2013 makes it a key player in influencing markets and energy policy.<\/p>\n Newsom is expected to meet with officials from some of the 195 governments taking part in Cop30, as well as a series of subnational leaders, including the governor of Brazil\u2019s state of Para, the location of the summit.<\/p>\n Trump, who has declared climate change a hoax, made withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement one of his first acts on resuming the presidency at the beginning of this year, and he has not sent a single official to this year\u2019s climate summit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason I\u2019m here is in the absence of leadership coming from the United States,\u201d Newsom said at an investors summit in Brazil\u2019s financial hub of Sao Paulo on Monday, according to Reuters. \u201cThis vacuum, it\u2019s rather jaw-dropping.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Visitors to the Cop30<\/a> climate summit may have tried the Amazon\u2019s famous acai berry before. But they are likely to be in for a surprise when they taste its authentic preparation in Bel\u00e9m, according to a report by the Associated Press.<\/p>\n The US-based news agency reports that acai bowls served by local vendors in the Amazonian city are served \u2013 true to the dish\u2019s rainforest roots \u2013 unadulterated and without sugar.<\/p>\n Punters more used to the frozen and sweetened acai cream sold in other countries, and elsewhere in Brazil<\/a>, are finding it an acquired taste.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say this is bad and I totally respect the cultural importance of it, but I still prefer the ice creamy version,\u201d Catherine Bernard, from France, told AP as she tasted a traditional acai berry bowl in downtown Belem on Thursday.<\/p>\n A woman prepares a large bowl of acai at a market in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, over the weekend. Photograph: Fernando Llano\/AP<\/p>\n Indigenous people in the Amazon have cultivated the acai berry for hundreds of years. The nutrient-rich fruit is blended into a thick liquid and served at room temperature with a sprinkling of tapioca flour.<\/p>\n Tain\u00e1 Marajoara, an activist and owner of a restaurant, told AP: \u201cThe acai coming from Indigenous people is the food when there\u2019s no food. It was never a drink or an extra. It can be the main course for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Marajoara\u2019s restaurant at the Cop3- pavilion charges 25 Brazilian reais ($5) for a bowl, about the same as bowls in other parts of Brazil that use industrially processed and sweetened acai cream, often with toppings.<\/p>\n A woman feeds acai to her child at a market in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil. Photograph: Fernando Llano\/APShare<\/a>World must “honour 1.5C”, small island states insist<\/p>\n Small island states have described the 1.5C limit for global heating as \u201ca lifeline\u201d and demanded that the world honours it, amid increasing gloom that the symbolic target has already been breached.<\/p>\n \u201cSmall island states are here to demand we honour 1.5,\u201d Toiata Apelu-Uili, mitigation coordinator for the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not a political slogan. This is a lifeline for our survival, for our small islands. We\u2019re here because our survival, our people, our lives are not negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n People inspect the damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, in Black River, Jamaica. Photograph: Raquel Cunha\/Reuters<\/p>\n Apelu-Uili, who travelled for two days to get to Belem from Samoa, spoke at a side event on day one of Cop30<\/a>, where representatives of small island states offered delegates a start reminder of what failure at the climate talks looks like.<\/p>\n \u201cHurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica a week-and-a-half ago and every single Jamaican now knows the word catastrophic,\u201d said UnaMay Gordon, a former director of climate change for the Jamaican government and adviser to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, which coordinates climate action.<\/p>\n The strongest ever storm to hit Jamaica left dozens dead and caused billions of dollars worth of damage, roughly equivalent to 28% to 32% of last year\u2019s gross domestic product, according to the island\u2019s prime minister.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lost cultural heritage, 300-year-old churches are lost. A part of our identity was lost with it. People are hurting,\u201d Gordon told reporters.<\/p>\n Scientists say that breaching 1.5C would lead to several irreversible changes, like melting ice caps driving faster sea level rises of the kind that supercharged the winds driving Hurricane Melissa. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, last week described its breaching as a \u201cmoral failure and deadly negligence\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.39 EST<\/p>\n Hello this is Damien Gayle, once again taking the reins on the Guardian\u2019s live coverage of the Cop30 circus in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil<\/a>, with thanks to Ajit for bringing you through the last few hours.<\/p>\n As ever, if you have any suggestions about what we should be covering on here please do feel free to drop me a line at damien.gayle@theguardian.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here are a few photos of campaigners protesting today at Cop30<\/a>. They include calls for a \u201cjust transition\u201d away from fossil fuels, feminists demanding climate justice, and a push to get oil and gas lobbyists out of UN climate talks.<\/p>\n A performer participates in a demonstration near a sign that reads “just transition”. Photograph: Andr\u00e9 Penner\/APDemonstrators protest carrying a sign that reads “feminists demand climate justice”. Photograph: Andr\u00e9 Penner\/APA woman holds a fan with a message that reads “Oil lobbyists out”. Photograph: Adriano Machado\/ReutersShare<\/a> For the first time in the history of these annual UN climate talks, the US has not sent a single official delegate, an analysis by Carbon Brief has confirmed.<\/p>\n The US is in rare company at this year\u2019s Cop summit in Belem, with only Afghanistan, Myanmar and San Marino also sending no delegates to the Amazon. Carbon Brief drew the numbers from the provisional<\/a> lists<\/a> of delegates published by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/a> (UNFCCC).<\/p>\n The lack of US representation is in line with the Trump administration confirming it would send no high-level officials to the talks, after the president had lambasted concerns over the climate crisis as a \u201ccon job\u201d and a \u201choax.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has spent recent months cajoling other countries to purchase US oil and gas, weakening their climate policies in order to do so. Despite the American absence, there has been nervousness in Belem that the administration will attempt to try to derail aspects of the climate talks by putting pressure on other countries from afar.<\/p>\n Overall, Cop30<\/a> is among the largest ever of the climate summits in terms of delegates, second only to Dubai in 2023. More than 56,000 people registered to come to Belem, near the mouth of the Amazon river, despite worries about exorbitant accommodation costs.<\/p>\n The figures are so far provisional, as some registered delegates will have not ultimately made the trip. The UNFCCC will release the final list at the end of the conference.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.53 EST<\/p>\n In the run-up to Cop30<\/a>, the Guardian published a series of articles looking at the ten biggest polluters of greenhouse gas, and their plans to clean up. Here\u2019s a piece my colleague Jonathan Watts wrote in September about China, which according to an analysis published today has plateaued its emissions.<\/p>\n Chinese power took on an old-fashioned hue in the past week with a huge military parade, a gathering of former allies Russia and North Korea, and President Xi Jinping\u2019s defiant vow not to be intimidated by bullies.<\/p>\n That display reminded many of the cold war, but it captured only a fraction of China\u2019s far greater modern influence, primarily built on a formidable economy, dramatic advancements in renewable energy, and a willingness to engage globally with the greatest crisis facing humanity: climate breakdown.<\/p>\n In that sense, the tanks, cannon and missiles that filed past Tiananmen Square may well prove less important in reshaping the world order than the wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars that are churning out of Chinese factories on to fields and roads all over the planet. They are the reason China has already won the battle for the energy of the 21st century.<\/p>\n If history is any guide, the country that dominates energy usually dominates economics and politics, which is why it is not just old war allies that are cosying up to Beijing. Narendra Modi, the president of longtime rival India, also visited China last week for the biggest ever meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation along with dozens of other regional leaders. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, led a delegation to Beijing this summer to coordinate climate policy. The Brazilian executive secretary of Cop30 will visit next week with a similar mission, knowing the success or failure of the annual climate summit now depends on China more than any other nation.<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>‘Ciao, bambino!’ – Paris climate agreement architect on US withdrawal<\/p>\n Dharna Noor<\/p>\n \u201cCiao, bambino!\u201d That was the message Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations framework convention on climate change, had for the US upon its recent exit from the Paris Climate Agreement.<\/p>\n The world\u2019s largest historical emitter also chose not to send a delegation to the negotiations. \u201cI think it actually is a good thing,\u201d Figueres said about the US\u2019s absence from the talks at a press conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Concerns about backdoor US influence at the talks are high, particularly in light of its role in derailing a global carbon fee on shipping at an international maritime meeting last month. There, the Trump administration threatened to impose sanctions and visa restrictions on nations that supported the deal, even reportedly menacing some country\u2019s officials during coffee breaks.<\/p>\n Since US negotiators won\u2019t be present at the climate conference, \u201cthey won\u2019t be able to do their direct bullying,\u201d Figueres told the Guardian.<\/p>\n Even if the US attempts to influence the fights, she said it won\u2019t be successful because so many countries have realised climate action is in their best interests.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, the decarbonisation of the global economy is irreversible,\u201d she said. \u201cMomentum is building into the point where it is simply unstoppable, with or without the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.31 EST<\/p>\n If you worry about your carbon footprint but still find yourself tossing out mouldy bread or expired milk, you are not alone.<\/p>\n Just 30 countries attending COP30 include food loss or waste in their national climate action plans, a new analysis has found, missing out on what its authors call a \u201chuge opportunity\u201d to cut planet-heating pollution.<\/p>\n The most recent estimates from the UN Environment Program suggest a staggering 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions come from food that is never even eaten. Food ends up in the bin at every stage of the supply chain – from farms to warehouses to supermarkets to kitchens \u2013 but little effort has been spent tackling food loss and waste.<\/p>\n The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the nonprofit that carried out the analysis, is pushing for greater action of food loss and waste at COP30 today, together with two other NGOs, the Global FoodBanking Network and ReFED.<\/p>\n \u201cReducing food waste is one of the fastest, most practical ways to cut emissions, ease pressure on supply chains, and make better use of the resources we already have,\u201d said Catherine David, CEO of WRAP.<\/p>\n The group found small progress since they carried out the analysis last year, with six more countries having made commitments to tackle food loss and\/or waste.<\/p>\n In total, just seven countries – United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Uruguay, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia and Indonesia – have committed to reducing both food loss and waste. The UK is the only country in Europe to address either of the issues, with a commitment to reduce food waste.<\/p>\n \u201cTo build a truly sustainable food system, we must rethink how we value food, from farm to fork and beyond,\u201d said David.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Chinese emissions flatline, analysis finds China\u2019s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months, analysis reveals, adding evidence to the hope that the world\u2019s biggest polluter has managed to hit its target of peak CO2 emissions well ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n Rapid increases in the deployment of solar and wind power generation \u2013 which grew by 46% and 11% respectively in the third quarter of this year \u2013 meant the country\u2019s energy sector emissions remained flat, even as the demand for electricity increased.<\/p>\n A stacked bar chart showing Chinese CO2 emissions from energy and cement, which have begun to plateau.<\/a><\/p>\n China added 240GW of solar capacity in the first nine months of this year, and 61GW of wind, putting it on track for another renewable record<\/a> in 2025. Last year, the country installed 333GW of solar power, more than the rest of the world combined.<\/p>\n The analysis<\/a> by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea), for the science and climate policy website Carbon Brief, found China\u2019s CO2 emissions were unchanged from a year earlier in the third quarter of 2025, thanks in part to declining emissions in the travel, cement and steel industries.<\/p>\n The findings come as global leaders gather in Brazil<\/a> for Cop30, which is taking place against a backdrop of increasing urgency in the fight against the climate crisis. China\u2019s president, Xi Jinping, did not attend the leaders\u2019 summit at the UN climate conference, but the Chinese delegation are present for the talks. Xi\u2019s US counterpart, Donald Trump, also did not attend and has not sent a negotiation team.<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of what climate negotiations are really about. This is Paul Gilbert\u2019s moving story, as told to my colleague Sandra Laville.<\/p>\n Paul Gilbert. Photograph: Jill Mead\/The Guardian<\/p>\n My mum rang me to tell me there was water coming into the house. She sounded fine, she wasn\u2019t panicking, just wanted to let me know so I wouldn\u2019t worry. But when I rang her back later, the telephone was dead.<\/p>\n When we eventually got into the house the next day, I found the phone downstairs near her body. It was floating in the water next to her; the flood waters had come in a torrent in less than two minutes from ankle to waist height.<\/p>\n My mum, Maureen Gilbert, had lived in her house in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, for 83 years, her whole life. I was born there 49 years ago. These houses have been up standing for 120 years, and in all the time my mum lived there, we had never had any floods until 2007, when the water probably got up to about 4ft. But this time there was nearly 6ft of water in the house.<\/p>\n I had visited her in the morning, after the flood alert was made, and left about 12 noon. I wasn\u2019t unduly worried; I glanced at the river levels as I left.<\/p>\n By 1.20pm she rang me when I was home to tell me there was water coming in. I said to her: \u201cAre you upstairs?\u201d She said she was just getting her stuff together to go upstairs. I told her to flip the electrics off and go upstairs; she has a kettle and everything up there, and I would ring her back after some calls I had to make.<\/p>\n I made a telephone call to sort out my daughter coming home from school as she was being released early. Then I rang Mum back \u2013 it was really just a few minutes later but the phone was dead.<\/p>\n It took me six hours to get across Chesterfield back to the terrace. It was chaos, water everywhere, the roads were gridlocked. It was 6.45pm when I got back to her house.<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.58 EST<\/p>\n Hello, this is Ajit Niranjan taking over the blog for the next few hours. If you\u2019re in Bel\u00e9m and have something to share – or if you\u2019re a reader elsewhere with requests for what we should cover at Cop30<\/a> – just drop me an email on ajit.niranjan@theguardian.com.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Climate campaigners last night confronted agribusiness lobbyists in a protest at the AgriZone, an area outside the Cop30<\/a> summit venue sponsored by Nestl\u00e9 and Bayer.<\/p>\n The campaigners, part of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, were protesting against Brazil\u2019s having allowed industrial agriculture companies to set up shop at the summit.<\/p>\n They pointed to evidence showing that industrial agriculture is a main driver of deforestation in the Amazon and produces a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n Climate campaigners at COP30 confronted Big Agriculture lobbyists in a protest at the AgriZone, a new zone near the Cop venue dedicated to agribusiness interests and sponsored by corporate giants Nestl\u00e9 and Bayer. Photograph: handout<\/p>\n The numbers of lobbyists at Cop summits has grown in recent years. Last week the Guardian reported that more than 5,000 fossil fuel lobbyists had attended the climate talks since Cop26<\/a> in Glasgow.<\/p>\n \u201cClimate spaces must stop being complicit with all forms of extractivism creating the crisis,\u201d said Erika Xananine Calvillo Ramirez, of the Stop Financing Factory Farming Coalition. She added:<\/p>\n The agribusiness has been responsible for the water crisis in the Ngiwa Valley of Tehuacan region in Mexico, and they must stop greenwashing their image at COP30.<\/p>\n Climate protesters at the corporate-sponsored AgriZone pointed to evidence showing that industrial agriculture is a main driver of deforestation in the Amazon and produces a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Photograph: handout<\/p>\n Andrea Echeverri, of the Global Forest Coalition, said:<\/p>\n The AgriZone is nothing more than a huge greenwashing space. While social organizations and other mortals usually compete to be heard in spaces in the Blue Zone and the Green Zone, agribusinesses have a huge space dedicated to dazzling negotiators and convincing them that they are not major polluters but rather the saviors of the planet.<\/p>\n The globalized agri-food system focused on livestock does not fulfill its purpose of feeding the world because it is designed to produce money, not food.<\/p>\n Inside the AgriZone, large companies, think tanks, and supposedly independent research centers are disguising their model with their \u201cclimate-smart\u201d models, their smart seeds, their digitization, and their metrics, while they are producing a food and agricultural crisis and a countryside without peasants, and without memory and diversity.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Ethiopia set to host Cop32 in 2027<\/p>\n Cop32 will be hosted in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n The news agency says it has been told by Andr\u00e9 Corr\u00eaa do Lago, the Cop30<\/a> president, that countries had agreed in principle to hold the 2027 edition of the UN climate summit in the east African nation.<\/p>\n The choice still needs to be formally adopted, in a process which is expected to take place on Tuesday, but which Reuters reported that sources said would pass without a hitch.<\/p>\n If it is confirmed, it means that the host of Cop32 will be decided before the host of Cop31 has been confirmed. Both Australia and Turkey are competing to host the 2026 summit, with Australia making its bid in partnership with the Pacific Islands, which are considered to be among the world\u2019s most vulnerable places to climate change.<\/p>\n COP summits rotate around the world\u2019s regions. Ethiopia launched its bid in September, and it was unanimously selected by the Bureau of African Countries despite a rival bid from Nigeria.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Hello, this is Damien Gayle at the helm of day two of the Guardian\u2019s Cop30<\/a> liveblog coverage.<\/p>\n If you have any suggestions for things we could be covering from this year\u2019s climate talks in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, then send me an email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Negotiations begin at Cop30 after agenda agreed Thunder, lightning and torrential rain tore down on the Cop30<\/a> conference centre in Bel\u00e9m on the opening day yesterday, but the climate gathering has so far avoided the political storms that often shake the early phases of the annual talks, writes Jonathan Watts, the Guardian\u2019s global environment writer.<\/p>\n How long the calm lasts will be clearer over the next two days, when the Brazilian presidency holds consultations with key nations on the items that will be discussed over the coming two weeks.<\/p>\n This is a diplomatic sleight of hand that has so far enabled the host to avoid the usual wrangles over the formal agenda, which have often taken several days in past conferences, holding up all other work. Yesterday, however, the agenda breezed through.<\/p>\n The Guardian can reveal a major leak on day one of Cop30 in Belem, Brazil. Photograph: Fiona Harvey\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The tough discussions over contentious items will now be wrangled in small-gatherings with the presidency, while other elements in the huge programme of talks can move ahead.<\/p>\n It is an encouraging start for the Cop president, Andr\u00e9 Corr\u00eaa do Lago, who is one of the world\u2019s most respected climate diplomats, having worked on environmental governance since the 1992 Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro \u2013 as he has reminded delegates.<\/p>\n Tougher battles lie ahead with the global political landscape continuing to create extra obstacles to progress. While many participants say they are glad the United States under Donald Trump has stayed away rather than being a disruptive presence, there is no doubt that any agreements will be weakened by the absence of the world\u2019s biggest historical emitter and wealthiest nation.<\/p>\n![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762889590_894_Jonathan_Watts.jpg\")
Jonathan WattsJohan Rockstrom, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Photograph: Michael Sohn\/AP<\/p>\n![\"Oliver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762889590_758_Oliver-Milman,-L.png\")
Oliver Milman<\/p>\n![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762889590_79_Amy_Hawkins.png\")
Amy Hawkins<\/p>\nJonathan Watts<\/p>\n