The importance of COP30

This meeting is called COP30, the 30th “Conference of the Parties”, and it is being held in Brazil, in the city of Belém, close to the Amazon rainforest – a key place for our planet. The participating countries already reached a major agreement in Paris in 2015, known as the Paris Agreement. The goal was to prevent the planet’s temperature from rising too much, aiming to keep the increase within 1.5 degrees above late-19th-century levels, or at least well below 2 degrees. But problems remain: many countries have not yet presented updated plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are driving global warming. COP30 is crucial because it deals with issues that are fundamental for our future. The Amazon rainforest, near Belém, is one of the largest and most important in the world: it acts like a huge “lung”, absorbing large quantities of carbon dioxide. If it is destroyed, global warming will get worse. The fact that the conference is taking place right there is highly symbolic. Despite the commitments made by countries, CO₂ emissions continue to rise, and the years 2024–2025 could set new records, making it very difficult to achieve the 1.5-degree target. There is also a major question of fairness: rich countries need to help poorer ones, which often suffer more from the impacts of climate change despite contributing less to the problem. All of this has a direct meaning for each of us: the decisions taken at this meeting will affect the world we live in – the climate, nature, forests, the oceans and the air we breathe. Small everyday actions, such as saving energy, using more sustainable forms of transport or avoiding food waste, can make a difference if many people adopt them. Being informed is already a step forward: knowing that the problems exist and understanding how we can play our part, even through ideas or projects at school, matters. The situation may seem worrying, but history shows that major changes are possible when many people act together. COP30 is far more than a big diplomatic gathering: it is a crucial moment for deciding what we want our planet to look like tomorrow. Forests, the climate, government decisions and citizens’ actions are all interconnected. The future of the world also depends on what we do today.