Resolution on the UN Climate Change Conference 2025 in Belém, Brazil (COP30)

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the UN Climate Change Conference 2025 in Belém, Brazil (COP30).

Global stocktake, NDCs and the COP30 in Belém

The 30th UN climate conference will take place from 10 to 21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (through nationally determined contributions or NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29.

Firstly, Parliament highlighted the fact that the outcome of the first global stocktake (GST) at COP28 recognised that pathways limiting global warming to 1.5 °C with no or limited overshoot and to 2 °C require a peaking of global GHG emissions by 2025, and that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C with no or limited overshoot requires deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global GHG emissions of 43 % by 2030 and 60 % by 2035 relative to the 2019 level, reaching net zero GHG emissions by 2050.

The resolution noted with concern that the aggregated emissions reductions from the submitted NDCs fall significantly short of the emission pathways required to respect the Paris Agreement target and the conclusions of the first GST. It urged COP30 to reaffirm the commitment to the 1.5 °C target and to agree on the need to continue to strengthen ambition, and to take concrete decisions to support the implementation of the NDCs. Members considered that GSTs should take place more frequently and called for all parties that are not on track to achieving the Paris Agreement goal to update and strengthen their NDCs every second year, in addition to the five-yearly review cycle.

Members strongly regretted the decision by the US Government to withdraw, for the second time, from the Paris Agreement and called for the United States to re-consider its withdrawal, and to contribute its fair share to the global effort to tackle climate change and to global climate finance.

Parliament called for time-bound plans to phase out fossil fuel production and consumption, to eliminate inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies and to engage in the development of a fossil-fuel non-proliferation treaty.

International climate finance and sustainable finance

According to various UN reports, the global climate finance gap between what is needed and what is currently provided is large and growing, and that this growing gap stems from a number of factors, all of which should be adequately addressed.

The EU and its Member States are called on to scale up new and additional climate finance, through a dedicated and predictable EU public finance mechanism, to be in line with the agreed New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).

Parliament considered it essential to make progress at COP30 on the operationalisation of Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement to make financial flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development and to make this a standing point on the COP agendas. It considered that the European Investment Bank (EIB) should serve as the Union’s climate bank.

EU climate policy aligned with the Paris Agreement

The resolution highlighted the fact that the EU’s current climate legislation, if fully implemented, will reduce the EU’s net GHG emissions by around 57 % by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. It noted that the EU is currently on course to reduce net GHG emissions by only around 54 % by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, if the Member States fully implement existing and planned national measures and EU policies. Member States are called on to take the necessary measures to address this gap, and on the Commission to take additional measures to support Member States in that effort.

Energy policy

Parliament stressed the importance of phasing out fossil fuels as soon as possible while reiterating the need to develop measures to ensure gas supply at a mitigated cost for sectors that cannot rely substantially on electrification in the short to medium term. The EU should continue to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels, increase the diversity of its energy suppliers, and develop an energy efficient and decarbonised economy. It is called on to urgently end imports of Russian fossil fuels, including natural gas.

Role of the European Parliament at COP30

According to the resolution, Parliament should be an integral part of the EU delegation at COP30, given that it must give its consent to international agreements and plays a central role in the domestic implementation of the Paris Agreement as one of the EU’s co-legislators. It should therefore be allowed to attend EU coordination meetings at COP30 in Belém and to be guaranteed access to all preparatory documents in good time.