Global efforts to tackle climate change have made headway despite the U.S. government's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, driven by private sector action and sharp drops in clean energy costs, said Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, President of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30).
In a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Correa do Lago noted that the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement has mobilized non-state actors, ranging from businesses to academia, helping advance climate solutions independent of federal policy.
"This is the phase of implementation, as we call it. And the phase of implementation was officially declared by the negotiators. Those who implement are not necessarily the government, it's many other stakeholders, and I think that the COP30, as one has put it, liberated all the other sectors to get more involved in the climate solutions than before COP30," he said.
Highlighting the U.S. as a key example, Correa do Lago noted that while the federal government stepped back, American businesses, academia, and civil society have actively driven the implementation agenda forward.
"For instance, there is an interesting element, is that the government of the United States does not participate in the COP. But the American private sector, the American academia, the American civil society participated actively in the action agenda, which is the one that deals with implementation. So implementation opens the door to the participation of all," the official said.
Turning to global leadership, the COP30 president highlighted China’s green transition, noting that its clean-tech scale has made renewable energy affordable for the developing world.
"I think that China is the demonstration that the transition is possible. And China demonstrated that, not only in China, but demonstrated also elsewhere, because by reducing the cost of the new technologies, in the case of solar panels, by 95 percent, it has allowed all the developing countries to embrace this agenda with the completely different circumstances, because the prices are infinitely lower. So, China is the country that has been presenting most answers to the fight against climate change and so I believe that this leadership is more and more evident," he said.
Building on the non-state momentum and implementation framework established at COP30, the upcoming COP31 summit is scheduled to take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from Nov. 9 to 20.
Global climate action surges via private sector, civil society despite US exit: COP30 chief
