COP30 Daily News- Day 3

COP30 Blue Zone

Date: November 12^th, 2025

Day 3 of COP30 highlighted people-centred climate action, emphasizing the role of work, learning, culture, and skills in driving fair and resilient transitions. The conference underscored the link between human capital and climate progress, showcasing initiatives that integrate jobs, education, Indigenous knowledge, and finance into national and international climate strategies.

Key themes for the day included Health, Jobs, Education, Culture, Justice and Human Rights, Information Integration, and Workforce Empowerment.

Negotiation Core Streams Today

The Global Initiative on Jobs & Skills for the New Economy launched its Flagship Report and Action Agenda at Special Event Room No. 3 – Parnaíba, aiming to connect governments, industries, and civil society to integrate jobs and skills into climate and economic strategies. The initiative also seeks to mobilize public and private finance and establish investment mechanisms to support an inclusive transition.

The Indigenous Adaptation high-level roundtable, organized by the Special Envoy for Indigenous Peoples, Ms. Sineia Bezerra do Vale, highlighted Indigenous-led adaptation pathways. Held in Special Events Room 1 – São Francisco, the session fostered dialogue between governments, Indigenous leaders, multilateral funds, and UNFCCC officials under the theme “From the Territories to the World — and Back: Indigenous Pathways for Climate Adaptation.” Outcomes include increased visibility of Indigenous Peoples in climate negotiations, recommendations for UNFCCC and national adaptation plans, and steps to integrate Indigenous perspectives into finance and adaptation mechanisms.

The Asset Owners Summit, a closed-door gathering in Special Events Room 1 – São Francisco, brought together asset owners and corporate leaders to build consensus on priority climate solutions, investment geographies, and fiduciary responsibilities for transition finance. The summit, titled “Global Summit Unites Investors and Business Leaders to Drive Financing Solutions for a Low-Carbon Economy,” aimed to align participants on key solutions and geographies, establish a unified fiduciary rationale, and provide a read-out to inform Finance Ministers and the Global Climate Action Agenda.

The Baku Hub Annual High-Level Dialogue, co-organized by the COP29 Presidency, Green Climate Fund, and IOM in Special Events Room 2 – Madeira, focusing on the intersection of climate resilience, peacebuilding, and human mobility. The dialogue showcased country-driven pilot projects in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, mobilizing partnerships to translate pledges into practical action. Its objectives included demonstrating integrated, peace-positive climate solutions, mobilizing climate finance for vulnerable countries, and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships and local ownership. Expected outcomes included the approval of initial pilot projects, engagement of technical partners, and new co-financing commitments with MDBs, UN agencies, and international organizations.

Key Announcements

Full Protection Environmental Assets Project

The Project in the Brazilian Amazon was officially launched by NatureFinance and the Legal Amazon Consortium, with support from the Finance and Environment Secretariats of the nine Amazonian states. The initiative establishes innovative economic mechanisms to value and remunerate ecosystem services provided by fully protected conservation units, transforming forest preservation into a strategic, revenue-generating asset. This approach allows state governments to generate predictable returns from conservation while freeing resources for social and economic development. The project aligns with Brazil’s Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) framework and COP30’s delivery agenda.

Al Gore: Climate TRACE and the Urgency for Action

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore addressed COP30 delegates with a stark message on the escalating impacts of climate change, presenting images of recent disasters worsened by global heating. Emphasizing the need for immediate action, he warned that “We need to adapt as well as mitigate, but we also need to be realistic that if we allow this to continue, some things will be very difficult to adapt to.” Gore also highlighted technology in climate accountability, promoting the Climate TRACE project, which maps planet-heating emissions and air pollutants globally. “Some people think we don’t have the political will, but as I like to remind people, political will is a renewable resource,” he said, underlining the critical role of innovation and transparency in accelerating climate action.

African Delegations Emphasizing the Urgent Need for Financing

African delegations are emphasizing the urgent need to mobilize USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2030 for climate mitigation and adaptation. The African Development Bank (AfDB) highlights adaptation, a just transition, and strengthening Africa’s voice in negotiations as top priorities. Civil society representatives underline the justice dimension: «Ensuring access to clean energy and securing climate finance based on grants rather than loans is not just a goal, it is a matter of justice and equity»

On the ground, the energy transition represents a key strategic pillar. At the Africa Climate Summit 2025, Rwandan Minister Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya estimated that African countries will require “at least USD 25 billion per year” to effectively reverse climate impacts. While solar, hydro, and wind projects are expanding across the continent, their success depends on integrating them into a sustainable, long-term framework, rather than implementing isolated, one-off initiatives.

Critical Signals

People, Indigenous knowledge, and skills are central to climate action, complementing high-level finance and technological initiatives.
Innovation in climate finance, including conservation-based revenue streams and asset owner engagement, demonstrates a shift from pledges to actionable solutions.
Integration of adaptation, equity, and local ownership is increasingly shaping COP30 outcomes, particularly in fragile and high-risk regions.

COP30 Green Zone

Climate Data into Action

Innovative solutions typically emerge in response to documented adversities and losses. This was evident on the third day of COP30, when Al Gore, the former US vice president and climate advocate, presented a slide show of recent damages and catastrophic impacts of the Amazon drought, Greenland ice melting, and severe downpours and storms in Vietnam, Jamaica, Brazil, the Philippines, and the US. With this context, Gore promoted his Climate TRACE project, which maps planet-heating emissions and air pollutants causing health problems worldwide.

As a non-profit coalition, Climate TRACE adopts AI and satellite imagery to pinpoint facilities with large emissions that could most benefit from intervention at cost-effective rates. It identifies facilities such as steel plants, refineries, landfill dumps, megafarms, and other large carbon sources where high-quality, cost-effective decarbonization strategies can rapidly reduce emissions. The emerging tools could be used to “give a ready-made blueprint” to firms by pinpointing areas where they can decarbonize most quickly.

Taking the steel sector as an example, approximately one-third of large steel plants around the world are due to undergo costly “re-lining” in the next five years. If those facilities were replaced with the most efficient low-carbon technology instead of simply being refurbished, it would enable more seamless and impactful decarbonization in one of the most carbon-intensive industries.

Another proposed case is the mining sector, where coal mines release vast quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas estimated to be responsible for approximately one-third of global warming. The new Climate TRACE tools can identify these mines and recommend best-in-class technology to capture and utilize methane. On this note, Gore expressed his optimistic view that Climate TRACE’s data could guide economies in drafting their national climate plans and accelerating their pathway to curb carbon output in line with the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Beyond Technical Mitigation – Inclusive Climate Action

A climate justice flotilla of more than 100 boats carrying 5,000 Indigenous activists, forest defenders, and other civil society campaigners arrived in the COP30 host city, making the opening of the venue for the “People’s Summit,” which runs alongside the main climate talks. This year, Belém has become the first COP host to actively encourage civil society participation. The activists are united in defense of nature and the rights and territories of traditional peoples, resisting contemporary threats to their lands from agribusiness and mining.

Their banners echo the scientists’ warning that the Amazon, the most globally critical ecosystem, has approached the point of no return due to human exploitation. Banners inscribed with “We are the frontline of the climate crisis” have triggered calls for redirecting financial support to traditional peoples and forest defenders rather than extractivist industries. Amplifying Indigenous voices creates momentum that may carry forward and potentially become the central focus of the next round of climate negotiations.

Sustainable Solutions for Tropical Agriculture at AgriZone

COP30 President Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago visited AgriZone, a space designated for sustainable agriculture and technological innovation, during the conference. Led by Embrapa in partnership with Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Supply (MAPA), the initiative showcases Brazil’s leadership in building a more sustainable future through low-carbon agricultural production and tropical agriculture innovation.

The space brings together public institutions, researchers, and stakeholders from productive sectors to showcase Brazilian-made solutions that embrace agricultural production, environmental conservation, and food security. It features technological advancements, demonstrations of agroforestry systems and biofortified crops, as well as a program of panels and projects supporting the low-carbon agriculture transition.

References: