COP30 Lack of Ambition – Already On Track for Failure

Essay by Eric Worrall

China, India and Saudi Arabia can barely be bothered to pretend – except about wanting free money.

Sep 12, 2025

Countries trail COP30 clash over global response to shortfall in national climate plans

China, India and Saudi Arabia rejected a COP30 dialogue on an upcoming UN review of climate plans, widely expected to show the world is not on track to limit global warming to agreed levels

Matteo Civillini  Reporter
Editing: Megan Rowling
Additional reporting: Sebastián Rodríguez

Governments drew their battle lines this week over how COP30 should respond to an expected shortfall in ambition in countries’ national climate plans, raising the prospect of a fight at the UN summit in Belém.

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The clash of views became public for the first time on Thursday as Brazil’s COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago hosted a first round of informal consultations with delegations in a bid to avert procedural arguments over the agenda delaying the start of negotiations, as has occurred in recent years.

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Rich nations, least developed countries (LDCs), small island states, Latin American nations and the United Arab Emirates spoke in favour of a COP30 decision that acknowledges the progress and remaining gaps in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and lays out a pathway for accelerating climate action in the years ahead.

But a group of high-income emerging countries – including China, Saudi Arabia and India – voiced strong opposition to that plan. They argued that discussions of those NDCs and the UN “synthesis report” assessing them are not on the summit’s agenda – and the only space for addressing a shortfall in ambition remains the Global Stocktake (GST).

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Large emerging economies and the group of Arab countries pushed back on the need to discuss climate plans – arguing the topic is not on the agenda and would go against the “nationally determined” nature of the Paris Agreement. Instead, they called for talks to focus on finance and trade measures.

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Read more: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/12/countries-trail-cop30-ndcs-clash-on-global-response-to-shortfall-in-national-climate-plans/

What a clown show. The only thing worth deciding at this already failed COP conference is deciding whether it is worth holding a COP31.

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