The expectation is that the ‘Belém package’ will be approved in two stages; the first must be voted on in the plenary session on Wednesday (19), and the second is scheduled for Friday (21), on the last day of the event
The presidency of announced this Monday (17) that it has set up a task force among negotiators from participating countries to speed up discussions and define a set of measures, in what is being called the Package of .
The idea is for the package to be approved in two stages: the first being finalized for approval in the plenary session on Wednesday (19), two days before the official closing of the conference; and the second to be completed on Friday (21), the end date of the event.
The working methodology was communicated in a letter sent to the parties by the president of COP30, André Corrêa do Lago, in this decisive week of the event – which takes place for the first time in the Amazon – when ministers from different governments are in the capital of Pará with political power to close possible agreements.
“Let us work side by side, in task force mode, to implement the Belém Package: with speed, equity and respect for all. Let us accelerate the pace, overcome divisions and focus not on what separates us, but on what unites us in purpose and humanity”, says an excerpt from the ambassador’s letter.
“The world observes not only what we decide, but how we decide: whether our process reflects trust, generosity and courage. Most importantly, the joint effort can demonstrate our ability to work together to respond to the urgency”, states another excerpt from the document.
Belém Package
Items in the package that may have early decisions include the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), the work program on just transition, national adaptation plans, climate finance, work program on mitigation, matters related to the Permanent Finance Commission, the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility, and guidance on the Loss and Damage Response Fund.
Also included in this first package are reports and matters related to the Adaptation Fund, Technology Implementation Program and matters related to Article 13 of the Paris Agreement, which deals with climate action transparency reports.
“What the presidency proposed and the parties accepted is to try to conclude this first package of decisions by Wednesday night. And, with this, we will show that multilateralism can generate deliveries and deliveries even before the deadline”, highlighted the director of the Climate Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), Ambassador Liliam Chagas.
In addition to these items that are already consolidated in the COP30 Action Agenda, there is a set of four themes, which include the call for expanding climate goals – Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) -, public financing from developed countries to developing countries, unilateral trade measures (imposition of tariffs) and biannual transparency reports.
These points, together, are also being called the Belém collective effort. The second package will deal with other technical issues. In total, the COP30 Action Agenda has around 145 items.
To make the task force viable, the COP30 presidency will request authorization from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to extend the conference’s opening hours for an indefinite period.
“Each group will decide how much time they need to move forward with the work in progress,” said Liliam Chagas.
“This idea came from the atmosphere created in the first week, and the parties [países] they proposed this to the president, which would be possible. So, I repeat, this idea arose from these conversations with the parties, it was not something we defined”, reinforced Corrêa do Lago, president of the conference in Belém.
Reactions
Civil society organizations that follow the negotiations positively evaluated the announcement of the package of decisions that could bring forward agreements at COP30.
“The announcement of the political package to be negotiated, called the ‘mutirão’, gives us hope. The global response plan to the ambition gap and the ‘road maps’ for protecting forests and phasing out fossil fuels are on the table after many countries demonstrated support last week, inside and outside the negotiating rooms”, said climate policy specialist at Greenpeace Brazil, Anna Cárcamo.
According to the expert, options on increasing and monitoring public financing from developed countries, including at least tripling investments for adaptation by 2030, are also on the table: “However, the content of such a package is still open, including more ambitious and weaker options”, added Anna.
For WWF, the decision-making effort announced this Monday suggests that the negotiations are at a satisfactory pace, although the content that will, in fact, be agreed upon consensually between the parties is still open.
“Today’s announcement by the COP Presidency on the advancement of two negotiating packages is encouraging evidence of progress. Decisive political leadership will be needed to get us back on track towards the 1.5°C temperature limit set by the “, noted Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead.
*With information from Agência Brasil
