The ambassador Mauricio Lyrio, COP30 Climate Secretary and one of our country’s main negotiators at the event, revealed a “disappointment” of the organization with the number of NDCs – nationally determined contributions – delivered by countries until then.
“This year we were somewhat disappointed with the slowness with which the NDCs were presented, and in some cases, they were not presented at all,” said Lyrio in an interview with CNN Brasil.
So far, at COP30, 111 countries delivered their NDCs, among the 198 signatories to the Paris Agreement.
“In terms of emissions, it’s good, it’s a reasonable number. But it’s still not enough, as some countries didn’t present it”, said Lyrio. “The situation is still worrying, but progress has been made.”
These are national commitments to reduce emissions and climate adaptation voluntarily assumed by each nation that is part of the Paris Agreement. Each country sets its own NDC to contribute to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
US unknown
The COP30 Climate Secretary also highlighted that there is an unknown question surrounding United States emissions. The country left the Paris Agreement at the beginning of the year, after President Donald Trump’s victory. However, the US had presented a target to reduce emissions in NDC released during the Biden administration.
“It’s not a surprise that the US didn’t come. Four countries are not part of the Paris Agreement and the US is one of them”, said Lyrio. The ambassador also highlighted that one of the largest states in the country is “very well represented”.
Division between developing and developed countries
Mauricio Lyrio also highlighted that in a negotiation involving 198 parties, it will always be difficult to reach consensus.
“There is a fracture in the middle of the negotiation, a main division. Which is that rich countries want everyone to do more in terms of limiting CO2 emissions, on the other hand, developing countries demand rich countries that they do”, he said. “This is the basic antagonism that makes reaching consensus not so easy.”
