As world leaders meet in Brazil for the COP30 climate summit, many of the executives tasked with funding global decarbonization are nowhere to be found.
According to Reuters, they intentionally gathered in São Paulo, Brazil’s financial powerhouse.
This year marks the first UN climate summit to be held in two cities, unlike previous UN climate conferences in Baku, Dubai, Sharm el-Sheikh and Glasgow.
As heads of state ready for high-level talks in Belém, November 10–21, fin-focused conferences are luring thousands of registrants to São Paulo.
These third-party business get-togethers, now with the stamp of approval from Brazil after a break in 2020, have turned into the new hotspot for many in the business world.
The majority of the two dozen executives interviewed by the news agency stated that they had no intentions to travel to Belém, where official COP30 negotiations will begin following a leaders’ conference.
“It’s complicated to get there, much more difficult logistically, and I think it’s better here,” said Walter Mattaliano, CFO of Hydnum Steel, a South Korean business seeking financing for a green steel project.
Business Hub vs political summit
Børge Brende, president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, said he would have preferred that all COP30 events be held in the same place.
Nonetheless, he referred to São Paulo as “probably the business capital of Latin America,” highlighting the city’s expanding influence in global banking.
COP30 has been dubbed a “implementation COP,” a meeting dedicated to implementing existing pledges rather than negotiating new ones.
In this light, corporate executives say that staying aside from the primary discussions may not impede development.
“What matters most isn’t whether business leaders are in the same room as negotiators—it’s whether they’re taking action back home,” said David Kennedy, director of the Science Based Targets program, which assists firms in developing emissions-reduction strategies.
According to Kennedy, more than 11,000 organisations have set or committed to setting targets based on climate science, and the number of net-zero commitments has tripled since late 2023.
Calls for policy and market support
Despite increasing involvement, executives remain firm that governments need to do more.
Recent United Nations reports indicate that the world remains far off track in its efforts to limit global warming, with temperatures projected to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels around 2030 and potentially rise as high as 2.5 degrees Celsius.
However, a separate report released Tuesday pointed to growing progress in reducing emissions from industrial companies, which account for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas output.
The report noted that more than 1,000 emission-cutting projects are currently in development, signalling increasing momentum toward decarbonising heavy industry.
According to Reuters, the latest UN data reveals that the world is still far from reaching the 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels for warming.
In actuality, we may exceed that level by 2030 and continue to rise to two and a half degrees.
There are indications of change. According to a UN report released on Tuesday, there is a growing international effort to cut industrial emissions, which account for approximately 25% of global totals.
Over 1,000 new initiatives are being developed, indicating that companies are moving from commitments to commercialisation.
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