President Ursula von der Leyen was this week in Belém, Brazil, where she took part in the opening of the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference with world leaders.
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the COP30 takes place at a pivotal moment towards achieving the clean transition and limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
President von der Leyen reaffirmed the EU's commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and reiterated that Europe is staying the course on its climate commitments. The EU will continue leading these efforts, acting as a reliable and ambitious partner that is delivering at home, driving cooperation and decarbonisation abroad.
The EU is well on track to achieve its target of 55% less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, in comparison to 1990. Now, the EU presented a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with a commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 66.25% - 72.5% by 2035 – the second most ambitious plan amongst major emitters, as the President highlighted.
In addition, this week, Member States also agreed on a legally-binding 90% GHG emissions reduction by 2040 – making crucial progress for setting an EU climate target for the following decade.
On Thursday, the President participated at the General Plenary of Leaders, where she stressed the importance of this year's COP. "This must be the COP that keeps 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. The COP that strengthens our determination to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030. The COP that delivers for those countries that are most vulnerable to the devastating impact of climate change. The European Union is ready to contribute," she said.
She elaborated on how the EU is helping, including through over 40 bilateral clean transition partnerships, over USD 34 billion in public climate finance contributed last year, and supporting partners to build their own emissions trading systems with the EU Carbon Pricing Task Force.
On Friday, President von der Leyen endorsed the Leaders Declaration on Carbon Markets, which will boost the recognition of carbon pricing and market mechanisms worldwide.
The President also participated in a roundtable focused on the energy transition. She underlined the progress made over the past two years when the world committed to tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.
She said: "We are moving ever faster to the goal of tripling the renewable energies by 2030 and doubling the efficiency. Solar and wind have overtaken coal as the largest source of electricity. This year, 95% of new capacity worldwide was from renewables. Renewables are no longer just cleaner; they are also cheaper. And I am very glad to see that countries are putting these goals at the heart of their climate plans. Almost half of them included a target for renewables in their new NDCs. So we can all say the clean energy transition is here to stay."
However, she reminded that the benefits of the transition need to be felt everywhere: "Of the USD 2 trillion invested in clean energy in 2024, only 2% went to Africa, the continent having 60% of the world's best solar potential. We have to change that."
The 'Scaling Up Renewables in Africa' campaign, launched last year by President von der Leyen and President Cyril Ramaphosa, of South Africa, aims to address that situation by combining public and private financing to accelerate the transition, create jobs, and bring electricity to the 600 million people in Africa who still lack access to it.
President von der Leyen announced that a pledging summit will take place in Johannesburg on 21 November, bringing together government representatives, the private sector and relevant stakeholders to boost investment and tap into Africa's enormous potential for renewables.
Furthermore, with the continued growth of renewables such as solar and wind energy, the world needs to develop proper electricity storage capacity. The EU is contributing to this endeavour through Global Gateway, with about 25% of the €300 billion invested so far going into grids and storage capacity.
In the margins of the COP30, the President met the President of Brazil and host of the conference, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. She also met the Secretary-General of the UN António Guterres; the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, with whom she discussed the EU's support to the Caribbean region as it faces increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
The COP30 will continue until 21 November. Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra will lead the EU negotiating team as of next week and Commissioner Dan Jørgensen will participate in other energy related events. Executive Vice-President Ribera participated this week in the 'COP30 Local Leaders Forum' in Rio de Janeiro.
