The Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Climate Change Conference met for the annual meeting in Belem between November 10 to November 22, 2025. In a time of climate uncertainty and a rapid call for urgency to recognize the urgency of climate change, the COP30 brings an opportunity for global collaboration and a call to action.
This year, for the first the COP was hosted at the edge of the Amazon rainforest, a historic location for the climate conference .Even though, the global policy is aiming to be more inclusive with more than 900 indigenous participants, triple the number of participants from last year. There were massive protests at the COP30 by indigenous groups like the Munduruku demanding an end to the activities that threaten the territories of these groups especially in Tapagos and Xingu River basins.
This year also marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement, which has become the cornerstone of international climate policy.
The following section outlines key outcomes from COP30, which are now being referred to as the Belem Package and their broader implications.
Resilience Focused
Despite the hope that many had for acceleration in the ambition of countries in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), to end fossil fuel use and halt deforestation, the central focus of COP was on building resilience, more than mitigation, this year.
Resilience building and adaptation have remained longstanding priorities for India at the previous COPs, consistently shaping its climate negotiations and policy commitments over the past several years. This sustained focus on resilience and adaptation is reflected in India’s commitment to equity in climate action. The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) was welcomed by the Indian delegation, and it reflects these longstanding priorities for not just India but the developing world.
The Global Goal on Adaptation was originally established under Article 7 of the Paris Agreement to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability to climate change with a view to contributing to sustainable development and ensuring adaptation response in the context of the temperature goal.
The significant breakthrough for the GGA came as the countries finally came to an agreement on the first set of indicators to measure global progress on climate resilience. Measuring resilience within climate policy has been challenged given its multidimensional nature and the difficulty in capturing social, economic and ecological capacities through standard indicators. A proposed list of 100 indicators under GGA will reflect on health, monitoring progress towards reducing climate-related morbidity, mortality from heat, climate-sensitive infectious diseases, occupational heat injuries and healthcare infrastructure.
These indicators map out key areas of adaptation challenges for India, where heat-related deaths remain a critical gap in public health data. The discussions around the indicators centered on how the framework will be used in practice, although the list of the 59 indicators that have been agreed upon are voluntary and non-prescriptive.
Triple Adaptation Fund
Another key aspect of India’s global advocacy has been accelerating climate finance. The COP30 responds to this gap by committing, at least on paper, to tripling global adaptation finance by 2035. The commitment from countries has been to create a new goal of $120 billion target.
The need for adaptation finance can be assessed by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, which estimates that the developed countries, not including China, need around $400 billion per year by 2035 to address the adaptation and resilience challenges. The global ambition has remained steadfast, yet there remains a critical gap in available financial resources. On paper, this reflects well, yet, with increasing geopolitical tensions and inconsistencies, it remains to be seen how this goal may be achieved.
According to the WRI, the multilateral development banks will be required to play a vital role in achieving this goal. However, they also address a critical challenge. Increasing funding for mitigation is easier than for adaptation. This is largely due to the fact that mitigation activities, including green energy, have some element of financial return, whereas adaptation investments often focus on socio-environmental benefits.
However, a promise of increased global adaptation finance could significantly advance India’s priorities, particularly in sectors experiencing acute climate stress as coastal management, water security, agriculture and public health. Increased and predictable financing would allow India to scale community-based adaptation programmes, strengthen systems for early warning, and support vulnerable communities.
Gender Action Plan and Belem Mission to 1.5
A key outcome of the COP30 is the Gender Action Plan (GAP), which represents a step towards integrating gender equality and climate action. The GAP provides a nine-year roadmap (2026-2034) aimed at ensuring that women especially those most vulnerable, including indigenous, rural and Afro-descendant, disabled women, and women from marginalized communities are placed at the centre of climate policy and funding decisions.
The plan calls for human-rights implementation and for mobilizing finance, technology and institutional capacity to ensure it is more than a symbolic gesture.
Paired with the GAP, the Belem Mission to 1.5 is one of the flagship initiatives under the overall Belem Package that seeks to accelerate the implementation of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and the national adaptation plans (NAPs) to keep the 1.5 °C climate threshold within reach in the midst of surmounting doubts.
Through this mission, the countries commit to intensifying cooperation, investment and mobilisation of resources across mitigation and adaptation. This double downs on the promise under the Paris Agreement, reiterating its spirit on its 10th anniversary.
Interestingly, India has not submitted its updated NDCs, which makes it a part of the majority of countries that have failed to submit new NDCs by the deadline.
Conclusion
The adoption of the Belem package marks another positive step in climate governance, one that brings with it the promise of a better future. For countries like India, these frameworks open significant avenues to increase adaptation plans by targeting community-level resilience. They also create a space for women, indigenous groups and marginalized communities who are disproportionately impacted by climate change to influence climate policy and implementation more directly.
However, these opportunities come with risks and loopholes. Without clear monitoring mechanisms, transparent reporting, and practical funding, these measures will become symbolic rather than transformative. Similarly, the Belem Mission to 1.5, though ambitious and hopeful, may fall short if wealthier nations fail to deliver on finance, technology and capacity-building commitments. In growing tensions in global trade and geopolitical concerns, these challenges are more weighted.
Ultimately, the true impact of COP30 will depend on sustained political and collective will to follow-through. Commitments made in Belem have been made before, but they must translate into tangible, equitable and accountable action only then can the promises of gender and climate justice, resilience building and aligned future be meaningfully realized.
