Climate Change and COP30: What’s actually going on?
Its November 2025 and leaders from around the world are meeting in Brazil for COP30. If you’re wondering what that means and why we hear so much about climate change these days, you’re not alone. Climate change talks might put you off your breakfast, but they’re actually a big deal for people and wildlife everywhere so here is a break from the regular water meadow diary to explain this knotty conundrum. With the Paris Agreement on its 10-year milestone and thirty COP meetings under our belt since 1992, now’s a great time to ask what climate change actually is and are we making any progress.
Firstly, COP stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’; an annual global Climate meeting where most countries get together to set goals to cut emissions, talk about progress (or lack of it) and make promises to countries suffering from drought, fire or flood. Not only politicians, but scientists, business leaders and all kinds of activists join in the talks.
This year the US Government isn’t attending but many state Governors are. We hosted COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow. COP28 was held in Dubai when fossil fuel lobbyists were centre stage and hosting! The most important COP in 2015 set up the Paris Agreement. For the first time, most countries agreed to try and keep global warming below 1.5°C to 2°C. Back then with no treaties and conversations about how much carbon dioxide was being released, emissions were rising at 2% each year, now 10 years later, that growth has slowed to 0.3%. This can only have been achieved by the Paris Agreement being in place.
Earth’s climate has always had its ups and downs, but modern climate change is seeing our planet’s weather and temperatures shifting faster than at any time in the history of the world. Remember the planet is billions of years old, but this change happening now is different. We’re seeing records being made all the time – the hottest, the driest, the wettest and sometimes the coldest. All within the last 50 or so years. Ice caps are melting, glaciers are disappearing, sea levels are creeping up and wild weather events are becoming more common. This is affecting wildlife, which is on the move to try to keep up with the change, but we are also seeing human migration as some places on earth become uninhabitable.
Most scientists agree: the way we burn fossil fuels, cut down forests and run factories is the main reason things are heating up so fast. A few people still argue that natural events such as volcanoes or flares ejected from the sun play a part, and that the world has always been through hot and cold cycles, but the evidence points mostly to us and our use of coal, oil and gas releasing carbon dioxide and methane gas. Earth is being turned into a greenhouse. The speed and scale of what’s happening can’t be explained by nature alone
So at this 30th meeting, nations are looking back to see what’s worked and what hasn’t. Brazil’s Amazon region is hosting which is important as the rainforests are seen as one of the most vital tool for soaking up carbon and keeping the climate in check. Other very important soaks are available, such as peat and sea grass!
Since the Paris Agreement, more nations have pledged to go “net zero” and renewable energy has taken off. More nations get their energy from renewable sources than don’t, though they are mostly in the global south but still, 2024 set an all-time record, so we’re dangerously off track still. There’s a gap between what we say we’ll do and what’s actually happening.
The climate fight is on. We need to cut more emissions, move away from fossil fuels and make difficult choices in our lives as well as make sure money gets to places that need help the most. It’ll take governments, inventors, activists but most of all ordinary people in ordinary places, working together to help the world we live in.
There’s also a COP for biodiversity which is in a spot of bother too, but that’s a different, though very inter-dependant, story.
Jillian Macready, BWMG Trustee
