The proposal has now been adopted by Brazilian ambassador Andre Correa do Lago, who will preside over COP30. Correa do Lago argued that, after decades of debates, the Climate Convention, known as the UNFCCC, has completed necessary negotiations but lacks implementation capacity.
“The UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement don’t have the strength or mandate to take this forward, so we’re proposing to reconsider how we can institutionally strengthen implementation,” Lago told journalists on Wednesday.
The COP Presidency letter suggests that the United Nations General Assembly, not COP30 itself, should be the forum for this discussion.
“Debates at the UN General Assembly could explore innovative governance approaches to endow international cooperation with capabilities for rapid sharing of data, knowledge and intelligence, as well as for leveraging networks, aggregating efforts and articulating resources, processes, mechanisms and actors within and outside the UN,” the letter states.
Sources in the Brazilian government told Reuters that while the creation of a UN Climate Council features in Lula’s diplomatic discussions with world leaders, immediate results are not anticipated in the short term.
“It’s still an initial convincing effort,” one source said.
