A cycle of words ends, a cycle of action begins

COP30 President-Designate André Corrêa do Lago in the tenth and final letter reflects on the journey toward COP30 as both a destination and a new beginning, calling on nations to transform negotiations from a forum of debate into a true laboratory of solutions

Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 president-designate, released his tenth and final letter to the international community – marking the culmination of a year-long series that has guided global climate cooperation toward Belém.

The letter reflects on the journey to COP30 as both a destination and a new beginning. The final letter positions Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon, as a symbolic and strategic meeting point “where humanity stands between inheritance and legacy– and chooses to begin anew.”

“With this tenth letter, I conclude a cycle of words so that the world may open a cycle of action,” Ambassador Corrêa do Lago wrote. He called on nations and stakeholders to transform global climate governance from machinery into an ecosystem of solutions – a global mutirão (joint effort) for shared progress.

As COP30 opens in the heart of the Amazon, the ambassador reaffirmed his call for unity and collective determination: We have a choice. We can change. But we must do it together.”

Over the past year, Ambassador Corrêa do Lago’s letters have outlined key priorities for COP30: reinforcing multilateralism, connecting climate action to people’s real lives and economies, and accelerating implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The tenth letter closes the series with a call for courage and cooperation, inviting the world to make COP30 a turning point where humanity restores its alliance with the planet and across generations.

LEVERS FOR TRANSFORMATION

Earlier, the ninth letter invited all actors to help turn global climate gaps into levers for transformation.

The letter also reiterated the three interconnected priorities: reinforcing multilateralism and the climate regime under the UNFCCC, connecting the climate regime to people’s real lives and the real economy, and accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

With the opening of COP30 just days away, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 president-designate on November 8, released his ninth open letter to the international community, urging governments, institutions, and global stakeholders to respond to the climate crisis with determined action and shared purpose. The letter is a call to embrace this moment in history as the beginning of a global breakthrough.

Framed by the urgency of science and the legacy of the Paris Agreement, the letter invites all actors to help turn global climate gaps into levers for transformation. Drawing from the latest reports – including the Global Tipping Points Report, UNEP’s Emissions Gap and Adaptation Gap Reports, and the UNFCCC NDC Synthesis – the letter acknowledges the scale of challenges ahead and the tools to respond as the global community gathers in Belém.

“The challenge ahead is not only to identify what is missing but to mobilise what can move – to turn deficits in ambition, finance and technology into forces of acceleration,” wrote Ambassador Corrêa do Lago.

The letter reaffirms that the Paris Agreement is working. Following the completion of its Rulebook at COP29, COP30 will be the first COP where the full policy cycle of the Paris Agreement is in motion. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs), and the Enhanced Transparency Framework are now active instruments of global climate governance.

The letter also reiterated the three interconnected priorities that guide the Brazilian presidency’s vision for COP30: (1) Reinforcing multilateralism and the climate regime under the UNFCCC; (2) Connecting the climate regime to people’s real lives and the real economy, and (3) Accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

At the heart of this vision is a shift in how ambition is defined. The presidency makes a clear appeal: accelerated implementation must become the new measure of ambition. From clean energy to forest restoration, from methane mitigation to digital infrastructure, the world must scale action with speed and equity.

These solutions are being advanced across the negotiation agenda, the Action Agenda, the Leaders’ Summit, and the Global Mutirão. The Action Agenda, structured around six thematic axes, will operate as a living ecosystem of implementation, linking initiatives and actors across geographies and sectors to help trigger positive tipping points. From finance to forests, from energy to entrepreneurship, Belém will offer a platform not for competition but for convergence – where local and global efforts reinforce one another.

The presidency also emphasised the Amazon as both context and catalyst. With deforestation declining for the third consecutive year in Brazil, and new financial mechanisms like the Tropical Forests Forever Fund being launched, the letter highlights that protecting ecosystems and people must go hand-in-hand.

“In Belém, truth must meet transformation, and science must become solidarity,” wrote Corrêa do Lago. “We can turn our climate fight from breakdown to breakthrough. COP30 can be the COP we turn around our climate fight.”