European Parliament’s Committee on Development has adopted an opinion on Parliament’s position towards the upcoming Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belém in November 2025. The conference will take place at a time when the emphasis on climate protection in Europe has somewhat weakened and the United States withdrew from its climate commiments.
“Thank you all (..) This is our contribution to the joint effort with the Environment Committee (ENVI). ENVI is preparing a resolution formulating the Parliament’s position for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.” These are words of MEP Barry Andrews (Renew/IRL), who concluded the voting of Committee on Development (DEVE) on COP30 on Monday, 1 September. Majority of its members voted in favour.
Parliament seeks an active role
Basic features of the European Parliament’s position towards COP30 had been formulated earlier by the Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI). This tentative document includes 40 articles addressing the Parliament’s priorities.
It underlines the fact that the EU and its Member States are currently the world’s largest providers of public climate finance. This puts the EU at the forefront of climate protection worldwide. The EU climate finance reached €28.6bn from public source and mobilised €7.2bn in private finance (data as of 2023).
The European parliament must give its consent to international agreements and play a central role in the domestic implementation of the Paris Agreement. – Parliament’s tentative position towards COP30
“The European Parliament should be an integral part of the EU delegation at COP30. It must give its consent to international agreements and play a central role in the domestic implementation of the Paris Agreement (…). MEPs must be allowed to attend EU coordination meetings at COP30 in Belém. They must be guaranteed access to all preparatory documents,” the document reads.
US withdrawal as a problem
Immediately after Donald Trump had assumed the office of US President in January 2025, the United States (again) withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. The withdrawal will take full effect within 12 months, i.e., in January 2026. Such a retreat, however, already now undermines diplomatic relations and weakens alliances that rely on cooperative climate policies.
This fact is also mirrored in the Parliament’s tentative position. “Parliament regrets the decision by the US Government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and calls for the United States to continue to contribute its fair share to the global effort to tackle climate change,” the document says.
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The United States is the second biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that contribute to global warming, only behind China. The United States’ share on world’s GHG is about 11-14 per cent, depending on methodology. The EU’s share is now less than seven per cent.
