COP30 is Underway: 5 Things Businesses Need to Watch

COP30 has opened with promise and early momentum despite global leadership gaps. This article explores five topics on the COP30 agenda – from climate finance to biodiversity and responsible AI use – that should also be on every boardroom agenda.

COP30 is underway in Belém, a city in northeastern Brazil known as the “gateway to the Amazon.” The city and its surrounding region know what’s at stake all too well: an estimated one-fifth of the Amazon rainforest has been deforested, with untold local impacts and far-reaching effects on global climate regulation.

Brazil’s President Lula has framed this conference as the “COP of truth”, one that will reveal how committed countries are to acting on critical gaps identified through the 2023 Global Stocktake. But absences by heads of state from the US, China, India, and Russia have already revealed a truth: with global climate cooperation faltering, the private sector’s role in driving mitigation and adaptation is more important than ever. 

Closing the climate adaptation & resilience gap

Published just last week, UNEP’s latest Emissions Gap Report underscores the scale of the challenge ahead. Despite progress that has lowered projected warming since the Paris Agreement, rising global emissions put the world on track to exceed 1.5°C in the 2030s and 2.8°C within the century.

Companies that aren’t preparing for intensifying climate shocks will face steep costs. Our Carbon Action Report found that unmanaged Scope 3 emissions could create more than $500 billion in annual liabilities by 2030, roughly 15-20% of current S&P 500 EBIT.

“Visionary leaders who anticipate the radical changes ahead will be the ones who prosper by building resilience and tapping into the outstanding opportunities the transition ahead offers.”
André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 President-Designate

COP30 builds on the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience adopted in 2023, focusing on finalizing global progress indicators and closing the adaptation finance gap for developing countries, estimated at $284-339 billion per year. These efforts are likely to usher in broader regulatory and policy demands for measurable, implementation-driven action on climate resilience. To remain climate-ready and competitive, companies must assess physical risk exposure, track supplier adaptation progress, and integrate these insights into procurement and investment decisions.

Scaling climate finance to $1.3 trillion

The challenge of scaling and deploying climate finance will be a central focus, as delegates work out details around the New Collective Quantified Goal set at COP29. It aims to expand total climate finance for developing countries from roughly $116 billion in 2022 to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.

This unprecedented scale-up, which requires a massive jump in private investment, will direct more financing to companies that can demonstrate verified climate action and strong ESG performance. For multinationals, it means expanded access to transition-linked funding and blended-finance partnerships for sustainable supply chain initiatives. For suppliers in developing markets, it opens up new opportunities through green loans and capacity-building programs designed to help them meet buyer and investor expectations.

“With a new global finance goal now in place, 2025 is about moving from pledges to real investments.”
Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change

As capital increasingly flows toward transparent, low-carbon value chains, organizations with robust Scope 3 data and verifiable supplier ESG performance will gain both financing and broader competitive advantages.

Biodiversity & building the new bioeconomy

Nature and the ecosystem services it provides underpin both our climate system and global economy. Previous conferences have recognized the importance of biodiversity and nature-based solutions, but COP30 has gone further by embedding them into the COP Action Agenda as key pathways for achieving climate, development, and economic goals.

Launched on day one of the conference, the Bioeconomy Challenge is a three-year effort to turn the G20’s recently developed bioeconomy principles into a scalable and circular economic model driven by sustainable innovation with renewable, bio-based resources. The initiative brings together a wide range of stakeholders to establish metrics, expand innovative financing, and develop new markets aligned with planetary limits.

“Climate debate always centers on energy… but forests, oceans, and mangroves continue to be sidelined, and it’s time to change that.”
Ana Toni, COP30 Executive Director

Worth an estimated $4 trillion today and projected to reach $30 trillion by 2050, the bioeconomy represents a fast-emerging growth market for companies. But as opportunity expands, so will expectations. A recent survey found that three-quarters of investors want stronger nature-related reporting standards, underscoring the growing pressure on companies to back nature-positive claims with credible, verifiable data.

Balancing AI innovation & climate goals

AI isn’t part of COP30’s formal negotiations, but it’s an important theme on the Action Agenda. Two new initiatives, the AI Climate Institute and the Green Digital Action Hub, were just launched to tackle the paradox of harnessing AI for climate action while curbing its growing energy and resource footprint.

The former will help developing nations design low-energy, AI-driven climate solutions, while the latter will coordinate global efforts to cut emissions from digital infrastructure and expand access to sustainable tech. Both reflect the urgent need to align the AI boom with climate goals.

“Every platform must run on renewable energy and innovate for efficiency, or risk becoming part of the problem.”
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Research shows that AI consumes up to 33 times more energy than traditional software, and data center electricity demand could double by 2030 (with much of that coming from fossil fuels). With 90% of executives planning to invest more in AI to reach net-zero goals, developing responsible and energy-efficient strategies – at both the global and corporate level – is critical.

Putting people at the heart of the climate transition

COP30 is underscoring that climate action must work for everyone, from Indigenous communities in the Amazon to the small businesses powering local economies. Ahead of the conference, more than 1,000 organizations have called on negotiators to prioritize a people-centered transition that protects livelihoods, advances gender equality, and expands access to finance.

Among the most ambitious initiatives to be unveiled at COP30 is the Brazil-led Tropical Forests Forever Facility, which proposes a $125 billion blended-finance model to reward tropical forest nations for conservation, with 20% of funds directed to Indigenous peoples.

“Workers and their unions are calling governments at COP30 to act on climate change in a way that protects people and delivers prosperity.”
Luc Triangle, General Secretary ITUC

For the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that make up 90% of businesses – and 70% of jobs worldwide – this agenda signals growing opportunity and responsibility. Fair access to climate finance, skills programs, and transparent benefit-sharing will be crucial to ensure these enterprises can thrive in the low-carbon transition.

Conclusion

COP30 has opened with optimism despite notable leadership gaps, but it remains to be seen whether delegates can deliver on lofty promises around implementation. Still, early momentum on key themes – from climate finance to the bioeconomy – suggests the conference could meaningfully shape how companies measure, disclose, and drive climate resilience and decarbonization across their value chains.

Join our November 27 webinar with experts from EcoVadis and GHG Protocol for a full recap of COP30’s outcomes – and what they mean for your 2026 strategy.