Q&A: what are the main issues at Cop30 and why do they matter?

Cop returns to its Brazilian roots and attempts to map a path to crucial emissions cuts that navigates financial, scientific and ethical aspects of the climate crisisRich countries have lost enthusiasm for tackling climate crisis, says Cop30 chiefFrom net zero to NDCs: your comprehensive Cop30 jargon busterCop30 is the 30th conference of the parties under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the treaty signed in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro that binds the world to “avoid dangerous climate change”, without specifying how to do so.This year, Cop returns to its roots in Brazil for the first time in the Amazonian city of Belém. The Brazilian hosts have a packed agenda, with 145 separate items on it, and decided to begin early, with a preliminary event called the Belém Climate Summit. World leaders were invited to this two-day event, held on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 November in Belém, to try to encourage their negotiating teams to shed entrenched positions and take bold actions