SDSN Leads Discussions on Critical Sustainable Development Efforts at COP30 in Brazil

From November 10 to 21, 2025, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) took part in the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belém, Brazil. Delegates gathered in the heart of the global climate crisis: the Amazon Rainforest, a biome that plays a central role in regulating the Earth’s climate yet faces escalating threats as it nears an irreversible tipping point.

At COP30, the SDSN organized over 30 side events addressing issues such as tropical forest biodiversity, the bioeconomy, food system transformation, and energy transition capacity-building. SDSN programs contributed to panel discussions, launched new initiatives, and presented publications to inform debates on climate and development. Together, these efforts support a growing movement linking sustainable development and climate action, exemplifying what COP30 President Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago called a “Global Mutirão” against climate change: a worldwide cooperative effort for humanity’s progress.

Safeguarding Tropical Forests

With COP30 being held in the Amazon Rainforest, tropical forests were at the center of the conference agenda. Building on the Global Stocktake decision of COP28 in Dubai, the three SDSN-convened tropical forest science panels — the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA), the Science Panel for the Congo Basin (SPCB), and the Science Panel for Borneo (SPB) — provided timely, locally developed assessment reports and executive summaries that underscored the urgent need for coordinated local, regional, and global action.

Science Panel for the Amazon

On November 11, the SPA launched its second Amazon Assessment Report, Connectivity of the Amazon for a Living Planet, at the Planetary Science Pavilion. The launch featured eight lead authors, SPA Strategic Coordinator Emma Torres, Co-Chairs Dr. Carlos Nobre and Marielos Peña-Claros, and COP30 Special Envoys Sineia do Vale Wapichana and Marcelo Behar. Remarks were also delivered by the Secretary-General of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and SPA author Martín von Hildebrand.

Throughout COP30, SPA co-organized over 15 events, including official UNFCCC side events and sessions with partners such as the Amazon Waters Alliance, the NorAmazonian Alliance, and the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG). Highlights included the joint presentation of a collaborative connectivity toolkit and the launch of the Synthesis for Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and Afrodescendant Peoples, fostering dialogue for long-term engagement. A major outcome of the SPA’s participation was the signing of a Letter of Intent with ACTO to advance scientific and technical cooperation toward an intergovernmental Amazon panel.

Science Panel for the Congo Basin

On November 12, the SPCB presented the executive summary of the first-ever Congo Basin Assessment Report at the UN Forest Pavilion. The report’s recommendations provided timely context for the newly negotiated Belém Call to Action, a political declaration supporting sustainable development in the region. The full Congo Basin Assessment Report is expected in early 2026.

Science Panel for Borneo

The SPB, launched at COP29, also released the executive summary of the Borneo Assessment Report during COP30. The full report is also expected in early 2026. SPB hosted multiple events throughout the conference, including panel presentations at the Malaysia Pavilion on November 11 and at the Indonesia Pavilion on November 14.

Cross-Panel Collaboration and Broader Engagement

The work of the three Science Panels was further amplified through cross-panel events. On November 12, discussions focused on announcements from all three reports and emphasized the importance of regional cooperation across the Global South. On November 15, in collaboration with the University of Exeter and the Met Office Hadley Centre, the SDSN highlighted the critical role of science and global collaboration in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Earlier in the conference, on November 10, the SDSN’s Food, Environment, Land and Development (FELD) program, WRI Africa, and the Brazilian Ministry of Environment hosted a closed-door workshop at TED Countdown House in Belém to explore ways to accelerate direct access to international finance for forest communities. This marked the second collaboration between the SDSN, WRI, GATC, and the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) team, with further sessions planned to operationalize the Facility, build capacity, and strengthen trust between forest communities and institutions.

Finally, recognizing the critical role of Indigenous peoples, Afrodescendant communities, and local communities in forest conservation, as well as the growing global agenda for social bioeconomy and South-South tropical forest collaboration, the SDSN has joined other partners in supporting a new movement for community-led forest economies (CLFE). On November 14, with support from the COP30 Presidency and involvement from core partners including WRI, SDSN, Tropenbos, CIAT/Alliance, GATC, and the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF), a high-level event calling for “a powershift for community-led forest economies” was convened.

Advancing the Just Energy Transition

Momentum around the just energy transition accelerated at COP30 with the adoption of the Belém Package, which includes commitments on the first just transition mechanism, expanded adaptation financing, and a pledge to mobilize USD 1.3 trillion annually in climate finance. Through the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET) and ASEAN Green Future (AGF), the SDSN emphasized the need to pair technical expertise with equitable financing mechanisms and coordinated policy efforts.

Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition

Throughout COP30, CEET convened partner organizations to advance practical decarbonization pathways and launched two new technical resources:

1. Main Challenges for Scaling up Green Hydrogen in the Short Term: Co-published with the Green Hydrogen Task Force and SEforALL’s 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, this brief presents seven recommendations to accelerate the green hydrogen market through coordinated policy, financial, and technical measures.
2. Brazil's Power Infrastructure Resilience in the Face of Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation: Co-published with the Enel Foundation, this brief outlines strategies to strengthen Brazil’s grid resilience through grid-hardening, digital platforms, distributed energy resources, expanded transmission capacity, and nature-based solutions.

ASEAN Green Future

Focusing on Southeast Asia, AGF hosted a session at the ASEAN Pavilion titled “Beyond Emissions: Systemic Design and Trust for a Net Zero ASEAN Power Grid.” The discussion emphasized that building a net-zero ASEAN Power Grid (APG) requires more than technological innovation—it depends on regional trust, unified governance, and resource security. Climate change was framed not only as an emissions challenge but as a systemic failure requiring holistic redesign.

Four leading institutions offered key insights:

• The SDSN’s Leong Yuen Yoong presented the ASEAN Green Future project’s systems-thinking approach and its “decarbonising and recarbonising” framework.
• The ASEAN Centre for Energy’s Zulfikar Yunaidi outlined governance and regulatory frameworks needed for cross-border power sharing.
• WWF-Myanmar’s Hang Za Dal highlighted mineral supply chain constraints and resource security considerations.
• Climate-KIC’s Kirsten Dunlop discussed international models for systems innovation and blended finance, and their applicability to Southeast Asia.

Beyond its own events, AGF’s research frameworks shaped several high-level COP30 discussions focused on regional cooperation, partnerships, and advancing equity in the energy transition.

Empowering Youth Engagement

Deemed an “implementation and action COP,” COP30 aligned closely with youth engagement efforts led by the SDSN’s SDG Academy and the Global Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) Association. Max Genin, North American SAAC Chair and Harvard University master's student, presented the MDP’s initiatives in education for sustainable development, including its flagship Global Challenge, now active in 24 countries with 10 youth teams. Supported by the Leopold Bachmann Foundation and the MDP Student Alumni and Advisory Council (SAAC), and developed with partners at the World Bank, the Challenge empowers youth to design and implement climate-responsive projects in their communities.

Genin also joined key negotiation spaces, including discussions on the Belém Roadmap and the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP), both central to securing climate finance and ensuring meaningful youth and labor inclusion. He further spoke on youth leadership in local climate action at the Children and Youth Pavilion and the multi-day Youth Forum, engaging with the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community and the CEET’s Elizabeth Nelson to advance the net-zero 2050 agenda.

Youth engagement was further strengthened by the SPA Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), which elevated Amazonian youth leadership through the launch of the Amazon Youth Manifesto. Developed through five participatory workshops with more than 200 young leaders and scientists from all eight Amazonian countries and French Guiana, the Manifesto offers a regional vision for Amazon connectivity rooted in youth perspectives. Through panels, roundtables, and collaborative exchanges, the YAC convened young Indigenous and local community leaders, partner organizations, and international networks to showcase youth-led solutions and reinforce the SPA’s mission of connecting science, policy, and lived experience.

Transforming Food Systems & Land Use

In recent years, the role of food systems — both in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions across agricultural value chains and in supporting climate adaptation — has gained increasing recognition. This culminated in the adoption of the UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action at COP28 in Dubai. Meanwhile, modern agriculture and consumption patterns have emerged as major drivers of deforestation, prompting urgent calls for comprehensive food system transformation.

At COP30, the SDSN, through its FELD program and the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium, engaged in discussions on political and technical pathways to advance this transformation. In partnership with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), the FELD program also hosted a dialogue with African community farmers at the COP30 AgriZone, managed by Embrapa, Brazil’s federal agricultural research agency.

Leveraging National Climate Plans & Policies for Accelerated Action

COP30 marked a pivotal moment for global climate action, taking place ten years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement. In Belém, more than 120 countries presented updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)—the central framework guiding economy-wide decarbonization and integrated planning. These new NDCs include commitments for 2035 focused on forest protection, expanded climate finance, and just energy transitions.

Drawing on its longstanding expertise and engagement with the NDC Partnership, the FELD team convened a panel of national and global experts on food loss and waste. The discussion explored opportunities to integrate food loss and waste reduction into NDC design and implementation. As part of the Global Action Drive for reducing food loss and waste, the panel issued a call to action and engaged UNEP representatives, NDC Partnership members, and national experts on practical strategies for advancing this agenda within national climate plans.

Looking Ahead

The decisions made under the Belém Package and Global Mutirão — though modest — will shape climate and development trajectories well beyond 2030. The SDSN looks forward to continuing these critical conversations beyond COP30 and remains committed to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals into 2026 and beyond.