From ambition to action: the road to COP30 after Climate Week NYC

May 22

Less than 30 days are left until the start of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP30 (Belém do Pará, Brazil): a turning point in the global effort to tackle climate change and save our planet. Halfway through the decade for climate action and ten years after the Paris Agreement, COP30 will be critical for the global community to shift from goal-setting to concrete action. So what’s the lay of the land on the road to Belém? Could September’s New York Climate Week be a teaser of what’s to come? And what does it all mean for progress on land conservation and drought resilience? Read on for our reflections…

New York Climate Week: Looking back to look forward

In September, against a challenging geopolitical background, government representatives, business leaders, activists, and innovators came together at New York Climate Week, to review and showcase progress, make commitments, and establish partnerships towards reaching global goals for the benefit of people and the planet.

Despite diplomatic tensions, which bred uncertainty for visitors and event organizers alike, New York Climate Week stood out for its resilience, stubborn optimism (a suitable expression coined by the Paris Agreement co-architect, Christiana Figueres), and remarkable solidary spirit. In fact, after months where the potential scale of the gathering was largely downplayed, this was the largest edition in its 16-year history.

The takeaway: Far from an end point, New York was a crucial step towards Belém.

COP30: The road ahead

If New York gave us any indication, it is that there is real excitement about what Belém will bring to translate ambition into action. These were some of the trending themes across the board.

Whole-of-society collaboration strengthened by mutirão: New York’s success evidenced that businesses, local actors, sub-national governments, investors, researchers, innovators, youth, Indigenous Peoples and more share the determination to build a healthier, better future for our world.

Reinforcing collective will, the spirit of mutirão (pronounced moo·chee·rah) stands out as an innovative, yet accessible means to transform a conference known for ambition-setting, into a civilizational turn of action that will open the doors to active listening, strengthening local-global ties, and including diverse voices and knowledge.

Finance taking center stage: Climate Week was notable for a strong push to accelerate deals and translate high-level pledges into tangible, on-the-ground solutions. The call was heard loud and clear: businesses and the financial sector have a unique leadership opportunity to urgently reduce the resource mobilization gap. Establishing and elevating concrete business cases for climate, nature and land restoration investment will be key to attracting reluctant financiers.

Turning a fragmented and diverse project pipeline into a large, consistent, and investable one continues to be one of the financial sector’s greatest challenges. Initiatives like the Earth Investment Engine: a platform accelerating deals around land restoration and bioeconomy, are setting the example, showing how collaboration can ensure that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Integrated and aligned agendas: The scale and urgency of the climate crisis and its challenges – and thus, its solutions – do not stand in silos. There was widespread agreement that due to their deep interconnectedness, increased integration and alignment among the three Rio Conventions on climate, biodiversity and land degradation are needed to deliver heightened impact and maximized efficiency.

So what does this mean for global land goals?

Every second, an equivalent of four football fields of healthy land becomes degraded. This is severely weakening ecosystems, severely risking our economies, water security, and our capacity to withstand a heating planet. To avert this, by 2030, we must:

Conserve and restore 1.5 billion ha of degraded land - including restoring 250 million ha of degraded agricultural land via sustainable and regenerative agri-food systems.
Boost drought and water resilience protecting 30% of lands and inland waters.
Mobilize US$2.1 trillion in global investments towards these goals.

There is a high expectation that the global mutirão will play a critical role in raising the platform for land restoration, drought resilience, and resource mobilization, contributing to the ambition loop on and off the negotiations table.

Land is increasingly seen as a “connector” across the Rio Conventions on climate, biodiversity and desertification. And this narrative will be further elevated by the launch of Resilient Agriculture for net Zero land degradation (RAIZ), which focuses on harnessing investment to support restoration of agricultural land, in support of and alignment with the Riyadh Action Agenda (RAA) – launched by the UNCCD COP16 Presidency – as well as the CBD’s Action Agenda for Nature and People.

Moreover, while the case for land conservation and restoration is clear – it can generate income through ecosystem services, create value for farmers, investors and consumers alike, and increase water resilience and productivity – being recognized as critical for the climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises, will strengthen its case, even among traditionally reluctant actors.

At a more granular level, we are already witnessing proactive exchange and coordinated efforts among global initiatives and organizations, working on the recovery of degraded land and sustainable agriculture (among other areas), through COP30’s ambitious Action Agenda, which features a variety of Programmes to Accelerate Solutions (PAS) through Activation Groups and collective PAS submissions. This is unlocking new opportunities for idea exchange and cross-sector partnerships to advance progress on global land goals.

As part of this approach, the Riyadh Action Agenda (part of the COP30 Activation Group 8 on Landscape Restoration & Sustainable Agriculture, and a contributor to two PAS on land restoration) is gearing up for COP30, to introduce the Land & Soil Breakthrough Targets: a set of 15 measurable, time-bound commitments, that outline the progress needed by non-state actors on finance, governance, and science, technology & innovation to conserve and restore 1.5 billion hectares of land, including reversing the degradation of 250 million hectares of agricultural landscapes, and to enhance water and drought resilience by protecting 30% of lands and inland waters. The launch event will mark the beginning of a collaborative process alongside non-state actors, to map and define said targets.

How do I get involved?

As a critical actor in safeguarding and stewarding the world’s landscapes, you can play a vital role in the build up to COP30.

Formalize your support for the Riyadh Action Agenda: join a community of leading initiatives and organizations united under a pioneering global platform. Simply express your interest to officially support the Riyadh Action Agenda and share your land restoration and conservation, drought and water resilience, and/or financial mobilization commitments and progress via the official online form.
Watch this space to join us at COP30, alongside a global group of grassroots organizations and international networks leading real-world solutions and holding first-degree knowledge of land solutions, in the mapping and development of milestones that define how the Riyadh Action Agenda goals will be delivered.
Meet us at TED Countdown House: Will you be in Belém for COP30? TED Countdown House’s programme complements the official COP30 agenda and cuts through the usual rhetoric to spotlight real stories, practical solutions and the hard truths driving climate action today. Sign up here for updates and invitations, and let’s meet there!

Want to learn more? Email land@ambitionloop.earth.