COP30 Update - Super Pollutants Take Center Stage

Super Pollutants at COP30

The 30th Conference of Parties (COP30), officially opened yesterday in Belém, Brazil. The eyes of the world are now firmly on this year’s climate negotiations, with a heavy focus on climate finance expected to dominate conversations over the following 2 weeks.  

This year, formal negotiations were preceded by the C40 World Mayors Summit, concurrent with the COP30 World Leaders Summit (WLS). Read here some reflections from Martina Otto, Head of the CCAC Secretariat.

On the margins of WLS, Brazil, China, and the United Kingdom co-hosted a “COP30 Summit on Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases”, the third such gathering held at a COP, following the inaugural summit at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and a COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. As part of the summit, Marina Silva, Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate, alongside the Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, announced the launch of a multi-year “Super Pollutant Country Action Accelerator” under the CCAC, to fast-track deep reductions in super pollutants across 30 developing countries by 2030. It will establish dedicated National Super Pollutant Units, modelled on the successful Montreal Protocol’s Ozone Units, to embed sustained action within government institutions.  

The first cohort of seven countries, including Brazil, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Africa, will receive an initial USD25 million support package. The initiative aims to mobilize USD150 million over its first phase and deliver coordinated, high-impact implementation aligned with national priorities for immediate benefits for public health, agriculture, and economic resilience, while reinforcing global momentum for near-term climate and clean air action.  

Photo credit: Rogério Cassimiro/MMA

The United Kingdom is leading a collective effort to significantly reduce methane emissions as a defining pillar of climate ambition, through a statement on Drastically Reducing Methane Emissions in the Global Fossil Fuel Sector, signed by Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Norway, and the United Kingdom, with support from the European Commission, IEA, and OLADE. It outlines six actions to accelerate reductions across the oil and gas value chain, including robust measurement and verification, ending routine flaring and venting by 2030, supporting low- and middle-income producer countries, and establishing a panel of governments to develop a near-zero methane intensity marketplace, with progress to be reported in 2026. The United Kingdom and partners invited additional countries to endorse and implement the statement’s objectives.  

The Global Methane Hub (GMH) announced a series of major initiatives and fundings to accelerate methane reduction worldwide. In partnership with the Global Green Growth Institute, GMH launched a new effort to support developing economies, alongside $30 million for low-emission rice research and $10 million to cut methane from waste in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Belém, GMH funded the city’s first public composting system, launched during COP30 as a model for low-waste, low-methane cities across the Amazon. Additionally, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a new $100 million investment to create “Methane Response Basecamps” and expand satellite constellation to find and fix leaks faster than before.  

UNDP, FAO in collaboration with UNEP launched a report on Advancing clean cooking for climate action: Pathways to higher-tier solutions and scaled investment which offers practical guidance on how clean cooking can be systematically included as a priority sector in NDC preparation and implementation, helping to unlock investment and accelerate the shift towards more sustainable and resilient societies. Watch Super Pollutants Insights with the authors.  

Released just ahead of COP30, UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2025 and Eye on Methane 2025 deliver a unified warning. In the Emissions Gap Report, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, stressed that progress since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, including rapid growth in cheap renewable energy and tackling short-lived climate pollutants like methane, means that the international community has the opportunity to deliver the necessary cuts to emissions. IMEO’s Eye on Methane 2025 highlighted that responses to its 3,500+ satellite methane alerts went from 1 to 12 per cent in the past year. Nevertheless, action must accelerate to minimize global temperature rise and achieve the Global Methane Pledge goal of curbing methane emissions 30 per cent by 2030. UNEP’s focus at COP30 will include accelerating emissions reductions, promoting adaptation finance, and supporting nature-based and sustainable solutions. Stay tuned to the climate feed for updates.

What to Watch During the Next Two Weeks

The next two weeks will test whether we can turn super pollutant momentum into a true delivery track. Across COP30, you’ll find the Coalition members everywhere.  

Photo credit: Super Pollutant Action Alliance, Global Methane Hub, Clean Air Fund

A dedicated Super Pollutant Solutions Pavilion, co-hosted by the Clean Air Fund, Global Methane Hub, Super Pollutant Action Alliance. The Pavilion will host super-pollutant programming throughout the Conference (view the Pavilion agenda), in addition to numerous official UNFCCC side events on waste, agriculture, and fossil fuels, and the COP30 Presidency’s Action Agenda events to which we contributed in putting forward acceleration plans.

Mid-way through COP, Ministers at the Global Methane Pledge Ministerial on November 17 will release the Global Methane Status Report 2025, a comprehensive assessment of progress and remaining gaps in efforts to cut methane. The report will outline how achieving the Pledge’s 30% reduction target will require full deployment of the cost-effective measures already available across energy, agriculture, and waste.

The agricultural agenda is also taking a major leap forward. The CCAC and FAST Partnership Joint Ministerial are launching the Farmers FIRST Agriculture Flagship on 19 November, which will help countries and producers tackle methane and nitrous oxide from livestock, rice and fertilizers, while improving productivity and resilience. It’s a concrete example of how we can meet food security and climate goals together.

Clean Air Fund has provided a round-up of the sessions, talks and side events that will explore the transformative role of clean air in climate change and health outcomes: check out the list of events.  

Clean Air Task Force will be showcasing strategies to strengthen global measurement, reporting, and verification systems, while advancing practical mitigation solutions across the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors. Check out more details.

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) will be highlighting waste reduction as a key strategy for cutting methane and achieving climate justice, check out their website for more details.  

The Nordic Pavilion at COP30 will showcase events on cutting super-pollutants like methane and black carbon, alongside Nordic solutions in clean energy, circular economy, and sustainable innovation, find out more here.

In the AgriZone, discussions on super-pollutants focus on cutting methane and nitrous oxide, two of the most potent super pollutants driving global warming and air pollution. Events will highlight practical, farmer-led solutions such as improving livestock feed efficiency, managing manure sustainably, optimizing fertilizer use, and expanding rice cultivation practices that cut methane emissions.

NDC Watch

We have been tracking and analyzing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as they are updated and released in the lead-up to COP30 - read here our latest blog on how countries are integrating super pollutants, air quality, and public health into their national climate strategies.  

In their own words at COP30 World Leaders Summit

“Short-lived greenhouse gases such as methane have a more powerful impact on global warming than CO₂, but remain in the atmosphere for a shorter time. Reducing their emissions gives us an opportunity to keep the planet’s average temperature within 1.5°C, decreasing the frequency, intensity, and impact of extreme weather events and protecting lives, especially those of the most vulnerable people. Today, the global ‘mutirão’ against methane gained crucial support with the launch of the Super Pollutant Country Action Accelerator, a joint initiative by Brazil and the United Kingdom”, said Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change of Brazil."

Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change of Brazil 

“Cutting methane and other non-CO₂ greenhouse gases is one of the fastest and most effective ways to slow global warming and clean our air. The United Kingdom is proud to be at COP30 to work alongside our international partners to turn ambition into concrete action on tackling the climate crisis. The UK is leading the way through our Methane Action Plan which will drive real progress towards a safer, fairer, and cleaner future for our children and grandchildren.”

Ed Miliband, UK Energy Secretary  

“The summit not only underscores the critical role of controlling methane and other non-CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions in the global response to climate change but also encourages all parties to share the policies and actions they have taken in the emission reduction process. Climate change is a global challenge and addressing it requires concerted efforts from the entire world.”

Huan Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China   

“If we act now, at speed and scale, we can make the overshoot as small, as short, and as safe as possible – and bring temperatures back below 1.5°C before century’s end. Small – by peaking global emissions immediately; cutting them deeply this decade, accelerating the phase out of fossil fuels, slashing methane, and safeguarding forests and oceans – nature’s carbon sinks. Short – by reaching global net zero by 2050 and moving swiftly to sustained net-negative emissions afterwards.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the opening plenary of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit on 6 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil