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ISLAMABAD: A 4&deg;C rise in global temperatures could melt up to 85% of Pakistan&rsquo;s glaciers, threatening the country&rsquo;s water supply, agriculture, and food security, Pakistan&rsquo;s climate minister said ahead of the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP30). The country&#39;s&nbsp;Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik called the glaciers &quot;the bloodline and lifeline of our civilization.&quot; He said they feed Pakistan&rsquo;s rivers and sustain agriculture. &quot;A 4&deg;C rise in temperature can wash away about 85% of these glaciers,&quot; he said. &quot;That would devastate our irrigation systems and agriculture, threatening food security for millions.&quot; The climate minister also criticized the inequity of climate finance, noting that 55% of global carbon emissions come from just three countries. &quot;Countries like Pakistan, which contribute little to the carbon footprint, are among the most vulnerable,&quot; he said. He urged wealthier nations to take more responsibility and help developing countries adapt to climate change. &quot;This is not just an issue of civilization; it is an issue of justice and rights,&quot; he said. The minister highlighted Pakistan&rsquo;s efforts to combat climate change, including the installation of over 14 gigawatts of solar power, policies promoting electric vehicles, and reforestation projects. &quot;We are doing this for our children,&quot; he said. Malik also pointed to early warning systems designed to help communities prepare for climate-induced disasters such as floods and heatwaves. COP30 The COP30 is taking place in Bel&eacute;m, Brazil, from November 10 to 21. It brings together world leaders, climate scientists, NGOs, and indigenous peoples to advance climate action. Key goals include assessing progress on the Paris Agreement, increasing climate finance, and focusing on forest protection and indigenous rights, with special attention to the Amazon.

Climate & Environment

A 4°C rise in temperature could melt 85% of Pakistan’s glaciers, threatening agriculture and water security, Pakistan’s climate minister said at COP30 in Brazil.

Higher temperatures to affect Pakistan's water supplies, threaten food security: climate minister

BRUSSELS: The European Union&#39;s 27-member states struck a deal Wednesday on the bloc&#39;s next big emissions-cutting targets, after making overnight concessions to win over reluctant capitals in time for the UN&#39;s COP30 summit. EU countries have been haggling for months over two separate targets for slashing greenhouse-gas emissions: a 2040 goal intended as a milestone towards carbon-neutrality, and a related target that they must bring to the climate talks next week in Brazil. In marathon negotiations that ran most of the night, the bloc finally agreed to target a 90% cut in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2040, compared to 1990 levels, but countries will be allowed to count international carbon credits towards up to 10% of that goal. Major polluter&nbsp;Behind only China, the United States, and India in terms of emissions, the EU has been the most committed of the major polluters to climate action and has already cut emissions by 37% compared to 1990 levels. But after blazing a trail, the EU&#39;s political landscape has shifted right, and climate concerns have taken a backseat to defense and competitiveness -- with concerns in some capitals that greening Europe&#39;s economy is harming growth. Denmark, which holds the bloc&#39;s rotating presidency, worked through the night to win over the countries most skeptical of the proposed targets -- notably Italy. Unanimous deal&nbsp;The EU needed to win the support of a weighted majority of capitals for the 2040 climate target set out by the European Commission -- which implies sweeping changes to industry and daily life at a time of growing concern over adverse impacts on Europe&#39;s economy. Ministers also needed a unanimous deal on the EU emissions target for 2035, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which Paris Agreement signatories are supposed to bring to the COP30. That objective, set at between 66.25% and 72.5%, was also agreed overnight. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&lsquo;Not pretty&rsquo;&nbsp;</h2>To win over the staunchest skeptics, Tuesday&#39;s talks covered a range of &quot;flexibilities&quot; for member states, including letting countries count carbon credits purchased to finance projects outside Europe. A commission offer for credits to account for up to three percent of a nation&#39;s 2040 emission cuts failed to win over hardliners, with countries eventually securing a higher threshold of 10%. Countries including Poland and Hungary also secured backing for a one-year delay, from 2027 to 2028, to the launch of a new EU carbon market for the road transport and industrial heating sectors -- which critics fear will drive up fuel prices. And in a further big concession, EU countries agreed for the overall 2040 objective to be reassessed every two years. &lsquo;Muddy, messy, nasty real world&rsquo;Environmental groups have accused countries of undermining the bloc&#39;s climate ambitions by pushing for a series of loopholes. But an EU diplomat, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive deliberations, had defended the compromise taking form in Brussels, although it was &quot;not necessarily pretty&quot;. &quot;In the muddy, messy, nasty real world out there, we are trying to achieve something good,&quot; said the diplomat.

Europe

In marathon negotiations, the bloc finally agreed to target a 90% cut in emissions by 2040, compared to 1990 levels, but countries will be allowed to count international carbon credits towards up to 10% of that goal.

EU strikes last-ditch deal on climate targets as COP30 looms

PARIS: This year&#39;s United Nations climate summit promises to be symbolic, marking a decade since the Paris Agreement and taking place in the environmentally vulnerable Amazon in Brazil from Nov. 10 to 21. But what is actually on the agenda? The marathon negotiations gather nearly every country to confront a challenge that affects them all, but unlike recent editions, this &ldquo;COP&rdquo;, or Conference of the Parties, has no single theme or objective. That does not mean big polluters will get off easily at COP30, with climate-vulnerable nations frustrated at their level of ambition and financial assistance to those most affected by a warming planet. Here are the big issues to look out for as world leaders gather in the city of Bel&eacute;m, located at the mouth of the Amazon River, on Thursday and Friday before the start of formal negotiations the following week: Emissions The world is not cutting emissions fast enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, and no amount of pomp and pageantry at COP30 will sugarcoat that uncomfortable reality. Under the climate accord, signatory nations are required to submit stronger targets every five years to cut greenhouse gas emissions, thereby steadily raising the collective effort to reduce global warming. The latest round of pledges for 2035 was due in February, giving the UN time before COP30 to assess the quality of these commitments. Most nations missed that deadline, but by early November, about 65 had turned in their revised plans. Few have impressed, and China&rsquo;s target in particular has fallen well short of expectations. The European Union, riven by infighting among member states, cannot agree on its target, while India, another major emitter, is yet to finalize its pledge. A reckoning could be coming in Belem. Brazil &mdash; which described the latest round of pledges as &ldquo;the vision of our shared future&rdquo; &mdash; is facing pressure to marshal a response. Money&nbsp; Money &mdash; specifically, how much rich countries give poorer ones to adapt to climate change and shift to a low-carbon future &mdash; is a likely point of conflict in Bel&eacute;m, as it has been at past COPs. Last year, after two weeks of acrimonious haggling, COP29 ended unhappily with developed nations agreeing to provide $300 billion a year in climate finance to developing ones by 2035, well below what is needed. They also set a much less specific target of helping raise $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 from public and private sources. Developing nations will be demanding some actual detail about this at COP30. Adaptation is a major focus of the summit, particularly a funding shortfall to assist vulnerable nations in protecting their people from climate impacts, such as building coastal defenses against rising seas. Forests Brazil chose to host COP30 in Bel&eacute;m because of its proximity to the Amazon, an ideal stage to draw the world&rsquo;s attention to the rainforest&#39;s vital role in fighting climate change. At COP30, the hosts will launch a new, innovative global fund that aims to reward countries with high tropical forest cover for keeping trees standing rather than chopping them down. The Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) aims to raise $25 billion from sponsor countries and another $100 billion from the private sector, which will be invested in financial markets. Brazil has already contributed $1 billion. Clement Helary from Greenpeace told AFP the TFFF &ldquo;could be a step forward in protecting tropical forests&rdquo; if accompanied by clearer steps at COP30 toward ending deforestation by 2030. The destruction of tropical primary forest hit a record high in 2024, according to Global Forest Watch, a deforestation monitor. The equivalent of 18 football fields per minute was lost, driven mostly by massive fires.

Partial view of one of the entrances at the City Park of the COP30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para State, Brazil, taken on November 3, 2025. (AFP)

Some of the major issues to watch out for at the annual climate conference in Belém, Brazil, include emissions, money, and forests.

Trees, targets and trillions: What's on the agenda at COP30?

Reuters

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BRUSSELS: The European Union will set new climate targets for 2035 and 2040 ahead of the COP30 summit in Brazil this November, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday, after the bloc missed a United Nations deadline earlier this month.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Von der Leyen announced the plan in a video message to an EU event in Brussels, stressing that the commitments&mdash;known as nationally determined contributions under UN rules&mdash;would be ready in time for the high-profile negotiations in Belem. Other major economies, including China, submitted their targets by the UN deadline.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The move highlights the EU&rsquo;s challenge of balancing ambition with internal divisions. Several member states, including France, Germany and Poland, have urged that the targets be debated at a late October summit, leaving only weeks to finalize positions before COP30. A senior Polish official acknowledged uncertainty, saying it was unclear if agreement could be reached in time.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Von der Leyen acknowledged the political challenges, saying Europe must show flexibility but remain firm on its overall trajectory. &ldquo;The world has changed. Global competition is fierce and not always fair,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We need more flexibility, more pragmatism, but by staying the course, we provide stability for workers, clarity for businesses, and certainty for investors.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She said the European Union was cutting bureaucratic hurdles for businesses, investing in power grids, and ensuring consumers would see benefits from cheaper renewable energy.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The announcement comes as economic strains, a renewed focus on defense spending, and shifting political winds&mdash;particularly in the US&mdash;have complicated climate policy worldwide. Analysts say COP30 will be a critical test of whether major economies remain committed to climate action.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Europe&rsquo;s climate strategy, long seen as a global benchmark, will now depend on whether its member states can bridge their divisions and deliver new targets before the summit in November.

FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers the State of the European Union address to the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, September 10, 2025.

Climate

The European Union will set new climate targets for 2035 and 2040 ahead of the COP30 summit in Brazil this November, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday, after the bloc missed a United Nations deadline earlier this month.

Articles tagged with "COP30"

Higher temperatures to affect Pakistan's water supplies, threaten food security: climate minister

EU strikes last-ditch deal on climate targets as COP30 looms

Trees, targets and trillions: What's on the agenda at COP30?

New climate targets for EU by COP30 summit, Von der Leyen says