Head of School reflects on climate leadership after COP30

The Head of School has published a new analysis in Open Access Government examining what the COP30 climate summit in Belém revealed about the future of global climate leadership.

Professor Richard Beardsworth argues that COP30 exposed a deep and persistent structural divide in global climate politics. Rather than resolving disagreements over fossil fuel phase-out, the summit clarified the existence of two competing political logics: one committed to multilateral cooperation and science-based climate action, and another prioritising national sovereignty and resistance to externally imposed obligations.

The article highlights how negotiations in Belém coalesced into two broad blocs of states. Professor Beardsworth argues this provides political clarity around where climate leadership currently lies and discusses new forms of coalition-based leadership emerging outside the formal COP framework.

‘Two worlds, one test: Climate leadership after Belém’, published by Open Access Government, is available to read here.