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President, Ministry secretary prevented from attending COP30 due to budget debate; SL misses out on bargaining power
View(s):By Tharushi Weerasinghe
Sri Lanka’s participation at COP30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, will centre on its recently submitted Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0. The conference opened last week in Belém, Brazil, marking the 30th gathering of negotiators, world leaders and experts to discuss global climate action.
Environment Ministry Secretary Dhammika Patabendi said the national budget debate had prevented both him and President Dissanayake from attending this year’s summit, limiting Sri Lanka’s bargaining power at ministerial and presidential levels. He added that he had met with external delegates from Sri Lanka ahead of the meeting to discuss common goals and negotiation points.
Increased security measures at the COP venue as a protest unfolds at the entrance
“We don’t have set targets, but maximising bilateral meetings and securing funding are key goals of the delegation,” he said. “We have discussed priority target areas and interventions with many of the Sri Lankan delegates representing different stakeholder groups.”
Commenting on the climate change allocation, the Minister said ministry budgets already incorporate funding for climate action, based on their requests and the implementation needs outlined in the NDCS.
Meanwhile, COP30 has been marked by protests and criticism. On Friday, members of Brazil’s Indigenous Munduruku community blocked the main entrance of the venue, protesting land exploitation in the region hosting this year’s conference. Although the action was peaceful, the Brazilian government deployed armed forces following a separate incident on Tuesday, when Indigenous protesters clashed with security personnel and breached checkpoints during a high-level session.
Protests within the venue against fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30
Foreign media reported that Brazilian and UN staff secured the area at the time. Observers from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) said delegates were later escorted through a side entrance. “Despite the stark imagery of the entire scene, everything remained peaceful, and the negotiations started without a hitch,” the IISD noted.
The Munduruku and allied groups called for protection of their territories from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal mining and logging. Protesters chanted, “They cannot decide for us without us,” highlighting long-standing concerns about Indigenous representation. According to foreign media, activists attempted to enter the blue zone, where negotiations take place, to present their demands but were denied entry.
Their frustration reflects mixed signals from Brazil’s government. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promoted Indigenous inclusion at COP30, even as the state-run oil company Petrobras received approval days earlier to begin exploratory offshore drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River.
Critics also noted that the number of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30 exceeded the delegations of every country except Brazil.
Inside the negotiating halls, the first week of the Belém summit saw little progress on several core agenda items. Foreign media reported that negotiators spent eight hours behind closed doors without breakthroughs on four unresolved issues: finance responsibilities of developed countries, unilateral trade measures, the synthesis of national climate pledges, and transparency of climate data. Current national plans are projected to cut emissions by only 10% by 2030, far below the 60% reduction scientists say is required to keep warming below 1.5°C.
The week unfolded amid wide disparities in expectations and an increasingly volatile negotiation timetable. While the Brazilian Presidency opened the conference by emphasising the goal of mobilising USD 1.3 trillion in climate finance and rejecting climate denialism, many negotiating groups pointed to limited ambition in updated NDCs. Finance remained a major sticking point, with developing countries warning of scarce resources for the Adaptation Fund and urging caution over new access barriers in talks on aligning finance flows with climate goals.
Debates also continued over the scope of the mitigation work programme, implementation of the just transition work programme, and the development of indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation. As the week progressed, the schedule grew increasingly unpredictable, with multiple sessions cancelled, extended or postponed as parties sought more time for informal consultations before drafting conclusions for the Subsidiary Bodies.
Groups including the Least Developed Countries and the Alliance of Small Island States said draft texts on improving the efficiency of intergovernmental climate processes fell “far below expectations,” adding to a broader sense of limited progress as COP30 moved into its
second week.
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