Next week's UN climate summit (COP30) needs to mark a turning point for climate action.

Even as disasters like floods, fires and extreme heat escalate, some countries and companies are pulling back on climate policies and funding. Others are forging ahead and reaping the benefits — from cleaner air and better health to new jobs and stronger economies. 

What the world needs now is for all leaders to urgently act on climate, moving from targets and pledges to real change. COP30 offers several major opportunities to do so. 

Our experts laid out what to look for at the summit.

All countries are due to deliver new climate commitments (known as “nationally determined contributions”) this year. But those submitted so far fall well short of what’s needed to keep the world within critical warming thresholds. At COP30, countries must respond to this gap and deliver a concrete action plan to narrow it.

At last year’s climate summit, leaders set a bold target to deliver $1.3 trillion per year in climate finance to developing countries by 2035. The key task this year is showing how they’ll achieve it. WRI experts broke down where the money could come from.

Research shows that investing in climate resilience can create jobs, grow economies, reduce planet-warming emissions and more — all while protecting communities from costly disasters. Yet action on this front continues to lag. COP30 could help by setting a new adaptation finance target and finalizing outstanding elements of the Paris Agreement’s Global Goal on Adaptation.

The root causes of the climate, nature and biodiversity crises are deeply intertwined. But for too long, efforts to address them have been siloed. COP30 offers opportunities to tackle these crises together — in particular, by funding an innovative new program to keep forests standing and by ensuring that Indigenous Peoples and other local communities have the support they need.