Protesters gathered outside a new space at the talks, the industry-sponsored “Agrizone,” to call for a transition toward a more grassroots food system, even as hundreds of lobbyists for big agriculture companies are attending the talks.

“To those who are arguing that in these times we have to focus more on peace and security, one can only say the climate crisis is the biggest security threat of our century,” General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock told The Associated Press in an interview at the U.N. climate talks at the edge of the Amazon.

The United States has retreated on climate. China, the only superpower at COP30 and the world leader in clean energy, is not filling the void.

A fire forced an evacuation at the South American Brazilian venue for the COP30 climate summit, on Thursday, Nov. 20, but so far no one in attendance has been injured, according to multiple reports. The blaze took place at the venue in Belém, Brazil, the BBC and Politico are reporting.

Scientists are increasingly concerned that the planet is headed for massive, irreversible changes due to global warming. In some cases, those changes have already begun.

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth sponsored a cohort of six College students and three master’s students from the Harris School of Public Policy and Booth School of Business. The group was accompanied by Institute staff as part of the annual delegation to the event.

Democrat-led states sue fossil fuel companies like tobacco firms while struggling to maintain power grid reliability during clean energy transitions.

Another report released at COP30 has also underscored India's over-dependence on coal. In the Climate Change Performance Index, published by environmental think-tank GermanWatch, India slipped 13 spots over the past year to rank 23rd on the list of 63 countries and the EU.