COP30 kicks off: how climate technology can make a difference

Today, the climate summit kicks off in Belém, Brazil, on the edge of the vulnerable Amazon rainforest. The previous summit in Azerbaijan left a bitter aftertaste: weeks of discussions about climate financing yielded little for developing countries. Expectations are not particularly high this time around either. This year, COP is working with thematic sessions. Today and tomorrow, the focus will be on, among others, science and technology.

Outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof and outgoing Minister Sophie Hermans (Climate) are among those attending. But the US is not present this year. China, India, and Russia are also leaving their top figures at home and sending only deputy ministers or negotiating delegations. Within Europe, too, seats remain empty: the Belgian prime minister is absent due to political negotiations, and some smaller member states are not sending anyone.

This summit was supposed to be the turning point: the moment when countries would once again take the Paris promise—to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees—seriously. But with watered-down European targets, an absent US, and a world that seems climate-weary, another question arises: will it remain just talk?

Some progress

Despite all the setbacks and targets that have not been met in recent years, some progress has been made. Agreements have indeed been made that have made a difference:

• COP21 (Paris, 2015): The Paris Agreement was concluded, with the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Not a perfect solution, but an important turning point.
• COP27 (Egypt, 2022): An international fund for damage and loss was set up for vulnerable countries.
• COP28 (Dubai, 2023): For the first time, countries recognized in a COP decision that they must move away from fossil fuels.
• COP29 (Azerbaijan, 2024): New commitments were made for climate financing, but these are insufficient given the scale of the crisis.
• COP30: What this summit will ultimately deliver remains uncertain.

Science and technology from the Netherlands

This year, COP is working with thematic sessions. Today and tomorrow, the focus will be on science and technology, among other things. For example, the role of AI in the climate crisis will be discussed.

Companies and partnerships around the world can have a major impact on the climate. The Netherlands is also buzzing with activity around climate innovation. Startups and scale-ups are taking ambitious steps to reduce CO₂. Here are three notable examples.

Paebbl – CO₂ mineralization

Paebbl has opened the world's first continuous CO₂ mineralization plant in Rotterdam. The company captures CO₂ from the air and converts it into a mineral that can replace cement, one of the largest sources of global CO₂ emissions. The plant can store up to 500 tons of CO₂ annually, making building materials more sustainable and significantly reducing the climate impact.

Carbyon – Direct Air Capture

Carbyon, based in Eindhoven, develops mobile machines that extract CO₂ directly from the air. The first Carbyon Go unit can remove 3,000 kilograms of CO₂ annually, comparable to 150 trees. The sorbent works extremely fast, 200 times faster than other DAC technologies, and the units can be deployed anywhere where renewable energy is available. In this way, Carbyon contributes to rapid, scalable CO₂ reduction.

SeaO₂ – CO₂ from the ocean

SeaO₂, a spin-off from Delft University of Technology, filters CO₂ from seawater using an electrochemical process. Because ocean water contains more CO₂ than air, the technology is more energy-efficient. Their pilot plant removes 25 tons of CO₂ per year, with plans to remove one million tons annually by 2030. In this way, SeaO₂ not only tackles climate change, but also helps to combat ocean acidification.