CGIAR@COP30: Global Goal on Adaptation Track Negotiation Updates

As COP30 opens in Belém, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) is a key track for CGIAR. Established under the Paris Agreement’s Article 7, the GGA aims to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability worldwide. After years of technical work – including the adoption of the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience at COP28, which set thematic targets for adaptation – negotiators at COP30 will finalize how to measure progress. This means agreeing on indicators that track how well countries are protecting people, ecosystems, and economies from climate impacts. With climate shocks escalating, a robust adaptation goal is crucial for accountability and finance. It’s especially vital for agriculture and food security, sectors highly vulnerable to climate change yet historically underprioritized in global climate agendas.

CGIAR has been deeply involved in shaping the GGA to ensure it reflects the realities of farmers and food systems. As climate impacts escalate, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) is increasingly central to UNFCCC discussions. At CMA 5, Parties adopted the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience, as part of the UAE Consensus. 

The framework includes 11 targets – 7 thematic and 4 dimensional targets – for climate adaptation and resilience. CMA 5 also established a two-year UAE – Belém work programme, on the development of indicators for measuring progress achieved towards the targets outlined in the framework, and Parties provided guidance on the structure and modalities of the work programme at SB 60. The modalities for the work programme integrate some of the suggestions in a submission  made by CGIAR and one led by partners through its Center – IWMI.

In 2024, the UNFCCC selected two CGIAR experts, Dr. Aditi Mukherji (CGIAR Climate Impact Platform) and Dr. Lucy Njuguna (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT), to join a global team of 78 experts. This team is tasked with refining indicators across all 11 targets, ensuring that they are robust, inclusive, and scientifically credible for assessing adaptation and resilience. The full list of convened experts can be found here. Also find here the reports prepared by the technical experts supporting the work under UAE-Belém work programme on indicators.

Looking Ahead at COP30

During the negotiations, CGIAR will be watching that the two-year “UAE–Belém” work programme on GGA indicators culminates in an actionable framework. The hope is that Parties at COP30 adopt a set of indicators that are science-based and agriculture-relevant, allowing nations to gauge resilience in rural communities. CGIAR hopes that these metrics encompass outcomes like reduced crop loss, improved farm income stability, and greater access to climate information for farmers. A successful outcome will not only guide countries’ National Adaptation Plans but also inform donor priorities (e.g. directing adaptation finance toward food systems). With adaptation needs outpacing finance, clarity on global goals can galvanize support. CGIAR will continue bridging science and policy – for example, by offering tools to monitor adaptation progress – to ensure the GGA drives tangible resilience gains for smallholders and food systems. In Belém, CGIAR’s message is clear: an adaptation goal that works for agriculture is one that works for people and the planet. The stakes are high, and COP30 is the moment to cement an ambitious, inclusive roadmap for global resilience.

COP30 Day 2 | November 11 2025

Today, negotiations kicked off with Parties expressing their views on the indicators. There are different options, including the possibility of selecting a subset of indicators while agreeing to refine the remaining ones in future work. Another option is to concentrate specifically on adaptation finance instead.

COP30 Day 3 | November 12 2025

Parties provided initial reactions on the draft text, mostly adding and expanding the options. There has been a proposal to go into inf-inf afterwards but there are also several groups asking for an updated draft.

COP30 Day 4 | November 13 2025

Parties revealed persistent divergences on both substance and process, with some calling for preambular references to Paris Agreement Articles 7.4 and 9, while others pushed for explicit mention of Article 9.1 and core UNFCCC principles; and others opposed singling out individual articles. On cross-cutting considerations, Parties and groups such as AOSIS and the EU favored tying them to data disaggregation rather than treating them as disclaimers, while the LMDCs preferred moving them to the preamble; the EU also proposed clarifying that indicators do not imply liability or compensation. Deep divides remained on the indicator list and the timeline for adoption, with Parties urging agreement on at least one indicator per GGA sub-target at CMA 7, whereas others criticized the current options as failing to capture their proposal and reiterated the need for a two-year “policy alignment process,” aiming for adoption at CMA 9.

Alongside the LMDCs, they proposed asking the Secretariat for a technical paper on indicator use. Views also diverged on the role of the Baku Adaptation Roadmap (BAR), with LMDCs seeing it as the main vehicle for future work and the EU warning against further fragmentation. On finance, AOSIS, the African Group, and the LMDCs proposed calling on developed countries to triple adaptation finance by 2030, while the EU disagreed; later, the Arab Group rejected adopting indicators at this stage and suggested setting the adaptation finance goal at USD 150 billion. Negotiations will continue in informal-informal meeting.

COP30 Week1 Summary

Adaptation is front-and-center at COP30 (some have even called it “the adaptation COP”),and the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) negotiations reflect this heightened focus. In Week 1, countries dived into the thorny task of finalizing a framework of indicators to measure global progress on adaptation. This stems from the UAE’s framework of 11 adaptation targets including targets on water, food and agriculture adopted last year, which now needs concrete metrics. 

Deep divides emerged over how and when to adopt these indicators. Many Parties including vulnerable nations, urged that COP30 (as CMA7 under Paris Agreement) finalize a core set of metrics now to start tracking resilience improvements. Others, notably the African Group and LMDCs (Like-Minded Developing Countries), pushed for a slower timeline: a two-year “UAE–Belém work programme” to refine indicators and align policies, only adopting them by 2027 (CMA9). This timeline tussle also ties into finance: some developed countries want a specific adaptation finance indicator agreed now, whereas some developing countries prefer a broader approach first. 

Another sticking point is ambition on support. Proposals to triple adaptation finance by 2030 (relative to 2022 levels) have been tabled, given the glaring funding gap for resilience. But consensus is lacking  some donor countries resist firm figures. At week’s end, the draft GGA decision was forwarded to next week entirely in brackets, signaling no agreement yet. CGIAR, through its centers, including two scientists serving on the expert group for water and food has contributed to shaping several of the proposed adaptation indicators. The outcome of these negotiations is pivotal. Robust, agriculture-relevant metrics, if adopted, can strengthen accountability and channel much-needed finance toward climate-smart agriculture. 

A prolonged stalemate, however, risks delaying urgent resilience efforts. For CGIAR, this process is especially important it helps establish a global framework and clear demand for the climate-resilient agrifood science, data, and innovations that underpin our work. It ensures countries have the tools to turn adaptation ambitions into evidence-based action on the ground. 

COP30 Day 7| November 17 2025

Negotiations on the Global Goal on Adaptation remain stalled, as discussions moved into inf-inf and focused on indicators where Parties read long lists of indicators they disagree on. A new draft text was published on Tuesday morning, with many options to negotiate, and with the COP Presidency pushing to finish the negotiations by Wednesday.

COP30 Week 2 Summary

After months of experts’ work and discussions, several hours of negotiations in both SBs and CMA, a reduced set of indicators was adopted. During the plenary some Parties rejected the text and stated they ask for the floor before the adoption but they were ignored. The set of indicators, even if more than half (59) of the potential approximate 100 indicators were adopted, are seemed as a failure as the text states that they do not create new financial obligations or commitments”. It is not possible to reach adaptation without a clear finance roadmap. Indicators on water -9 indicators- include levels of water stress and use efficiency; critical water and sanitation structure; proportion of critical water and sanitation infrastructure systems; measures to improve water services, among others. Indicators on food and agricultural production -five indicators- include proportion of area under management for food and agricultural production utilizing practices and technologies relevant to climate change adaptation; implementation of institutional frameworks for knowledge transfer, research and development, where CGIAR can be a key stakeholder to fulfill this indicator in developing countries; the level of degraded areas that are under management for food and agricultural production, among others.