Day 2 in Belém brought together three themes that will define the next decade of climate action: technology, resilience, and finance. The conversation across sessions was less about abstract innovation and more about alignment: how we ensure that digital systems, local adaptation, and capital flows all move in the same direction, toward measurable, equitable climate outcomes.

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Technology and Data

The role of technology is expanding rapidly, not only in emissions monitoring and project verification, but also in how financial and non-financial data shape decision-making. Yet a recurring theme today was risk.

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If artificial intelligence and data systems are built without a sustainability lens, they will optimise for efficiency rather than integrity. One speaker noted that if asked What’s the best way to export to Europe? an untuned AI might simply calculate the fastest, cheapest route, ignoring the climate or social cost. The message was clear: digital systems must be trained and governed to serve climate outcomes, not just productivity metrics.

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For One Carbon World, this reinforces the importance of integrating emissions and impacting data into transparent frameworks: ensuring that the digital tools we rely on are aligned with sustainability goals from the outset.

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Adaptation and Resilience

Resilience is increasingly being reframed as a measure of empowerment rather than endurance. Two examples stood out today.

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• India, now producing more milk than any other nation and home to nearly 30% of the world’s cattle, illustrates both the scale and vulnerability of agricultural systems. Climate pressures on such vast production networks created the need for adaptation strategies that protect livelihoods while maintaining food security.

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• Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, communities facing repeated power disruptions have collectively invested in solar energy. What began as a practical response to instability has evolved into a model for emissions reduction and local ownership, a reminder that community-led adaptation can generate environmental benefits, rather than being driven by them.

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Climate Finance and Innovation

In 2015, widespread electric vehicle adoption still felt aspirational. By 2025, one in five vehicle sales globally are now electric, a transformation made possible by finance. From factory investment to consumer leasing models, financial innovation has consistently proven to be the bridge between ambition and scale.

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The consensus among speakers was that access to capital remains the central challenge. Expanding the frontiers of climate finance (through blended mechanisms, de-risking tools, and frameworks that attract private capital into nature-based and low-carbon solutions) will be critical.

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A Stark Reminder

The science remains sobering:

• Between 1850 and 1989, global temperatures rose by 0.6 °C.
  

• Between 1990 and 2020, we added another 0.5 °C.
  

• By 2024, we have breached the 1.5 °C threshold in total.

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This is a reminder that humanity is not separate from nature but deeply interwoven with it, and that our decisions, especially around technology and finance, have cascading effects.

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An Interesting Insight

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One statistic shared today captured the social dimension of climate progress: a single additional year of education within a country’s population is linked to a 35% increase in pro-climate voting behaviour (World Bank). It’s a powerful illustration of how knowledge itself can accelerate systemic change.

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As COP30 progresses, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: the future of climate action will be shaped by how effectively we connect data, people, and capital, and how well we turn those connections into solutions that last.