This weekend is the halfway point for the 30th annual UN climate summit known as COP 30.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Bel-M Brazil on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, which is the world's largest.

In a report issued just days before the meeting began, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said 2025 is on track to be among the three warmest years on record.

It said the planet's average temperature in the first eight months of the year was nearing the limit for warming set 10 years ago in the landmark Paris Climate Accords.

New York Times International Climate reporter Somini Supta, has just returned from COP 30.

Sumini, one former UN Climate Chief was quoted as saying that asking what agreement is going to come out of this meeting is the wrong question.

So what is the goal? What are they trying to do at this time?

I think primarily they're trying to keep the idea of international climate cooperation alive.

But also the delegates who are meeting in Bel-in have a couple of things that they want to get done.

They want to see to what extent are countries keeping the

commitments that they've made, and they want to address one of the main demands from the

global South, from developing countries, which is financial assistance in transitioning their economies to renewables and financial assistance to

adapt to the damages of climate change. So money is one of the big goals here. Let's see how that goes.

You talk about international cooperation. There's

no senior U.S. official down there. You've got a president who is once again withdrawing for the

Paris Accords, who talks about fossil fuels and says that climate change is a con job.

What effect is that having on what's going on down there?

I think it is significant that the United States has not sent senior officials to participate

in the actual negotiations. But what is far more significant is what the United States is

actually doing in the world. Not only has the Trump administration

for the second time pulled out of the Paris Accords, what you're seeing in the second Trump

administration is really a doubling down on fossil fuel expansion. And as you've noticed,

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