Brazil’s COP30 Presidency and the International Energy Agency (IEA) convened the third High-Level Energy Transition Dialogue in New York, bringing together a wide range of leaders from governments, industry, and civil society to shape the energy agenda for COP30 in Belém, Brazil. The event was organised in partnership with the United Nations Climate Action Team and co-chaired by IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, COP30 President-Designate André Corrêa do Lago, and Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition
The dialogue took place during the UN General Assembly and was part of the Secretary-General’s “solutions dialogues,” which aim to accelerate progress on global clean energy transitions. The discussions focused on energy priorities under Brazil’s COP30 Presidency and fed directly into the UN Secretary-General’s Special High-Level Event on Climate Action.
Participants included ministers, senior officials, and climate leaders from across the world. Among them were Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); Christopher Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy of Australia; Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General for Energy at the European Commission; Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at Germany’s Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; Pankaj Jain, Secretary at India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; Muhammad Rachmat Kaimuddin, Indonesia’s Deputy Coordinating Minister for Basic Infrastructure; Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Climate, Energy and Environment of Ireland; Vannia Gava, Italy’s Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Security; Matthew Samuda, Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change of Jamaica; Keeyong Chung, Korea’s Ambassador and Deputy Minister for Climate Change; Maina Talia, Tuvalu’s Minister of Climate Change; and Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. Also present were Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance, Nigar Arpadarai, COP29 High-Level Champion, and Dan Ioschpe, COP30 High-Level Champion.
The dialogue focused on practical steps to implement global energy goals endorsed by nearly 200 countries, including commitments made at COP28 in Dubai. Central to the discussions were strategies to triple renewable power capacity and double progress on energy efficiency by 2030. Leaders exchanged views on overcoming barriers, mobilising finance, and ensuring that the clean energy transition is both equitable and inclusive.
These High-Level Dialogues, now in their third edition, build on the foundations laid by earlier sessions that helped shape the UAE Consensus at COP28 and the energy outcomes of COP29 in Baku. Organised with the involvement of the UNFCCC Secretariat, the series provides a platform for decision-makers to align priorities and coordinate action, ensuring that COP30 delivers meaningful progress on energy transition goals while laying the groundwork for long-term climate and energy strategies beyond 2025.