Guatemala’s environment ministry and the British Embassy used a working session in Guatemala City to set priorities before COP30 in Belém. Vice Minister Edwin Castellanos led the Guatemalan team alongside CONAP Secretary Igor De la Roca and Climate Envoy Ambassador Rita Mishaan, with UK officials focused on aligning support for stronger NDCs and faster adaptation delivery.

With COP30 scheduled for 10–21 November 2025 in Belém, negotiators have a narrow window to turn plans into outcomes. The UNFCCC has confirmed the dates, and the UK has signalled it will work with Brazil and regional partners to land a high‑ambition package.

Guatemala’s updated NDC, filed in 2022, pairs emissions reductions with concrete resilience goals. It prioritises forests, water resources, agriculture, coastal areas, health and infrastructure, and sets an unconditional 11.2% reduction in the land‑use sector and a conditional 22.6% cut across energy, agriculture and waste by 2030.

Diplomatically, officials pointed to Guatemala’s active role in AILAC and recent coordination through the Cartagena Dialogue. AILAC now includes eight countries-Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru-while the Cartagena Dialogue brings together roughly 30–40 countries committed to ambitious low‑carbon action.

Why this matters on the ground is clear. More than a quarter of Guatemalan workers are in agriculture (26.66% in 2023), while forest cover stands at about a third of the country’s land area (32.6% in 2023). Drought in the Central American Dry Corridor repeatedly threatens harvests and pushes up food insecurity, with millions needing assistance in strong El Niño years.

The 2024 fire season underlined the stakes. On 10 April 2024 the government declared a nationwide state of calamity as dozens of forest fires burned; authorities later reported more than 240,000 hectares affected within protected areas across the 2023–24 season. The policy lesson is prevention, readiness and funding that can move as fast as the flames.

There are tested answers. In Petén’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, community forestry concessions have kept deforestation near zero (around 0.4% in recent years) and reduced fire incidence while sustaining local jobs and incomes under CONAP oversight-evidence that locally led conservation can deliver climate resilience and livelihoods together.

Negotiators also have stronger tools to track progress. COP28 agreed the Emirates Framework for Global Climate Resilience under the Global Goal on Adaptation, setting targets across water, food, health, nature, shelter and livelihoods. Meanwhile, the Loss and Damage Fund is being operationalised at the World Bank, with pledges reaching about USD 768 million by April 2025-still far short of need.

The UK flagged practical backing earlier this year: support channelled through the NDC Partnership to help raise ambition and implementation in around 40 countries, including Guatemala, and multi‑year investment via the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund in Petén and Trifinio through 2029. These programmes target biodiversity protection and community livelihoods-key to durable adaptation.

What would success at COP30 look like for Guatemala? A tightened NDC with measurable adaptation outcomes; NAP delivery that reaches farmers, forest stewards and coastal communities; and finance that flows faster to local actors, including for loss and damage. If AILAC coordination and the Cartagena Dialogue help lock in those gains, Guatemala will arrive in Belém with a credible, solutions‑first story.