Chatham House

COP30 is about to begin. Where do we stand ahead of the conference? What are the key issues to watch, and how might the complex geopolitical context influence the discussions in Belém? To find out, Anna is joined by three Chatham House colleagues: Ana Yang (Director of the Environment and Society Centre), Bernice Lee (Distinguished Fellow and Senior Advisor) and Nick Bridge (Associate Fellow at Chatham House and former UK Special Representative for Climate change).  For additional analysis, please see: The expert comment ‘What can COP30 achieve, following US withdrawal and underwhelming climate plans’, available . The explainer ‘What is COP30 and why does it matter for the climate?, available . The expert comment ‘The UN climate process remains indispensable’, available .

Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders suffered a setback in Wednesday’s elections, with centrists poised to take back power.  

Rob Jetten, 38, leader of the centre-progressive Democrats 66 party, is set to become the Netherlands’ youngest leader in modern history after running on the upbeat slogan ‘Yes we can’. But the hard right remains influential.  

To discuss the outcome, and what it tells us about Europe beyond the Netherlands, guest host Grégoire Roos, Director of Chatham House’s Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes, is joined by Sébastien Maillard, a Chatham House Associate Fellow and special advisor to the Jacques Delors Institute. And, joining down the line, is Karien van Gennip, a former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

The incoming COP30 host, Brazil, has signalled it wants COP30 to mark the moment the UNFCCC transitions to a ‘post-negotiation’ phase, and that efforts should focus on action and implementation going forward. As part of its work to make this a reality, Brazil is reforming the UNFCCC’s ‘Action Agenda’, a process bringing together cities, regions, businesses, investors, civil society and governments to implement the Paris Agreement. 

To find out more about Brazil’s vision for the Action Agenda, co-hosts Anna and Bhargabi speak to Dan Ioschpe, Brazil’s High-Level Climate Champion for COP30.

In the introduction to the episode, Anna and her colleague Chris Aylett (Research Fellow at Chatham House) discuss the EU’s commitment to phase out Russian energy imports by 2028 and US efforts to block a plan for decarbonizing international shipping.

What is Brazil’s vision for the ‘Action Agenda’? The incoming COP30 host, Brazil, has signalled it wants COP30 to mark the moment the UNFCCC transitions to a ‘post-negotiation’ phase, and that efforts should focus on action and implementation going forward. As part of its work to make this a reality, Brazil is reforming the UNFCCC’s ‘Action Agenda’, a process bringing together cities, regions, businesses, investors, civil society and governments to implement the Paris Agreement.  To find out more about Brazil’s vision for the Action Agenda, co-hosts Anna and Bhargabi speak to Dan Ioschpe, Brazil’s High-Level Climate Champion for COP30. In the introduction to the episode, Anna and her colleague Chris Aylett (Research Fellow at Chatham House) discuss the EU’s commitment to phase out Russian energy imports by 2028 and US efforts to block a plan for decarbonizing international shipping. 

Will elections in Tanzania bring change? by Chatham House

China’s ruling Communist Party leadership met in Beijing to frame the next five-year-plan. Amid a trade war with the United States, they set priorities for economic policy and technology, including how to build artificial intelligence into key sectors of society.

New faces appeared and old ones vanished, with a purge of senior military officials and others as President Xi Jinping sacked some officials he had earlier promoted. As Xi prepares to meet with US President Donald Trump in South Korea, Chatham House senior research fellows Yu Jie and James Kynge join host Bronwen Maddox.

Beset by early ceasefire disputes between Israel and Hamas, international backers of President Trump’s Mideast project must move quickly to elevate it from vague wish list to viable framework. Rapid delivery of aid, reconstruction - and security for Palestinians and Israelis – are essential. But without a political end game, it will founder.

Sanam Vakil, Marc Weller and Stephen Farrell join host Bronwen Maddox in this week’s podcast from Chatham House.

The multilateral development banks (MDBs) play a critical role in addressing climate change and have a key role to play in delivering on the ‘New Collective Quantified Goal’ on climate finance, agreed at COP29. This Climate Briefing episode focuses on the newest of the MDBs: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), launched in 2016. What are the similarities and differences between the AIIB and the other MDBs? What is the AIIB doing to address climate change?  To find out, Anna and Bhargabi speak to Kim-See Lim (Chief Investment Officer, Public Sector (Region 1) & Financial Institutions and Funds (Global) Clients at the AIIB) and Hans Peter Lankes (Managing Director and Deputy Chief Executive at the Overseas Development Institute; Visiting Professor in Practice at the LSE Grantham Research Institute; and a Senior Fellow at the LSE/Oxford International Growth Centre).  In the introduction to the episode, Anna and Bhargabi speak about growth trends in global renewable energy generation, climate politics in the UK, the US-China trade spat and the ratification of the High Seas Treaty.

At home the US is mired in domestic dysfunction with a government shutdown now in its second week. But abroad, President Trump has brokered a deal that - although it didn’t win a Nobel Peace Prize - could end the two-year Gaza war. Laurel Rapp and Max Yoeli join guest host Christopher Sabatini.

They discuss the effects of the government funding crisis and protracted political deadlock on the US economy, international investment, the military and foreign policy.

It's party conference season in Britain. Both ruling Labour and opposition Conservatives are nervous about the rise of Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK, successor to the Brexit Party.

Pollster Joe Twyman and Olivia O’Sullivan, Director of Chatham House's UK in the World Programme, join host Bronwen Maddox for this week's podcast.