Asia’s country pavilions commanded prominent positions at this year’s COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil, seeking to champion multilateralism in climate action and promote carbon markets as a decarbonisation solution.
Though not a part of official climate negotiations, country pavilions are co-located in the conference’s Blue Zone, which is where negotiating rooms, plenary halls and high-level ministerial meetings can be found.
This proximity to delegates gives countries the opportunity to shape climate conversations through soft diplomacy – showcasing domestic climate responses, hosting networking sessions, and promoting national culture, policies and technology.
A toy panda and book on Chinese President Xi Jinping sit among reports and documents on China’s energy strategies and roadmaps at the country’s COP30 pavilion. Image: Samantha Ho / Eco-Business
Eco-Business learnt that countries do not control exactly where their pavilions are located but pay more for larger spaces, which are allocated on a commercial first-come, first-serve basis by the organiser, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Indicative prices at the COP30 Green Zone, which hosts pavilions that are open to the public, range from US$1,250 to US$1,500 per square metre.
Countries which submitted their bookings earliest were likely to secure booths closer to the entrance, boosting visibility in a venue that at COP30 spans more than 100 pavilions and meeting rooms across 16 hectares – roughly the size of 11 football fields.
Asian countries including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand had pavilions in the entrance hall of COP30’s Blue Zone, which is the official site for negotiations, meetings and country pavilions. Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
Australia, Brazil, China, and India hosted some of the Blue Zone’s largest pavilions, but it was Bangladesh, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand that bagged prime positions just after the entrance. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan’s pavilions were also located along the main corridor.
Eco-Business observed that some of these countries reused materials from previous years’ COPs, including COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. But this was also the first year that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) had its own pavilion at the climate COP.
Here’s how some of these pavilions fared in terms of narratives and attendance.
Davy Onomori Mboumba, permanent secretary of Gabon’s National Climate Change Council spoke at the China COP30 Pavilion. Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
China spotlights the Global South for climate collaboration
South-South cooperation, a term China uses to describe collaborations among developing countries, was a defining theme of the nation’s regularly crowded pavilion.
This took practical shape in the pavilion’s first high-level, South-South cooperation dialogue on the opening day, which featured speakers from several African nations, among others.
Liu Zhemin, China’s special envoy for climate change, made regular appearances and speeches. At the pavilion’s new energy day on Thursday, he emphasised China’s commitment not only to a clean energy transition, but also to collaboration and mutual trust as key to continue working with international peers on climate action.
Ole Tonke, climate ambassador of Denmark (centre left) speaks to Chinese special envoy for climate change Liu Zhemin (centre right). Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
Indonesia focuses on forest carbon governance
From the get-go, Indonesia’s environment minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq and vice minister of forestry Rohmat Marzuki positioned forest-based carbon projects as the main theme of the country’s COP30 pavilion. Both elaborated on the country’s technical and strategic activities to improve carbon market governance.
At the session attended by climate ambassadors from the United Kingdom and Australia, Nurofiq said that Indonesia’s goal of becoming a regional carbon market hub would require “strong national leadership and deeper international cooperation.”
Indonesia’s environment minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq addresses delegates at the country’s COP30 pavilion on the first day of the climate conference. Image: Samantha Ho/Eco-Business
However, Indonesia’s sessions that day did not appear to feature any speakers from Singapore, which also positioned itself as a regional carbon market leader at its pavilion a few steps away.
Japan and South Korea tout technology
Japan and South Korea framed their pavilions around technological solutions for decarbonisation, which included satellite monitoring of greenhouse gases and packaging manufactured using agricultural waste materials.
Japan’s pavilion at COP30 focused on technology-based solutions for decarbonisation. Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
South Korea, in particular, leveraged on the popularity of the Netflix animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, though it was unclear how this tied into climate action. Free handheld plastic fans were snapped up within the opening hours of COP30 …by delegates who immediately carried them over to the Singapore pavilion to catch climate change ambassador Ravi Menon’s opening speech.
Singapore pavilion attendees hold handheld fans featuring a tiger character from the popular animated film KPop Demon Hunters. Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
Singapore gets sweaty
Visitors appeared undeterred by the heat and humidity at the Singapore pavilion, which was among those affected by the Blue Zone’s scattered arrangement of air conditioning vents.
Menon, in his opening remarks, took off his coat and invited others to do the same, saying that extreme heat resilience was among the main topics on climate adaptation in focus at Singapore’s pavilion. Coastal resilience and food security were also being discussed.
Ravi Menon, Singapore’s special envoy for climate change, removed his jacket during his opening speech at the country’s COP30 pavilion due to the heat. Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
There was a significant focus on international cooperation to grow carbon markets, which included new members added to the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets and the launch of a new protocol on carbon trading, which was produced by standard setters Verra and Gold Standard.
Indonesian carbon market representatives were not featured at these events, nor were others from Southeast Asia.
Singapore’s country pavilion at COP30 attracted a regular stream of visitors. Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
Asean’s first foray at the climate COP
In fact, it was unclear how Asean countries were collaborating despite the presence of COP30 hosting the first-ever pavilion of the regional bloc.
Nearly a 10-minute walk from the entrance, the Asean pavilion was located in the far corner of a sparsely populated hall, away from the country pavilions. Its opening ceremony on the first day was interrupted by a power outage caused by heavy rain in Belém, which had also disrupted the electricity supply to many other COP30 pavilions.
The first pavilion for Asean at the United Nations climate conference was subdued by logistical challenges. Image: Samantha Ho/ Eco-Business
When Eco-Business visited the pavilion later during the week, less than a handful of people were seen holding discussions at the site. The space was organised by the Asean secretariat, which had opened its schedule to member states or other parties to arrange activities and events.
Sporadic rains have also caused chaos across the COP30 venue, with walkways flooded and ceilings in the media centre leaking. However, events at the country pavilions, negotiation rooms and special event rooms have continued to progress, paving the way for a second and more intense week of negotiations.
This story was produced as part of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
