Against this backdrop, the cocoa sector arrived in Belém, Brazil, with a growing sense of urgency: climate impacts are accelerating, trade rules are tightening, and new reporting frameworks are reshaping market access.
Chris Vincent, President of the World Cocoa Foundation, put it bluntly in a LinkedIn post during the summit:
“COP30 matters for cocoa because climate, trade and regulation are converging, and the sector needs to be part of the conversation, not just subject to its outcomes. …We’re no longer at the stage of explaining why cocoa should be included. Now it’s about how we shape the systems that will define carbon accounting, land use and market access.”
He pointed to the GHG accounting methodology launched at New York Climate Week — now already being used — as an example of how the sector is preparing for rapidly evolving carbon-market and disclosure frameworks.