India, Nov. 24 -- For too long, climate negotiations have risked drifting into abstraction, detached from the reality of climate impacts and action already happening on the ground. Often, climate negotiations are reduced to a false binary - from fossil fuels today to clean energy overnight. But real transitions unfold through hard development choices. COP30 in Brazil was a reset - the real world finally re-entered the negotiating halls.

At a time when climate multilateralism is under pressure, getting a good deal mattered more than holding out for an ideal one. This is the paradox at the heart of every Conference: Each COP is part of a longer process, yet each COP seeks a strong outcome. If the process from one COP to the next does not r...