Cop30 president André Corrêa do Lago interpreted smart casual to mean you could leave not just one but two top shirt buttons undone. In keeping with this theme, Lula’s government issued official advice that formal business attire was not needed and “to ensure everyone’s comfort, the recommended dress code for the COP30 is smart casual”. He agreed the forbidding heat made the case for this wardrobe choice thin, but as he told me later, when it comes to smart casual, “I never know what it means”. I knew that for women, the idea of smart casual, or the equally confusing business casual, is ill-defined to the point of uselessness. Although the general state of Cop attire tends to veer more towards the casual than the smart, there are limits.

Source: The Irish Times November 24, 2025 08:15 UTC