COP30 deal reached without reference to fossil fuels

emirates7 - Governments around the world agreed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP30 in Brazil on a settlement aimed at increasing funding for poorer nations facing global warming, but without any reference to the fossil fuels that drive it.

The agreement, reached after extending negotiations in the Brazilian city of Belém, revealed divisions between developed and developing countries, as well as between governments holding opposing views on oil, gas and coal.

According to the text of the agreement, the outcome launches a process for climate bodies to review how international trade can be aligned with climate action, amid concerns that rising trade barriers may limit the adoption of clean technologies.

Following the deal, conference president André Corrêa do Lago acknowledged the difficulty of the talks, saying, “We know some of you had higher ambitions on certain issues.”

Several countries objected to the summit ending without stronger plans to curb greenhouse-gas emissions or address the issue of fossil fuels.

Some criticism came from Brazil’s neighbours in Latin America, with Colombia, Panama and Uruguay voicing objections before Corrêa do Lago suspended the plenary session for further consultations.

The three countries said they were not opposing the conference’s overall political agreement but rather one of the more technical negotiating texts scheduled for adoption at the end of the summit alongside the main agreement.

The three nations aligned with the European Union in calling for language on transitioning away from fossil fuels to be included in the agreement. Following tense negotiations, the EU agreed not to block the final deal but stated that it did not endorse the outcome.

European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra told reporters ahead of the agreement’s adoption, “We must support it because at least it goes in the right direction,” while some countries issued stronger remarks.

Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, Panama’s climate negotiator, said, “Any climate decision that does not even mention fossil fuels is not neutrality; it is complicity.”

Scientists have warned that current national commitments to reduce emissions have significantly lowered projected warming but remain insufficient to prevent global temperatures from surpassing 1.5°C, a threshold beyond which climate impacts become increasingly severe.

Developing nations reiterated their urgent need for funding to adapt to worsening impacts already being felt, including rising sea levels, intensifying heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms.