Belém
The world is not winning the fight against the climate crisis but it is still in that fight, the UN climate chief has said in Belém, Brazil, after a bitterly contested Cop30 reached a deal.
Countries at Cop30 failed to bring the curtain down on the fossil fuel age amid opposition from some countries led by Saudi Arabia, and they underdelivered on a flagship hope – at a conference held in the Amazon – to chart an end to deforestation.
But in a fractious era of nationalism, war and distrust, the talks did not collapse as was feared. Multilateralism held – just.
“We knew this Cop would take place in stormy political waters,” said Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief, after a long and occasionally angry final plenary at the climate summit. “Denial, division and geopolitics has dealt international cooperation some heavy blows this year.”
But Cop30 showed that “climate cooperation is alive and kicking”, Stiell added, making an oblique reference to the US, which under Donald Trump opted not to send anyone to Belém. Trump, who has called the climate crisis a “hoax” and a “con job” has come to embody the opposition to progress on dealing with dangerous global heating.
Stiell said: “I’m not saying we’re winning the climate fight. But we are undeniably still in it, and we are fighting back. Here in Belém, nations chose unity, science and economic common sense. This year there has been a lot of attention on one country stepping back.
But amid the gale-force political headwinds, 194 countries stood firm in solidarity – rock solid in support of climate cooperation.”
He pointed to one section of the Cop30 agreement: “The global transition towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development is irreversible and the trend of the future.” He argued: “This is a political and market signal that cannot be ignored.”
The summit began more than a fortnight ago with the leaders’ summit. The Brazilian hosts promised with early sunny optimism that it would finish on time, but as the negotiations went on the confusion and obvious divisions between parties grew, and the process looked close to collapse on Friday.
Overnight negotiations and compromise on all sides meant a deal could be agreed on Saturday. The summit produced decisions on dozens of issues, including a promise to triple adaptation funding to protect communities against climate impacts, an agreement for a just transition mechanism (JTM) and recognition of the rights of Indigenous people.
