Disappointment at COP30: Brazil will seek an agreement against fossil fuels after the summit

Barcelona"I will create two roadmaps, one to halt and reverse deforestation, and another for a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels." The president of the UN climate summit, COP30, Brazilian André Correa do Lago, drew a standing ovation during the summit's final plenary session when he made this announcement. But not everyone was happy. This was the solution Correa himself found to get the final COP30 text approved, the so-called Mutirão (collective effort in Brazilian Portuguese), without mentioning that 82 countries were demanding a "roadmap" to end the fossil fuels that have generated the climate crisis we are experiencing.

The point was not included in the final text (although it appeared in initial drafts) and instead became "an initiative of the presidency." Brazil assumed the presidency of the UN climate forum when COP30 began two weeks ago and will hold this position for a year, until next November when it will hand over the reins to Turkey, which has been chosen to host COP31. During this time, Brazil is committed to working to achieve these two "roadmaps," which the country's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, promised to secure at the start of the summit. A step forward.

"It's 8:10 a.m. and we've been locked in a room since 3:30 a.m.," Correa explained in the corridors of COP30, after an intense night of negotiations in which, according to sources close to the matter, there were tense moments precisely because of this issue of fuels. Shortly afterward, the final version of the Mutirão which, indeed, no longer includes any reference to fossil fuels. It does maintain the commitment to avoid exceeding the 1.5°C global warming limit, calls on governments for "full implementation" of their climate plans (the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs in climate jargon), and includes advances in financing.

Triple adaptation funding

The final agreement includes a commitment to "triple adaptation funding by 2035." This is five years later than the previous drafts (which projected 2030), but at least it maintains the target date, representing a small victory for the least developed countries, which are the ones that most urgently need to adapt to the new climate situation. The text also incorporates and "urges" compliance with the agreement reached at the last summit, COP29 in Baku, to mobilize $1.3 trillion in public and private funds by 2035, and to secure $300 billion in direct government-to-government aid that same year for the poorest countries. Another positive outcome of the summit was the agreement to create a "just transition mechanism" to help ensure that the energy transition takes into account the most vulnerable workers and social classes.

European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, speaking on behalf of the group of countries that demanded the inclusion of an end to fossil fuels in the text, admitted that the outcome of COP30 was not what they had hoped for, but that they accepted it because they understood the difficulty of reaching an agreement among so many countries – “which were important for the most vulnerable countries.” “There are many things we would have liked to include because climate change needs much more action, the world needs more.” But seeing what's on the table, we think we should support it because at least it's a step in the right direction and because we must stand with the friends of the poorest nations, and that gives them a good outcome in terms of financing," Hok said. Many countries, including Spain, but also the entire European Union and the United Kingdom, had threatened to block any final COP30 agreement that did not include the demand to promote a roadmap for "a transition away from fossil fuels," a reference that was already achieved eight times but was not included in the final agreement of last year's summit in Azerbaijan. The reluctance of the oil and gas producing countries, led by Saudi Arabia—despite the absence of the world's largest gas exporter, the United States—has once again blocked this point. But the Brazilian presidency has sought a consensus solution by promoting a separate initiative on the matter.

So, The petition, signed by 82 countries, called for the UN to establish "a roadmap for a transition away from fossil fuels.""It will become a science-led and inclusive initiative," Correa said at the final plenary session, explaining that to define this "roadmap," "high-level dialogues and meetings with producing and consuming countries" will be convened. The results of all these discussions, including those from "the first international conference for elimination by 2026 in Colombia," he said, will be taken to the next summit, COP31 in Turkey.

A tense moment suspended the plenary session

Colombia was at the center of the most tense moment of the summit's final day. Shortly after Correa's gavel sealed the agreement, the Colombian representative forced the suspension of the final plenary session due to her complete disagreement with the text. Colombian President Gustavo Petro added fuel to the fire with a message on social media: "I do not accept that the COP30 final declaration does not clearly state, as science confirms, that the cause of the climate crisis is fossil fuels." The mere fact that one country opposes the agreement is enough to prevent its approval, but the criticism arose after the final text had already been formally approved by President Correa's gavel. In previous summits, there have also been objections raised after approval, which have not led to the suspension of the plenary session or a review of the agreements, because technically, once the text is approved, it cannot be reversed. But the Colombian representative in the plenary, Diana Mejía, complained of an alleged procedural error that supposedly prevented her from expressing her disagreement before the summit president sealed the agreement, as she had requested. This forced Brazil to suspend the plenary session to discuss what to do. Finally, the plenary session resumed, and the Brazilian summit president explained that Colombia had not been given the floor due to "human error" caused by fatigue after the intense night of negotiations, but that the agreement stood.

"Empty agreement" or "significant progress"

For several climate NGOs, this is a very disappointing outcome. "The blatant hypocrisy of the richest nations is staggering: rich countries talk about phasing out fossil fuels, even as they plan a massive expansion of oil and gas," said Oxfam, noting that "the only spark of hope," but the final agreement, falls far short of expectations. "This is an empty agreement. COP30 provides a stark reminder that the answers to the climate crisis are not found within climate summits, but with the people and movements leading the way to a just, equitable, and fossil-free future," said Nikki Reisch of the Center for International Environment. Although oil and gas producing countries managed to remove this point from the final COP30 text, this alternative solution has been described as "significant progress" by Jennifer Morgan, a veteran of climate negotiations who went from leading Greenpeace to advising the German government on climate matters. According to Morgan, this new initiative keeps the Paris Agreement alive and will allow for an acceleration of the transition agreed upon at COP28.

"The barely adequate result achieved in the final hours of COP30 keeps the Paris Agreement alive, but exposes the monumental failure of rich countries – including the United States and the European Union – to fulfill the commitments they made in a change from Scientists, where they recalled that Rich countries continue to increase their CO₂ emissions year after year despite having committed to reducing them. to avoid 1.5°C of global warming.