The 30th UN climate conference, Cop30, has ended in a mixed bag, with some progress made on key issues but significant obstacles still in place. The sticking point for negotiations was fossil fuels, which science has long told us are a major contributor to the climate crisis.
Despite decades of annual climate meetings, the need for phasing out fossil fuels has been mentioned only once before – at Cop28 in Dubai two years ago. However, a growing number of countries were determined that progress on this issue was urgently necessary, and they came up with a plan that gathered more support over time.
Developing countries desperately wanted to move forward on securing the money needed to help them cope with extreme weather impacts. In contrast, fossil fuel giants had long been resisting any meaningful action on climate change.
However, in the end, a deal was reached, albeit one that many see as inadequate. The world took another small step towards phasing out fossil fuels, but this faltering step will barely interrupt the climate's steady march towards catastrophe.
The Belém political package included an oblique commitment to "transition away from fossil fuels," which is largely a voluntary initiative led by Brazil and will report back next year. Addressing the cuts in greenhouse gas emissions needed to stay within the 1.5C limit was put off until next year, and developing countries secured a tripling of $120bn in annual finance.
However, critical minerals – essential for renewable energy components but whose extraction has been dogged by human rights abuses – were excised from the text at the behest of China and Russia.
Many experts, including Mohamed Adow and Louise Hutchins, argue that Cop30 failed to rise to the occasion. The deal might have been all that was possible, given the geopolitical headwinds, including a US president wedded to oil and coal, rising right-wing populism, conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, intolerable levels of inequality, and global economic uncertainty.
António Guterres, the UN secretary general, described Cop30 as "not delivering everything that is needed." The gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide.
If the world is to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown, the UN climate talks alone will not be nearly enough. A roadmap to phase out fossil fuels – a voluntary initiative led by Brazil – was included in the text, but it's unclear whether this will make a significant difference.
Developing countries secured a tripling of $120bn in annual finance, but that sum won't be delivered in full until 2035. Workers will benefit from a "just transition mechanism," but commitments to include critical minerals were excised.
As the world teeters on the brink of climate "tipping points" that could destroy ecosystems and plunge whole regions into chaos, it's clear that more needs to be done. Al Gore pointed out that just as we've passed peak Trump, he believes we've also passed peak petrostate – they may be able to veto diplomatic action, but they can't veto real-world action.
While nations were able to applaud the gavelling through of the deal, Cop30 revealed deep fissures in the global process for tackling the climate crisis. The conference showed that consensus is ever harder to reach when geopolitics divides us.
The world needs a more ambitious approach to address the climate crisis. We can't rely on incremental progress; we need radical action to transform our economies and societies.
Despite decades of annual climate meetings, the need for phasing out fossil fuels has been mentioned only once before – at Cop28 in Dubai two years ago. However, a growing number of countries were determined that progress on this issue was urgently necessary, and they came up with a plan that gathered more support over time.
Developing countries desperately wanted to move forward on securing the money needed to help them cope with extreme weather impacts. In contrast, fossil fuel giants had long been resisting any meaningful action on climate change.
However, in the end, a deal was reached, albeit one that many see as inadequate. The world took another small step towards phasing out fossil fuels, but this faltering step will barely interrupt the climate's steady march towards catastrophe.
The Belém political package included an oblique commitment to "transition away from fossil fuels," which is largely a voluntary initiative led by Brazil and will report back next year. Addressing the cuts in greenhouse gas emissions needed to stay within the 1.5C limit was put off until next year, and developing countries secured a tripling of $120bn in annual finance.
However, critical minerals – essential for renewable energy components but whose extraction has been dogged by human rights abuses – were excised from the text at the behest of China and Russia.
Many experts, including Mohamed Adow and Louise Hutchins, argue that Cop30 failed to rise to the occasion. The deal might have been all that was possible, given the geopolitical headwinds, including a US president wedded to oil and coal, rising right-wing populism, conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, intolerable levels of inequality, and global economic uncertainty.
António Guterres, the UN secretary general, described Cop30 as "not delivering everything that is needed." The gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide.
If the world is to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown, the UN climate talks alone will not be nearly enough. A roadmap to phase out fossil fuels – a voluntary initiative led by Brazil – was included in the text, but it's unclear whether this will make a significant difference.
Developing countries secured a tripling of $120bn in annual finance, but that sum won't be delivered in full until 2035. Workers will benefit from a "just transition mechanism," but commitments to include critical minerals were excised.
As the world teeters on the brink of climate "tipping points" that could destroy ecosystems and plunge whole regions into chaos, it's clear that more needs to be done. Al Gore pointed out that just as we've passed peak Trump, he believes we've also passed peak petrostate – they may be able to veto diplomatic action, but they can't veto real-world action.
While nations were able to applaud the gavelling through of the deal, Cop30 revealed deep fissures in the global process for tackling the climate crisis. The conference showed that consensus is ever harder to reach when geopolitics divides us.
The world needs a more ambitious approach to address the climate crisis. We can't rely on incremental progress; we need radical action to transform our economies and societies.
i mean, come on, we've been talking about phasing out fossil fuels for decades but still can't even agree on a plan 
. it's like we're just going through the motions at this point. brazil's "voluntary initiative" is just a nice way of saying it's not happening until someone tells us to 
. and don't even get me started on critical minerals, how are we supposed to transition to renewables when we can't even agree on what that means? 
fossil fuels are still not phased out, which is so needed! developing countries got a small amount of money, but it's not enough considering the scale of climate change 
and what really bothered me was that critical minerals were removed from the deal... like, what about human rights? 
does anyone know when cop31 is happening tho?
so like what i'm reading here, cop30 was all about trying to reduce fossil fuels right? but it's kinda sad that they didn't come up with something more concrete 
because science is super clear on this one climate crisis thing... anyway, i feel bad for developing countries who need all that money to deal with extreme weather and stuff 
, but at the same time, it's weird that fossil fuel giants were resisting any real action 
anyway, i guess antónio gutérres was pretty downbeat about it all... like he said cop30 didn't deliver everything that's needed 
which is kinda harsh but also fair 
fossil fuels r literally the only thing holdin back climate change rn. it's like, science has been sayin this for decades but no one wana listen 
. china & russia pullin strings & gettin critical minerals cut from deal? what r we even doin here? 
. workers are talkin about just transition mechanism, but how many ppl r really goin to benefit from that? 
. we need radical action, not incremental 
I think what's really bothering me about Cop30 is that we're all just trying to stay afloat, but nobody's pushing the pause button 
! I mean, phasing out fossil fuels was only mentioned once before, but countries finally made a plan 
... that's kinda something, right? But $120bn more in annual finance for developing countries and "just transition mechanism" for workers are cool, I guess 
. Still, it feels like we're just treading water while climate disasters keep rising 
. What's up with critical minerals being cut from the text tho? 
. What about all the people who are already suffering from climate change in the meantime? Don't they deserve some kind of urgency here? 
. We need radical action, not just a bunch of empty promises 
. i mean, what's the point of "transitioning away from fossil fuels" if its not gonna be enforced? 