BELEM, Brazil. Entering UN climate talksThe Brazilian hosts did not expect loud statements about lofty goals at the end of the session. This conference was supposed to focus on “implementation” past promises have not yet been fulfilled.
Throw it out the window.
urgency of climate change is causing some negotiators to push for more ambitious action—for weak plans to reduce emissions about heat-trapping gases, about too little money to help countries affected by climate change, about how to actively work to phase out coal, oil and gas. Because of that pressure to do more, including from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the diplomat presiding over the talks said Saturday he would consider a general communiqué at the end of the talks, sometimes called a decision or accompanying text.
“I think the situation has changed, which is a very good thing,” said veteran observer Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity. “So I think there is momentum that we will get some decision text, and we hope that in particular there will be some commitment to phasing out fossil fuels.”
“I would say there's probably more at stake now than in the last few meetings because you see a gap in ambition,” said former Philippine negotiator Jasper Inventor, director of international programs at Greenpeace International. “There's a lot of expectation, a lot of excitement, but there's also a lot of political signals that President Lula has sent.”
“We're in the middle of a COP, and in the middle of a COP, negotiators usually look into each other's eyes. It's almost like a staring contest,” Inventor said. “But next week this is where the talks are supposed to take place, where ministers will make political decisions.”
Since this process comes from Paris Climate AgreementThese end-statements, which are largely voluntary, grab headlines and set a global tone but have limited power. The last few final statements of the COP contained still-unfulfilled commitments to rich countries to give money to poor countries to help them cope with climate change and to help the world phase out fossil fuels.
Key among these issues is the idea of asking countries to go back to the drawing board on what experts say are inadequate climate change plans unveiled this year.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, whose 10th anniversary is being celebrated here, countries must submit climate action and emissions reduction plans every five years. So far, 116 out of 193 countries have submitted their bids this year, but what they have promised is not much. A team of United Nations scientists and Climate Action Tracker estimated that these new commitments are unlikely to reduce future projections of Earth's warming.
The groups estimate that even if the world does everything it promises, Earth's temperature will be about seven-tenths of a degree Celsius (1.3 degrees Fahrenheit) above the Paris goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
Therefore, small island states, led by Palau, asked that this conference bridge the gap between what is planned in national commitments and what is needed to keep the world from falling into a temperature crisis.
This is not on the agenda for these negotiations. There are also no concrete details on how to fulfill rich countries' pledge last year to provide $300 billion annually in climate aid.
So when countries wanted to resolve these issues early on, COP President André Corrêa do Lago, an experienced Brazilian diplomat, organized special small meetings to try to decide whether the controversial topics should be discussed.
On Saturday, the conference referred the issue to the new ministers.
“The parties will decide for themselves how they want to proceed,” Do Lago said at a Saturday evening news conference. According to several experts, given what countries are saying and past history, this usually means a definitive message to the world about the end of COP.
In a casual conversation with a reporter about how the conference was going, COP President do Lago said: “Eh, it could have been better, but not that bad.”
U.N. General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, a former German foreign minister who attended 10 of those sessions, told The Associated Press on Saturday morning ahead of the evening session that she saw “new momentum” in Belém.
“We can only fight the climate crisis together if we commit to clear mitigation,” she said. “This also means moving away from fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy.”
Two years ago in Dubai the world agreed to “move away from fossil fuels”, but last year there was no mention of it and no details on how or when to do it.
Burbock called Lula's call during Leadership Summit last week for “a road map to enable humanity to equitably and systematically overcome its dependence on fossil fuels, reverse deforestation and mobilize the resources needed to do so.”
“I think we have before us the ingredients for a potentially ambitious package of measures to come out of this conference,” said Iskander Erzini Vernois, executive director of Morocco’s IMAL Climate and Development Initiative.
Indigenous peoples broken And blocked the venue twice this week demanding continued inclusion in UN negotiations, despite the conference being touted as an “Indigenous COP”.
The COP so far “has been evidence that, unfortunately, for indigenous peoples to be heard, they actually need to be disruptive,” said Aya Khurshid, an Egyptian-Palestinian member of the Delegation of the Guardians of Wisdom, a group of indigenous peoples from around the world.
Indigenous people invest a lot of energy “to be in this space, but not necessarily to have a platform or a voice at the decision-making table with ministers and those in power,” said Waya, a Ngati Kahungunu wisdom keeper.
“There is an imbalance at COP30,” she said. “There are the privileged and the not so fortunate who have no say in what actually happens in their own home.”
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This article was produced as part of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by the Internews Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
