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COP30: Last minute deal clinched, but no roadmap on fossil fuel
View(s):- Lanka unveils NDC 3.0, but its voice in Belém remains muted
By Tharushi Weerasinghe
COP30 negotiators meeting in the Brazilian city of Belém clinched a last-minute deal yesterday without a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels.
The EU and other nations had pushed for a deal that would call for a “roadmap” to phase out fossil fuels, but the words in the final deal do not appear in the text.
Instead, the agreement calls on countries to “voluntarily” accelerate their climate action and recalls the consensus reached at COP28 in Dubai. That 2023 deal called for the world to transition away from fossil fuels.
Nearly 200 countries agreed on the deal after all signs indicated on Friday night that the talks were heading for a collapse, as countries remained stuck on the decades-old divide over phasing out fossil fuels—the very issue at the heart of the climate crisis.
Despite marathon sessions, security disruptions, and even a fire that triggered a full evacuation of the venue, parties failed to break the impasse. By close of day, 52 agenda items had been settled, while 51 remained unresolved, leaving the summit’s outcome hanging in the balance.
The stalemate deepened with the release of the long-awaited second draft of the “mutirão” text on Friday morning. The document calls for efforts to triple adaptation finance by 2030, launches a presidency-led Belém Mission to 1.5°C, and establishes a two-year work programme on climate finance tied to Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement—though with a footnote stressing it will not prejudge how the new global climate finance goal is met.
The text sidestepped the push for a “fossil-fuel roadmap”, despite a letter backed by at least 29 countries urging its inclusion and calling for stronger language on both fossil fuels and deforestation.
Parallel drafts continued to circulate. A new global goal on adaptation text adopted 59 indicators—but emphasised these create no new financial obligations—and set up a two-year Belém-Addis Vision to refine them, pending integration of the final adaptation finance figure. Negotiators also advanced on the just transition work programme, deciding to develop a mechanism after a year-long civil society advocacy, though references to critical minerals were removed. The Brazilian presidency also floated a slimmer draft of the Belém Gender Action Plan, now down to three brackets.
Most other talks floundered. Discussions on UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) procedures and transferring the remaining Kyoto Protocol funds again yielded little. While some technical rooms found early-morning consensus—including on ex-ante finance reporting and enhancing local community engagement—the day’s most memorable moment was the pavilion fire that forced thousands into the heat.
Outside the negotiation rooms, tensions ran high. The Least Developed Countries and AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States) warned that failing to anchor outcomes in science risks pushing warming far beyond 1.5°C and pointed to the devastation higher temperatures would bring to coral reefs, food security and biodiversity.
They reiterated calls to triple adaptation finance, noting developing countries are diverting more domestic funds due to barriers in accessing global finance. UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged delegates to compromise, push large emitters harder, curb methane, reverse deforestation, and address market distortions and disinformation undermining the energy transition.
The atmosphere around COP30 remained fraught. Floods, a fire, and security breaches repeatedly stalled proceedings. Last week, activists and Indigenous groups staged an unprecedented breach of the venue’s perimeter, demanding a halt to Amazon encroachment. Despite the stalemate, close to 100 countries submitted new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which could collectively cut emissions by 12% in the next decade.
Sri Lanka also submitted its NDC 3.0, after multiple consultations and the inclusion of gender equality and social inclusion clauses. Yet implementation concerns persist. The Sri Lankan delegation’s presence remained unusually muted; delegates did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Amid the deadlock, climate activist Harjeet Singh, Founding Director of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, warned that the draft outcome would mark a historic failure. “If the current draft text is accepted here in Belém, COP30 will go down in history as the deadliest talk show ever produced,” he said.
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