COP30 Ends With More Climate Aid but No Mention of Fossil Fuels

The United Nations climate conference in Brazil ended on Saturday with a compromise that would boost financing for poor countries coping with global warming but that does not mention the fossil fuels driving it, CNBC and NPR reported.

The deal landed in overtime after two weeks of negotiations in the Amazon city of Belem, CNBC reported. NPR said the formal agreement delivered modest progress on efforts to curb warming and pay for adapting to a hotter planet. The United States, historically the largest emitter, was absent: the Trump administration declined to send an official delegation, both outlets noted.

Earlier in the week, more than 80 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and oil producers such as Mexico and Brazil, demanded agreement on a roadmap to transition away from oil, coal and gas, to deliver on a landmark 2023 commitment, NPR reported. Major fossil fuel producers including Russia and Saudi Arabia opposed any process or timetable. CNBC said a coalition that included Saudi Arabia, the top oil exporter, held that any mention of fossil fuels was off-limits.

Brazil’s COP30 president, Andre Correa do Lago, gaveled the deal through and acknowledged, “We know some of you had greater ambitions for some of the issues at hand,” CNBC reported. Colombia, Panama and Uruguay objected repeatedly before he suspended the plenary for an hour and then said the decisions would stand. Colombia’s negotiator said, “A consensus imposed under climate denialism is a failed agreement.”

The Russian delegate, Sergei Kononuchenko, accused objectors of “behaving like children who want to get their hands on all the sweets,” CNBC reported. After tense overnight talks, the EU agreed not to block the final deal but said it did not agree with its conclusion. “We should support (the deal) because at least it is going in the right direction,” EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said, per CNBC.

Simon Stiell, head of the U.N. climate secretariat, said, “I’m not saying we’re winning the climate fight. But we are undeniably still in it, and we are fighting back,” CNBC reported.

Two dozen countries have said they will work alongside the United Nations on a new process focused on transitioning away from fossil fuels, NPR reported, and Colombia and the Netherlands plan to host the first international conference on the issue in April.