🔗 Share this article

When dawn was breaking the Amazonian city of Belém on Saturday morning, delegates remained trapped in a windowless conference room, oblivious whether it was day or night. They had been 12 hours in strained discussions, with dozens ministers representing multiple blocs of countries including the least developed nations to the wealthiest economies.

Tempers were short, the air stifling as exhausted delegates acknowledged the harsh reality: they would not reach a comprehensive agreement in Brazil. The international climate negotiations teetered on the brink of total collapse.

The central impasse: Fossil fuels

Scientific evidence has shown for more than a century, the greenhouse gases produced by consuming fossil fuels is warming our planet to alarming levels.

Yet, during over three decades of regular climate meetings, the urgent need to cease fossil fuel use has been addressed only once – in a decision made two years ago at the Dubai climate summit to "move beyond fossil fuels". Officials from the Gulf states, Russia, and a few other countries were determined this would not occur another time.

Mounting support for change

Meanwhile, a expanding group of countries were similarly resolved that movement on this issue was crucially important. They had formulated a proposal that was attracting expanding support and made it evident they were willing to stand their ground.

Developing countries strongly sought to move forward on securing funding support to help them address the already disastrous impacts of extreme weather.

Critical moment

By the early hours of Saturday, some delegates were willing to withdraw and trigger failure. "It was on the edge for us," stated one government representative. "I considered to walk away."

The pivotal moment came through talks with Saudi Arabia. Shortly after 6am, principal delegates left the main group to hold a closed-door meeting with the head Saudi negotiator. They pressed text that would subtly reference the global commitment to "transition away from fossil fuels" made two years earlier in Dubai.

Unanticipated resolution

Rather than explicitly namechecking fossil fuels, the text would refer to "the previous commitment". Following reflection, the Saudi delegation unexpectedly agreed to the wording.

The room expressed relief. Applause rang out. The deal was finalized.

With what became known as the "Amazon accord", the world took a modest advance towards the gradual elimination of fossil fuels – a hesitant, inadequate step that will barely interrupt the climate's ongoing trajectory towards crisis. But nevertheless a important shift from absolute paralysis.

Major components of the agreement

• Alongside the oblique commitment in the official document, countries will start developing a framework to phase out fossil fuels
• This will be mostly a voluntary initiative led by Brazil that will report back next year
• Addressing the required reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to remain below the 1.5C limit was similarly postponed to next year
• Developing countries achieved a tripling to $120bn of annual finance to help them cope with the impacts of extreme weather
• This amount will not be fully available until 2035
• Workers will benefit from a "equitable change process" to help people working in high-carbon industries move toward the renewable industry

Varied responses

As the world teeters on the brink of climate "tipping points" that could destroy ecosystems and force whole regions into disorder, the agreement was not the "major breakthrough" needed.

"Cop30 gave us some baby steps in the proper course, but given the magnitude of the climate crisis, it has not met the occasion," cautioned one environmental analyst.

This flawed deal might have been all that was possible, given the political challenges – including a US president who avoided the talks and remains wedded to oil and coal, the increasing presence of rightwing populism, ongoing conflicts in different locations, intolerable levels of inequality, and global economic uncertainty.

"Major polluters – the energy conglomerates – were at last in the spotlight at these negotiations," comments one climate activist. "We have crossed a threshold on that. The political space is accessible. Now we must transform it into a genuine solution to a protected environment."

Major disagreements revealed

Although nations were able to welcome the formal approval of the deal, Cop30 also highlighted deep fissures in the sole international mechanism for confronting the climate crisis.

"International summits are unanimity-required, and in a era of geopolitical divides, unanimity is progressively challenging to reach," commented one global leader. "I cannot pretend that these talks has achieved complete success that is needed. The disparity between present circumstances and what science demands remains alarmingly large."

Should the world is to prevent the most severe impacts of climate breakdown, the UN climate talks alone will prove insufficient.