Negotiations at the U.N. COP30 climate summit in Belém intensified Thursday as countries clashed over how explicitly the final text should require a phaseout of fossil fuels, even as a surge of delegations pushed for a roadmap and Brazil’s president flew in to press for an early deal.
Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and a member of the Elders, said the summit has “momentum and energy” but warned a firm decision has not yet been reached. Robinson noted about 85 countries, including Ireland, have joined a coalition backing a roadmap to phase out oil and gas and called for the final COP30 text to reflect that demand.
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Robinson, a lawyer by training, pointed to an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice issued in July that described climate change as an urgent, existential threat and said states have binding legal obligations under the Paris Agreement, the Kyoto Protocol and international law to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“You must, by law, start cutting and phasing out greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. “You must, by law, stop subsidising to the value of almost $2 trillion a year the fossil fuels that are harming us. This is law.”
Ireland’s minister for climate, energy and the environment, Darragh O’Brien, said his delegation has been working “heavily” on an adaptation finance framework and on including a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels in the final agreement.
“It is intense,” O’Brien said. He described negotiations as grappling with politically tricky issues including climate finance, trade-related concerns and how fast countries should raise ambitions to cut emissions. He warned that without tougher action the world is on track for 2.3 to 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming, well above the Paris goal of 1.5 degrees.
O’Brien said Ireland and a coalition of EU countries have been pressing for a clear pathway and that he would be disappointed if a roadmap did not appear in the final COP text, even as an addendum or appendix.
The Brazilian presidency and summit chair André Corrêa do Lago urged negotiators to work around the clock to bridge divisions between wealthier nations, developing countries and oil-producing states. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Belém to lend political weight to efforts to reach a deal before the conference’s scheduled Friday close.
Despite the push, key differences remain. A draft pact released by Brazil underscores a divide between a coalition led by Europe and island states seeking a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels and an opposing bloc of oil-producing countries. Negotiators also remain at odds over demands from developing nations for stepped-up adaptation finance.
EU officials signalled caution on financial commitments. “We’re not looking at any increases in adaptation finance,” O’Brien said, reflecting resistance from several European capitals facing economic strain.
French ecological transition minister Monique Barbut cautioned that a deal was unlikely immediately, saying negotiators were “still far from the mark” even as she registered slight movement.
A new text was due to be published Friday as talks entered their final stretch and the presidency sought to convert pressure on fossil fuels and finance into agreed language that can carry the summit forward.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
