Fury, confusion and gratitude as climate deal reached in Belém – as it happened

After a series of all-night meetings and fears the summit could collapse, an agreement has been gavelled through at Cop30 Heres a summary of the key outcomes of Cop30: Perhaps most of all, while getting close to collapse, the talks delivered a deal, showing multilateral cooperation between 194 states can work even in a world in geopolitical turmoil. Nations agreed to tripled funding for adaptation the money provided by rich nations and desperately needed by vulnerable countries to protect their people but the goal of roughly $120bn a year was pushed back five years to 2035. Fossil fuels were not mentioned in the key final decision petrostates including Saudi Arabia and allies fought fiercely to keep that out. A commitment to a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels was not part of the formal deal in Belem, but Brazil backed an initiative outside the UN process, building on plan backed by Colombia and about 90 other nations. There was a similar roadmap to end deforestation, also backed by about 90 nations. Cop30 was deliberately sited in the Amazon and the lack of significant measures in the key Cop30 text is a disappointment. However, Brazil did launch the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, again outside the UN process, but an investment fund that will pay nations to keep trees standing. A big outcome, welcomed by civil society, was the agreement of a Just Transition Mechanism, a plan agreed by all nations to ensure that the move to a green economy around the world takes place fairly and protects the rights of all people, including workers, women and indigenous people. Efforts early in the talks to attach funding to it failed. Pressure to address the huge gap between the emissions cuts pledged by nations and those needed to keep the overshoot of 1.5C to a minimum ended with weaker measures than progressive nations wanted an accelerator programme to address the shortfall which will report back at next years Cop. Thats all from our live coverage of the final day of Cop30 from Belem. Its been quite a ride. You can read a full analysis of the outcomes from this climate summit from the Guardians Fiona Harvey , Jonathan Watts , Damien Gayle and Damian Carrington who have all been on the ground in Brazil (theyve done some incredible reporting, and Im not just saying that because theyre my colleagues). Before we sign off, heres what happened today. Nations agreed to tripled funding for climate adaptation but the goal of about US$120bn a year was pushed back to 2035. Petrostates like Saudi Arabia successfully fought to keep out any mention of fossil fuels in the final agreement. About 90 countries committed to a voluntary agreement to develop roadmaps to transition away from fossil fuels. Attempts to make the step a formal part of the UN process failed. There was drama when the main plenary meeting was stopped after countries complained the Cop chair, Andre Correa do Lago , was gavelling through texts without letting countries speak. He later apologised. The UNs chief climate envoy Simon Stiell said: Im not saying were winning the climate fight. But we are undeniably still in it, and we are fighting back. An accelerator programme was established to encourage nations to do more.It will report back to next years Cop to be held in Turkey. All nations agreed to the Just Transition Mechanism a step to ensure moved to a green economy are fair for all peoples, but there was no funding attached to it. You can stay on top of all our Cop30 coverage here . Thats all from us. Thanks for being with us. Well do it all again in Antalya, Turkey, next year! Indigenous peoples give mixed review to Cop30 The militarisation of Cop30 shows that Indigenous peoples are still viewed as threats, one Indigenous leader has said, even as he welcomed advances in Indigenous rights in the UN climate summits final text. Brazil had styled Cop30 as the Indigenous Cop and the Amazonian Cop, with an estimated 2,500 people from Indigenous communities attending. But Emil Gualinga , of the Kichwa peoples of Sarayaku, Ecuador said Indigenous participation in the Cop process remained limited. He said: Despite being referred to as an Indigenous COP and despite the historic achievement in the just transition programme, it became clear that Indigenous peoples continue to be excluded from the negotiations, and in many cases, we were not given the floor in negotiation rooms. Nor have most of our proposals been incorporated. The militarisation of the COP shows that Indigenous Peoples are viewed as threats, and the same happens in our territories: militarisation occurs when Indigenous Peoples defend their rights in the face of oil, mining, and other extractive projects. Gualinga welcomed new recognitions of Indigenous peoples land rights. But, he added: We had proposed stronger and more specific language for the Mutirao text, including on the need for full and effective participation in the development and implementation of the NDCs, as well as direct access to financing. Although there were advances, Indigenous participation in the COPs remains limited, and our proposals are included in the decisions only in a few cases. Kleber Karipuna of the Karipuna peoples, Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), said the outcome at Cop30 acknowledged the importance of Indigenous people as key actors in confronting the climate emergency, but he called for further strengthening of Indigenous territorial governance. In Brazil alone, 59 million hectares were recognized as areas that must be secured, protected and managed over the next five years as Indigenous lands. We also saw the announcement of a new financial commitment of 1.8 billion dollars to support the way we manage our territories. And Toya Manchineri , of the Manchineri peoples, Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), said: Indigenous Peoples will remain vigilant, mobilised, and present beyond COP30 to ensure that our voices are respected and that global decisions reflect the urgency we experience in our territories. For some, COP ends today, for us territorial defence in the heart of the Amazon is every day. Firefighters line up for thanks It was only two days ago but it probably feels like a lot longer, but remember the fire that broke out in the Cop pavillion on Thursday in Belem? Some 13 people were treated for smoke inhalation. Some of the firefighters who acted quickly to put out the flames have lined up inside the venue and people are thanking them as they make their way passed. Saudi Arabia and EU share ignominious colossal fossil award At each COP the Climate Action Network a group of almost 2,000 civil society groups in more than 130 countries gives a colossal fossil award to countries they say have held back climate action. This year CAN has handed out the ignominious gong to Saudi Arabia and the European Union a rare double win for COP30s most prestigious dishonour. Saudi Arabia won for chiselling away at the foundations of global climate action with alarming consistency the group said. That included the countrys rejection of a landmark legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on the responsibilities of countries to tackle the climate crisis, CAN said. The European Union took a share in the prize for spending COP30 showcasing an impressive repertoire of behind-the-scenes obstruction and always coming in too late in the negotiations. CAN did have nice things to say about Colombia, giving the country its Ray of the COP award for the third year running for its principled, consistent, and steadily rising leadership on the global climate agenda. Multilateralism survives in Belem, but at the cost of climate ambition, says campaign group If multilateralism has survived at Cop30 , it has been at the cost of climate ambition, say European environmental campaigners Bellona, who called the outcome of the UN climate summit deeply disappointing. Campaigners with the Oslo-based environmental NGO lamented the jettisoning of the roadmap to tackle fossil fuels and a credible plan to halt deforestation. Mark Preston Aragones , head of carbon accounting at Bellona, said: Leaving Belem without any substantive follow-up on how to plug the ambition gap between science and existing commitments, and without a plan to halt deforestation nor to transition away from fossil fuels represents a deeply disappointing outcome which raises serious doubts about our collective ability to rise up to the climate challenge. Reaching a consensus is important and means we are fanning the ashes of the Paris Agreement, but staying the course on domestic action will be absolutely vital. The organisation blamed internal struggles in the EU, the absence of the US and a passive role played by China for allowing Saudi Arabia and other petrostates to hold the world hostage. Bellonas founder, Frederic Hauge , said: The outcome from Belem represents a weak consensus, which does not match scientific reality. Coalitions of the willing, such as the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, must be additional to this weak consensus, such that we can go beyond and develop the solutions to the climate crisis. The climate crisis will not wait for us to catch up. Hello from Brisbane. This is Graham Readfearn taking over the blog steering wheel from Ajit Niranjan . There is still a little bit going on in Belem as the reactions start to come in after a deal was agreed a few hours ago. Rich countries failed to finance progress, says Mariana Paoli at Christian Aid: The elephant in the room was the lack of finance from rich countries to fund the energy transition away from fossil fuels and help vulnerable communities adapt to a climate crisis they have done nothing to create. If rich nations had been willing to meet their finance obligations, a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels would have been on the cards. But without the money that became an impossible task. Countries are failing their legal duties , says Erika Lennon, at the Center for International Environmental Law': The truth at Cop30 , dubbed the Cop of Truth, is that countries are failing their legal duties. The International Court of Justice confirmed that keeping the temperature rise to below 1.5C (2.7F) is a legal benchmark. Its not a slogan or words on paper, but a necessity for billions, and failure is measured in lives. Without a commitment to a full and equitable fossil fuel phaseout and adequate public climate finance, this Cop30 deal disregards the law. Petrostates and industry lobbyists use the consensus rule to block action and ambition. We now need to reform the UNFCCC so the global majority can act, starting with conflict of interest rules and allowing majority voting. Loss and damage money for recovery after climate disasters has been overlooked , says Sinead Loughran, at Trocaire: Cop30s outcome fails to even acknowledge the stark and devastating neglect of rich, historically-high polluting states to deliver on their loss and damage finance obligations. The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage remains critically underfunded, resulting in a denial of basic human rights. Communities are facing droughts, floods and other extreme weather events, causing loss of homes, lives and livelihoods, and are owed remedy for this harm. Civil society campaigners have claimed the establishment of a UN-mandated just transition mechanism as a major victory at Cop30 , even as they lamented minimal progress on finance to make it happen. The final texts from the UN climate summit in Belem, Brazil, included the backing of a permanent institutional arrangement under the UNFCCC to support countries in their efforts towards a transition away from fossil fuels. While the Paris Agreement acknowledged richer nations that have benefitted the most from fossil fuels bore most responsible for funding the transition away from them, it is the first time the just transition has been codified in the UN climate regime. Campaigners had made the Just Transition, under the slogan of the Belem Action Mechanism, a key demand going in to Cop30 two weeks ago. They received key backing early on when the G77 plus China, a grouping with collectively represents four fifths of the worlds population, supported the call. But as the talks wore on there were fears that opposition from richer countries, concerned that a new mechanism would hand them unwanted financial obligations, would kill the proposal. Five unions and 89 environmental justice, youth and civil society organisations called on the UK government to lift its objections to the proposals. In spite of the reported opposition, in the draft text on Friday appeared a proposal for a just transition mechanism the purpose of which will be to enhance international cooperation, technical assistance, capacity-building and knowledge sharing, and enable equitable, inclusive just transitions. It survived the night of frenzied negotiations from which the final text emerged to be gavelled through on Saturday afternoon. Leon Sealey-Huggins, a campaigner with War on Want, said: We won this because our movements forced a shift from the Global Norths initial refusal to back any new institutional arrangements. Even the UK government moved under huge pressure: in just seven hours, over 40 youth groups and 100 UK organisations and unions backed our calls for the Bam. This mechanism is not the end of the struggle, but it is a vital victory that anchors our fights for justice within the UN. Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy lead at Oil Change International, said: Amidst this flawed outcome, there are glimmers of real progress. The Belem Action Mechanism is a major win made possible by movements and Global South countries that puts peoples needs and rights at the centre of climate action. How have recent Cops worked out? Cop30 has avoided the collapse of talks but made only small progress towards a world free from the burning of fossils that pump out planet-heating gas. Whats come out of the last few Cops? Heres what Guardian environment reporters wrote at the nail-biting conclusions of recent summits. Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2024 Rich and poor countries concluded a trillion-dollar deal on the climate crisis in the early hours of Sunday morning, after marathon talks and days of bitter recriminations ended in what campaigners said was a betrayal. Under the target the developing world should receive at least $1.3tn (1tn) a year in funds to help them shift to a low-carbon economy and cope with the impacts of extreme weather, by 2035. But only $300bn of that will come primarily in the form they are most in need of grants and low-interest loans from the developed world. The rest will have to come from private investors and a range of potential new sources of money, such as possible levies on fossil fuels and frequent flyers, which have yet to be agreed. Cop28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2023 Nearly 200 countries at the Cop28 climate summit have agreed to a deal that for the first time calls on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change. After two weeks of at times fractious negotiations in the United Arab Emirates, the agreement was quickly gavelled through by the Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, on Wednesday morning. He received an ovation from delegates and a hug from the UN climate chief, Simon Stiell. Despite the urging of more than 130 countries and scientists and civil society groups, the agreement did not include an explicit commitment to phase out or even phase down fossil fuels. Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022 Developing countries celebrated on Sunday morning as crucial climate talks ended with a historic deal on their most cherished climate goal: a global fund for loss and damage, providing financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate disaster. However, the deal was far from perfect, with several key elements flawed or lacking. Some countries said the commitments on limiting temperatures to 1.5C represented no progress on the Cop26 conference in Glasgow last year, and the language on phasing out fossil fuels was weak. Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister and president of the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt, said: We rose to the occasion. We worked around the clock, day and night, but united in working for one gain, one higher purpose, one common goal. In the end we delivered. We listened to the calls of anguish and despair. Cop26 in Glasgow, UK, in 2021 Countries have agreed a deal on the climate crisis that its backers said would keep within reach the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C, the key threshold of safety set out in the 2015 Paris agreement. The negotiations carried on late into Saturday evening, as governments squabbled over provisions on phasing out coal, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and providing money to the poor world. The Glasgow climate pact was adopted despite a last-minute intervention by India to water down language on phasing out coal to merely phasing down. Cop30 saw a climate movement revitali sed , says Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media: From Indigenous-led demonstrations at the venue to the more than 70,000 people who marched in the streets last weekend, there was a palpable sense of momentum that I havent felt for years. After years of Cops hosted in authoritarian countries, Brazil provided the space for civil society groups to come together, unite in common purpose, and strategise for the years ahead. The climate movement will be leaving Belem angry at the lack of progress, but with a clear plan to channel that anger into action. Climate has always been a fight against fossil fuels and that battle is now fully underway. The new gender action plan is progress , says Hannah Bond, at ActionAid UK: Climate change could displace up to 158 million more women and girls than men and boys by 2050. The new Belem Gender Action Plan a commitment to prioritise gender in climate action for the next nine years is significant progress, but it is not victory. Women and communities in the Global South are already leading the solutions; now countries like the UK must stop blocking ambition, deliver real finance, and match the courage of those fighting for their future as we fight for all of our futures. Nature is our greatest ally , says Zoe Quiroz-Cullen at Fauna & Flora: We welcome that Cop30 has explicitly stated that we cannot build a better and more resilient future for people without protecting the mountain, ocean and land-based ecosystems that help protect us all. Adaptation finance must now rapidly target ecosystem-based strategies led by local people. The end of the fossil fuel era is inching closer but there is a long way to go to keep people safe, my colleagues Fiona Harvey, Damian Carrington, Jonathan Watts and Damien Gayle write from Belem . The world edged a small step closer to the end of the fossil fuel era on Saturday, but not by nearly enough to stave off the ravages of climate breakdown. Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase-out of fossil fuels, and they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries. The talks were hauled back from the brink of collapse in an all-night session into Saturday morning, after a bitter standoff between a coalition of more than 80 developed and developing countries, and a group led by Saudi Arabia and its allies, and Russia. There was disappointment from campaigners, but relief that the talks had produced at least some progress. Developing countries achieved part of their goal at the global talks, which was a tripling of the financial support available from rich countries to help them adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis. They should receive $120bn (92bn) a year for adaptation, from the $300bn developed countries pledged to them last year, but not until 2035, instead of the 2030 deadline they were demanding. Many had also hoped the increase would be on top of the $300bn. A roadmap to the halting of deforestation was dropped from the final deal, a bitter disappointment for nature advocates at this rainforest Cop held in Belem, near the mouth of the Amazon River. The agreement among 194 countries excluding the US, which did not send a delegation was reached in the early morning after 12 hours of nonstop extra-time talks among ministers in deserted conference halls, and completed at a closing meeting at 1.35pm, after negotiations were hauled back from the brink of collapse on Friday evening. Jennifer Morgan, the Cop veteran and former German climate envoy, said: While far from whats needed, the outcome in Belem is meaningful progress. The Paris agreement is working, the transition away from fossil fuels agreed in Dubai [at the Cop28 talks in 2023] is accelerating. Despite the efforts of major oil-producing states to slow down the green transition, multilateralism continues to support the interests of the whole world in tackling the climate crisis. Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, said: With an increasingly fractured geopolitical backdrop, Cop30 gave us some baby steps in the right direction, but considering the scale of the climate crisis, it has failed to rise to the occasion. Despite calling themselves climate leaders, developed countries have betrayed vulnerable nations by failing to deliver science-aligned national emission reduction plans. Read the full story here. In somewhat lighter news, Germany appears to have smoothed things over with Brazil after a minor diplomatic spat broke out during the climate summit. Upon his return from Belem earlier this month, gaffe-prone Chancellor Friedrich Merz prompted outrage across Brazil by saying that the German journalists he travelled with couldnt wait to leave. This evening, Merz posted a photo of himself shaking hands with the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at the G20 in South Africa. He said they had a very good meeting. Next time in Belem, Ill explore more from dance steps to local food and the rainforest, said Merz. Lula had responded to Merzs initial comments by suggesting the German Chancellor should have gone to a bar and had a dance, adding that Berlin couldnt even offer 10% of the quality of life that Belem had. Very good meeting you again today, President @LulaOficial . Next time in Belem, I'll explore more - from dance steps to local food and the rainforest. Looking forward to strengthening our relationship as partners and friends. pic.twitter.com/uiSVPv7eev Simon Stiell, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, is celebrating reaching a deal. He writes: We knew this COP would take place in stormy political waters. Denial, division and geopolitics has dealt international cooperation some heavy blows this year. But friends. COP30 showed that climate cooperation is alive and kicking, keeping humanity in the fight for a livable planet, with a firm resolve to keep 1.5C within reach. Im not saying were winning the climate fight. But we are undeniably still in it, and we are fighting back. He adds, in a clear reference to the US, after President Trump pulled the country out of the Paris agreement and did not send a delegation to the summit: This year there has been a lot of attention on one country stepping back. But amid the gale-force political headwinds, 194 countries stood firm in solidarity rock-solid in support of climate cooperation. 194 countries representing billions of people have said in one voice that the Paris Agreement is working, and resolved to make it go further and faster. ... For the first time, 194 nations said in unison: ...the global transition to low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilience is irreversible and the trend of the future. This is a political and market signal that cannot be ignored. The world has passed peak petrostate, says former US Vice President Al Gore. Ultimately, petrostates, the fossil fuel industry, and their allies are losing power, he said. Just as we have passed peak Trump, I believe we have also passed peak petrostate. They may be able to veto diplomatic language, but they cant veto real-world action. Countries, companies, cities, and states worldwide are moving forward to adopt the clean energy solutions that will create jobs, grow economies, and prevent the health catastrophes associated with burning fossil fuels. Petrostates such as Saudi Arabia have put up some of the biggest opposition to tackling the root cause of the dangerous overheating of the atmosphere. Gore said petrostates and their political allies were doing everything they can to try to stop the world from making progress on solving the climate crisis. They fiercely opposed what would have been the most important step forward at COP30: the development of a roadmap away from fossil fuels, wanting nothing more than for the world to kick the oil can down the road.