COP30 entered overtime on Friday as negotiators failed to agree on whether the summit’s final outcome should include a roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels, throwing the Amazon-hosted conference into its most fraught phase.
After ten days of talks, countries remained deadlocked. No closing plenary was scheduled even as the official deadline passed, and a four-hour all-delegation meeting earlier in the day ended without a breakthrough.
Panama’s climate envoy, Juan Carlos Gómez, voiced frustration at what he called the UN process’s refusal to name the root cause of the crisis. “We are becoming a clown show,” he said. “Nothing has changed.”
The stalemate came hours after the Brazilian COP30 Presidency released a new draft decision that contained no reference to phasing out or even transitioning away from fossil fuels. The omission triggered immediate pushback.
Bas Eickhout, a Green member of the European Parliament, derided the draft as “a BRICS text,” saying Saudi Arabia “would be pleased” and that China and India “could live with it.”
“But for Europe this is unacceptable,” he told AFP. “If it stays like this, no deal is better than a bad deal.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who earlier this month urged world leaders to end fossil-fuel dependence, is attending the G20 Summit in South Africa, leaving his team in Belém facing mounting pressure as talks drag on.
Vulnerable nations draw a red line
Least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) reiterated that adaptation finance remains their bottom line. They want annual adaptation funding tripled to USD 120 billion by 2030, warning that climate-exposed nations cannot survive without major support.
Bangladeshi youth climate advocate Sohanur Rahman said the deadlock sends a worrying signal.
“For communities like ours living on the edge of climate impacts, delay is not an option,” he said. “A credible COP outcome must deliver both ambition and justice.”
The EU, the largest contributor to global climate finance said it is willing to discuss scaled-up adaptation support, but only if the final package contains stronger mitigation commitments.
“The biggest sticking point for us is ambition,” UK Energy Minister Ed Miliband said.
Producers push back
Support for a fossil-fuel phase-out roadmap includes the EU, several Latin American governments, SIDS and the UK. But major producers have continued to block any explicit reference to phasing out coal, oil or gas, arguing such wording risks undermining development and diverting attention from adaptation needs.
Tuvalu’s environment minister, Maina Talia, said removing fossil-fuel language “threatens the survival” of Pacific states.
“The current draft does not even name the main threat to our existence,” he warned.
EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra also criticised the document. “No science, no global stocktake, no transitioning away. Instead, weakness,” he said in a closed-door session.
Former US Vice President Al Gore went further, calling the draft “an OPEC text,” noting it had even removed references to ending fossil-fuel subsidies.
Talks disrupted after fire
Negotiators also lost crucial time after a fire at the COP30 venue on Thursday forced temporary evacuation of several pavilions. No serious injuries were reported, but the incident effectively cost delegates a full day of work, leaving talks nearly 24 hours behind schedule.
With no agreement in sight, the Brazilian Presidency shifted to smaller consultations late Friday after a large closed-door meeting of senior officials failed to resolve the impasse. A revised draft is expected, though its timing remains unclear.
As discussions stretched into the night, diplomats said the summit had reached a critical juncture. The coming hours, they warned, will determine whether COP30 salvages a credible outcome or ends without agreement on its most contentious issue: the future of fossil fuels.
