Takeaways from the outcome of UN climate talks in Brazil

Brazil, which hosted the climate conference known as COP30, was trying to get them to cooperate on tough issues like climate-related trade restrictions, financing for climate solutions, national climate action plans and greater transparency in measuring the progress of those plans.

More than 80 countries have sought to provide detailed guidance for phasing out fossil fuels over the next few decades. There were other items to be made on issues such as deforestation, gender and farming.

Countries have reached what critics call a tenuous consensus

Nations have agreed to triple the amount of money promised to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change. But it will take another five years to do it. Some sensitive island countries said they were satisfied with the financial support.

However, the lack of a road map away from fossil fuels in the final document angered many people.

After the agreement was reached, COP president André Corrêa do Lago said Brazil would take the extra step of writing its own road map. Not all countries have signed on to this agreement, but those who did will meet next year to talk specifically about phasing out fossil fuels. It will not carry the same weight as something decided at the conference.

The package also included smaller agreements on energy grids and biofuels.

Responses ranged from happy to angry

“We are happy, given the results we expected and the results we delivered,” said Ilana Seid, president of the Alliance of Small Island States.

But others felt discouraged. The final meeting of the conference saw heated debate as countries lashed out at each other over the fossil fuel plan.

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“I’ll be brutally honest: The COP and the UN system are not working for you. They never really worked for you. And today they are failing you on a historic scale,” Panama negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez said.

Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said: “COP30 did not deliver everything Africa wanted, but it did move the needle.” He added: “It’s not a ceiling, it’s a floor.”

The real outcome of this year’s climate talks will be judged by “how quickly these promises turn into real projects that protect lives and livelihoods,” he said.

Negotiations started against the Amazon rainforest

Participants experienced the extreme heat and humidity of the Amazon and heavy rains that flooded hiking trails. Organizers who chose Belem, on the edge of the rainforest, as the host city intended for countries to experience first-hand the dangers of climate change and take bold action to stop it.

But critics later said the agreement showed how difficult it is to find global cooperation on issues that affect everyone, especially people in poverty, indigenous peoples, women and children around the world.

“There was a high level of ambition at the beginning of this COP. We started with a bang but ended with a huge disappointment,” said former Filipino negotiator Jasper Inventor, now with Greenpeace International.

Indigenous people, civil society and youth

One of the nicknames for the climate talks in Brazil was the “COP of Indigenous Peoples.” But some of these groups said they had to fight to have their voices heard.

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Protesters from indigenous groups twice disrupted the conference to demand a larger seat at the table. Although Indigenous rights are not officially on the agenda, Taily Terena, an indigenous woman from Brazil’s Terena nation, said she is pleased with the text so far because it includes a paragraph that mentions Indigenous rights for the first time.

He supported countries speaking out on procedural matters because that’s how multilateralism works. “It’s a bit chaotic, but from our perspective it’s a good thing that some countries are reacting,” he said.

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