Huge fire rips through COP30 climate talks – sending delegates running for their lives

A massive fire disrupted United Nations COP30 climate talks today, forcing the evacuation of many buildings before negotiators could announce any major agreement.

The fire, which authorities said has not harmed anyone so far, affected the whole world. An area consisting of pavilions where side events are held during the talks.

Organizers immediately announced that the fire was under control, but officials ordered the entire area evacuated for safety checks and it was unclear when conference business would resume.

A few hours before the fire, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged countries to compromise and ‘show willingness and flexibility to achieve results’, even if they fell short of the strongest measures some countries wanted.

Asking the negotiators to act in good faith on the last two planned negotiation days, Guterres said, “We have reached the final point and the world is watching Belem.”

But the conference has already missed its self-imposed deadline on Wednesday for progress on several key issues.

It usually takes longer than the planned two weeks.

“Communities on the front lines are also watching, counting flooded homes, failed harvests, lost livelihoods and asking ‘how much more do we have to suffer?’ ‘They’ve heard enough excuses and they demand results,’ Guterres said.

The fire, which officials said has not harmed anyone so far, also destroyed the area where the pavilions where side events were held during the talks were located.

On controversial issues, including phasing out fossil fuels and more detailed plans to provide financial aid to poor countries, Guterres said he was ‘fully convinced’ that compromise was possible.

He also rejected the idea that failure to take the strongest measures would be a failure.

US President Donald Trump, who withdrew the world’s second largest carbon polluter from climate talks, was asked if he had a message: ‘We are waiting for you.’

Asked if there was any hope that Trump would change his stance on climate change, Guterres smiled and said: ‘Hope is the last thing to die.’

At the UN session in September, Trump called climate change predictions a ‘fraud’. The US federal government is not participating in the negotiations in Belem on the banks of the Amazon.

Guterres was stronger when he called for rich countries to do better for poor countries, especially those that need tens of billions of dollars to adapt to floods, droughts, storms and heatwaves triggered by worsening climate change. It went on to triple compliance funding from £30.6bn to £91.7bn annually.

Officials of countries devastated by natural disasters gave emotional statements earlier this week imploring the world to stop talking and act.

“No delegation will leave Belem with everything it wants, but every delegation has the duty to reach a balanced agreement,” Guterres said.

“Every country must do more, especially large emitters,” Guterres said.

The provision of general financial aid, with an agreed target of £2290.4bn a year, is one of four interconnected issues initially left off the official agenda. The other three are: should countries be told to tighten up their new climate plans; Tackling trade barriers on climate and improving transparency and reporting on climate progress.

Fire disrupted United Nations COP30 climate talks on Thursday

Organizers announced that the fire was quickly brought under control, but fire officials ordered the entire area to be evacuated for safety checks.

COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago had given negotiators a deadline on Wednesday for some sort of package on these four issues, but no agreement was on the horizon.

More than 80 countries have pressed for a detailed ‘road map’ on how to move away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, which are the main cause of warming. This was a general but vague agreement made at the COP in Dubai two years ago.

Guterres went on to note that this had already been agreed to in Dubai, but did not commit to a detailed plan that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had put forward in an earlier speech.