Cop30: Pressure builds to clinch deal in summit's closing days

Brazil is ramping up the pressure at Cop30 as the UN climate talks reach their endgame.

The presidency set a deadline for countries at the Belem summit to finalise “a significant part” of the negotiations by Tuesday evening for approval the following day.

As ministers try to thrash out a final deal, countries remain divided at the talks, which are taking place on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, on issues such as finance, adaptation, carbon markets and what are perceived as weak climate commitments.

It came as Pope Leo, in a message to religious dignitaries on the sidelines of the summit, called for a stronger response to tackling climate change and highlighted that the Paris Agreement, signed 10 years ago, remains the world's strongest tool for protecting people and the planet.

Under the agreement, countries pledged to limit global warming to well below 2ºC on pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5ºC, but Belem has so far failed to galvanise any kind of comparable consensus.

Demonstrators clash with security officers at Cop30 01:15

Why Cop30 matters

The summit is still of immense importance, experts in the UAE told The National, despite the myriad challenges this year. The US has skipped Cop30, and grinding wars in Gaza and Ukraine have taken the focus away from climate action.

“I think there is still significant engagement,” Moustafa Bayoumi, who leads the Centre for Climate Diplomacy at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, told The National. “There are a lot of leaders and ministers at Cop30. The Cop president even stated that the US absence has opened space for the world to see what developing countries are doing.”

At Cop30, China – a global pioneer in renewable energy – has taken a more prominent role, but Mr Bayoumi, a Cop veteran, said the country was “careful not to be seen as a leader” at the talks, as it is still classed as a developing country under the conference's framework.

“The real test is this second week, where the negotiations shift from a technical to a more political phase,” said Mr Bayoumi.

Grass roots event

While attendance at Belem might not match Cop28 in Dubai in 2023, another expert in the UAE who has just returned from Brazil said he felt Cop30 was a “pragmatic shift”.

“Cop30 felt like a more grass roots event,” Ivano Iannelli, chief sustainability officer of Dubai's Green Economy Partnership, told The National. “It was not the mega-event it had become and was more based on talks. It was more focused on the outcome rather than lobbying.”

Mr Iannelli pointed to vibrant discussions about deforestation, adaptation and the role of indigenous and vulnerable communities.