🔗 Share this article 'Major polluters face mounting pressure': UN climate summit avoids utter breakdown with eleventh-hour deal. As dawn crept over the Amazonian city of Belém on Saturday morning, negotiators remained stuck in a enclosed conference room, oblivious whether it was day or night. For more than 12 hours in tense discussions, with numerous ministers representing 17 groups of countries including the least developed nations to the most developed economies. Patience wore thin, the air thick as weary delegates acknowledged the sobering reality: they would not reach a comprehensive agreement in Brazil. The latest global climate summit faced the brink of total collapse. The sticking point: Fossil fuels As science has told us for nearly a century, the CO2 emissions produced by consuming fossil fuels is warming our planet to critical levels. Yet, during more than three decades of regular climate meetings, the urgent need to halt fossil fuel use has been addressed only once – in a resolution made two years ago at Cop28 to "move beyond fossil fuels". Officials from the Arab Group, Russia, and multiple other countries were resolved this would not be repeated. Growing momentum for change At the same time, a increasing coalition of countries were equally determined that progress on this issue was vitally needed. They had created a proposal that was gathering expanding support and made it apparent they were prepared to hold firm. Emerging economies strongly sought to make progress on securing funding support to help them manage the increasingly severe impacts of climate disasters. Breaking point By the early hours of Saturday, some delegates were prepared to withdraw and trigger failure. "The situation was precarious for us," remarked one government representative. "I was ready to walk away." The critical development came through negotiations with Saudi Arabia. Shortly after 6am, key negotiators split from the main group to hold a confidential discussion with the lead Saudi negotiator. They pressed language that would subtly reference the global commitment to "transition away from fossil fuels" made two years earlier in Dubai. Unanticipated resolution As opposed to explicitly mentioning fossil fuels, the text would refer to "the Dubai agreement". Upon deliberation, the Saudi delegation unforeseeably agreed to the wording. Participants collapsed into relief. Cheers erupted. The settlement was done. With what became known as the "Brazil agreement", the world took another small step towards the gradual elimination of fossil fuels – a faltering, limited step that will barely interrupt the climate's ongoing trajectory towards disaster. But nevertheless a notable change from absolute paralysis. Key elements of the agreement Alongside the oblique commitment in the legally agreed text, countries will start developing a roadmap to gradually eliminate fossil fuels This will be largely a voluntary initiative led by Brazil that will provide updates next year Addressing the required reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to remain below the 1.5C limit was also put off to next year Developing countries secured a tripling to $120bn of yearly funding to help them adapt to the impacts of climate disasters This funding will not be completely provided until 2035 Workers will benefit from a "fair adjustment program" to help people working in fossil fuel sectors transition to the renewable industry Varied responses As the world hovers near the brink of climate "critical thresholds" that could eliminate habitats and plunge whole regions into chaos, the agreement was not the "major breakthrough" needed. "Cop30 gave us some baby steps in the right direction, but given the scale of the climate crisis, it has not met the occasion," stated one environmental analyst. This flawed deal might have been the maximum achievable, given the political challenges – including a US president who avoided the talks and remains aligned with oil and coal, the growing influence of nationalist politics, persistent fighting in different locations, intolerable levels of inequality, and global economic instability. "The climate arsonists – the energy conglomerates – were ultimately in the crosshairs at Cop30," says one environmental advocate. "We have crossed a threshold on that. The platform is accessible. Now we must transform it into a actual pathway to a more secure planet." Deep fissures revealed Even as nations were able to celebrate the gavelling through of the deal, Cop30 also highlighted major disagreements in the sole international mechanism for confronting the climate crisis. "UN negotiations are consensus-based, and in a era of international tensions, consensus is increasingly difficult to reach," stated one international diplomat. "It would be dishonest to claim that Cop30 has delivered everything that is needed. The gap between present circumstances and what science demands remains alarmingly large." Should the world is to avoid the most severe impacts of climate collapse, the global discussions alone will prove insufficient.