After releasing a draft agreement on Tuesday, Brazil, which holds the presidency of COP30, worked with negotiators overnight, hoping to get the most contentious issues out of the way two days before the conference ends.
“His willingness to take time out of his busy schedule to give new momentum to the COP is extremely important,” EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement after meeting Lula.
Progress toward transitioning away from fossil fuels is one of many divisive discussion topics on the table. Increasing finance and climate-friendly trade is among the other things COP30 President Andrés Correa do Lago is trying to achieve. He said he hoped countries could reach a decision by the end of Wednesday on a so-called roadmap to phase out oil, gas and coal.
While phasing out fossil fuels was not originally on the official agenda of COP30, the past week has seen growing political momentum on the issue.
Colombia is one of about 80 countries — including Germany, Kenya and Britain — that are calling for a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels to be included in the summit’s final agreement. Support has poured in from rich and poor countries across Europe, Africa, Latin America and small island developing states.
“People around the world are mobilizing en masse to demand concrete action for climate justice, especially against fossil fuel expansion,” said Irene Vélez Torres, Colombia’s environment minister. He said that despite being a producer of oil and coal, the country is not awarding new exploration contracts. “We have to leave here with a call for a roadmap,” he said.
European Union as overall No officially Roadmap supported so far, at a press conference TodayTeaHe faction,S climate Commissioner Hoekstra did not explain why, Although He emphasized that European Union negotiators ,Likes very much Idea,, Any joint position on the roadmap would require the unanimous support of the 27 member states.
He EU said has already made plans to implement its own changes, But in the wording of the global roadmap, it would be flexible if it allowed more countries to join in. Attempt.
,IIt doesn’t matter if we do it only with Europeans and a few others, or if we manage to do it with the supermajority,, Hoekstra Told reporters.
Brazil is among the countries supporting it push, Although A draft negotiating text circulated by the COP30 Presidency lacked concrete proposals, listing only this as an option for inclusion.
Along with the COP hosts, other major oil-producing countries like Mexico and Brazil are supporting the roadmap, according to British climate change news site Carbon Brief, which notes that these supporters collectively account for about 7% of global fossil-fuel energy production.
Any roadmap why there would be such a departure?
Only two years ago, after fierce debate and nearly three decades of annual climate conferences, nations at COP28 in Dubai finally agreed to move away from fossil fuels that cause rising temperatures linked to storms, floods and heat waves.
But this has not happened yet. Fossil fuel emissions are set to reach record levels in 2025, despite scientists calling for an urgent need to adopt clean energy sources to prevent wilder heat and more destructive extreme weather.
A roadmap to accelerate the transition to renewable energy could provide clues about how to make the change, but it would require dealing with the huge amounts of money still flowing into fossil fuels.
While some large oil and gas companies are planning to peak or decline production in the long term, there is a general trend toward increasing it in the short term.
This expansion is based on huge investment amount. According to recent research, public fossil fuel finance has increased by $75 billion (€65 billion) per year since 2014, to a total of $1.6 trillion (€1.4 trillion) per year.
protest and optimism
The topic of fossil fuels has long been a politically charged topic at the annual two-week climate conferences, and those pushing for a fossil fuel roadmap this week may face stiff opposition from some quarters. At least not from oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Brazil has said there are still wide differences on the issue, and a suggestion requiring countries to submit plans to reduce their fossil fuel dependence has already been rejected by many countries.
“Most countries are either very accommodating, or it’s a red line,” said COP President Andrés Correa do Lago.
Bin Hu of the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development at China’s Tsinghua University told DW that China is a country that will not publicly say it will phase out fossil fuels. “Because China needs to balance economic growth, energy security and tackling climate change at the same time.”
He said some areas of China are concerned about how the transition to clean energy could increase unemployment.
The draft text has also faced criticism from some who support a clear path forward from fossil fuel dependence. The roadmap’s current context “is weak and is presented as an option,” said Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, a country facing existential threat from rising sea levels. “It should be strengthened and adopted.”
Correa do Lago also raised hopes by suggesting that, since the idea of a fossil fuel transition had already been approved by consensus in 2023, the roadmap this year might not need to set such a high bar. Instead it may be adopted with almost unanimous support.
As COP30 approaches its crucial final hours, many will be hoping that the next draft text will feature stronger language on fossil fuels.
Ed Miliband, the United Kingdom’s top official for energy and climate change, said there is no other way forward, adding that this is the issue uniting the global South and North: “To say with one voice that this is an issue that cannot be ignored, that cannot be swept under the carpet, and that’s where the momentum lies.”
Edited by: Tamsin Walker
With additional reporting from Tim Schauenberg in Belém, Brazil and Beatrice Cristofaro in Berlin
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