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UN climate talks appeared to be inching closer to a conclusion on Saturday after a prolonged drawn-out, an outcome that is likely to disappoint countries and advocates of stronger action to wean the world off planet-warming coal, oil and gas.
Several observers told The Associated Press that the general outline of the deal has been finalized, but some sticking points remain. Conference leaders are aiming to hold a late morning meeting with all countries to approve the deal. This is a place where some nations may try to disrupt it if they do not want to make an agreement, seeing it as a weak agreement.
“As we know, this deal exists informally,” East said. philippines Negotiator Jasper Inventor, now at Greenpeace International. “It’s a weak result.”
COP30 President Andre Corra do Lago told Amazonia Vox said Saturday morning that an agreement had been reached that would take some time to explain because there is so much at stake. But the proposal for a roadmap to move away from fossil fuels – which was demanded by more than 80 countries, as did Brazil’s president – won’t be there. Instead, the fossil fuel transition plan will be contained in a separate proposal released later by do Lago’s team that will not have the same weight as the agreement accepted by nations at the UN conference.
The annual talks are being held this year in the Brazilian city of Belém, located on the edge of the Amazon rainforest. They were supposed to conclude on Friday, but negotiators missed that deadline and worked through the night.
Financial aid and other major issues
The biggest issues negotiators have grappled with include how to distribute $300 billion a year in financial aid to vulnerable countries most affected by climate change – an amount already agreed upon, pushing countries to tighten their national plans to reduce earth-warming emissions and tackling climate trade barriers. Poor countries have requested a tripling of financial aid to combat extreme weather and other climate change damage, and observers said a version of that appears to be in the deal.
The United Nations and host Brazil are also promoting dozens of “action plans” to make progress on previous deals.
Whatever deal is proposed still needs unanimous approval from the nearly 200 countries attending the two-week conference. Some delegates, observers and others had to leave Saturday morning when the cruise ships hosting them departed.
Earlier this week, Lago released what it hoped would be a final proposal. It was widely criticized European UnionSmall island nations and Latin American countries are very weak on fossil fuels and are prompting nations to speed up their new climate-fighting plans. But other countries, including Saudi Arabia, resisted calls to move away from fossil fuels.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, like more than 80 countries, has pushed for a strong plan to move away from fossil fuels. But the earlier proposal by do Lago – Lula’s appointee – did not even mention the term “fossil fuel”.
making the final deal
Agreements emerging from COP30 must technically be approved by consensus. But in the past, objections from individual countries have been ignored by the Chairman in his haste to push everything through.
One of the strongest supporters of a strong plan to transition away from fossil fuels is the European Union, which is hard to ignore because of its size and wealth. It is unclear how far the EU, or countries such as Colombia and small island nations, will take their objections during Saturday’s meetings.
“It’s a question of how far they’ll push it,” the inventor said.
One of the points negotiators will highlight is language sprinkled throughout the document that will not be a clear road map away from fossil fuels, but will instead refer to past agreements to maintain momentum and “live and fight another day,” said Alden Meyer, a veteran analyst at European think-tank E3G.
This is not enough, said the Greenpeace inventor: “We need to consider what was possible and what now appears to be missing: a road map to end forest destruction and the continued depletion of fossil fuels and finance. We rise, however, and continue the fight.”
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropy, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas on AP.org.
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This story was produced as part of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews. Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.