Seoul Gazette - Fossil fuel fight threatens to sink COP30 as negotiations run into overtime

The conference in the Amazonian city of Belem was supposed to wrap up on Friday evening at 6:00 pm (2100 GMT) but with no agreement finalized, the summit would spill over into the weekend.

Starting around 5:00pm (2000 GMT) delegates representing different sparring nations met for closed-door discussions that ran late into the night.

The discussions focused on minor adjustments to the three main contentious points, multiple observers and delegates told AFP. Those included the ambition to reduce fossil fuel consumption, the amount of financial aid owed by developed countries, and tensions over carbon border taxes.

At stake at COP30 is securing a deal that paves the way for faster cuts to planet-warming emissions that are driving ever more extreme weather -- and proving that international cooperation can still function in a fractured world.

After nearly two weeks of negotiations, a new draft agreement unveiled earlier this week by COP30 host Brazil made no mention of "fossil fuels" or the "roadmap" that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had himself publicly championed.

European Union climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra had earlier said the text was "unacceptable" and that the summit risked ending without an agreement.

"I am saying it with a heavy heart, but what is now on the table is clearly no deal," Hoekstra told reporters.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a European delegate said the bloc was being cast as "villains" for refusing to back the deal. Some member states were weighing a walkout, the delegate added, while others feared being blamed if the talks collapsed.

The conference had also been disrupted for several hours on Thursday by a fierce blaze that tore a hole in the venue's roof as well as by two Indigenous-led protests last week.

- Consensus required -

Thirty-six countries -- including wealthy nations, emerging economies and small island states -- had warned in a letter to Brazil that they would reject any deal that did not include a plan to move away from oil, coal and gas.

France's ecological transition minister, Monique Barbut, told AFP that oil-rich Russia and Saudi Arabia, along with coal producer India and "many" emerging countries, were blocking the language.

Arunabha Ghosh, a special envoy for South Asia at the talks, shot back against "finger pointing."

"To assume that one side cares about the planet and the other side, because they are unhappy with the formulation, does not care about the planet does grievous harm to the spirit of negotiations," he told AFP.

Ghosh defended the exclusion of the "roadmap," arguing developing countries needed to ensure energy security and a just transition for their workers dependent on fossil fuel sector.

Consensus is needed among the nearly 200 nations to land an agreement at the conference, which this year is taking place without the United States as President Donald Trump shunned the event.

The head of COP30, Brazilian diplomat Andre Correa do Lago, said ruefully that those who doubt that cooperation is the best way forward for climate change "are going to be absolutely delighted to see that we cannot reach an agreement between us."

- Financing fight -

The push for a phaseout of oil, coal and gas -- the main drivers of global warming -- grew out of frustration over a lack of follow-through on the COP28 agreement in Dubai in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels.

Divisions also remain over trade measures and finance for poorer nations to adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as floods and droughts, and move to a low-carbon future.

The rejected draft said there was a need for a "manyfold increase" in financial support for developing countries. It also called for "efforts to triple adaptation finance" by 2030 compared to 2025 levels.

"The EU is stuck with a much earlier tripling of adaptation finance than they're comfortable with and in exchange they got nothing," said Jake Schmidt, senior strategic director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group.

"It's a tough pill to swallow," Schmidt told AFP.

It was another element the EU had not wanted included in the agreement.

T.Jeon--SG