The UN’s top climate meeting failed to set a fossil-fuel phase-out roadmap, leaving the EU increasingly isolated.
COP30 in Belém ended with a final text that avoided any fossil-fuel exit plan and triggered harsh criticism.
Observers labelled the result a moral failure and condemned negotiators for producing what many called an empty agreement.
The United States exited global climate talks, creating a political and financial vacuum in international negotiations.
President Donald Trump dismissed climate change as a con job and withdrew US backing for climate diplomacy.
Fossil-fuel-dependent states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates opposed targets to phase out fossil fuels.
These countries rejected any commitments that threatened their oil-based economies and blocked ambitious proposals.
One day before COP30 ended, the EU warned it would refuse to endorse the draft text without stronger language.
Nearly 200 nations needed to approve the document unanimously, forcing the bloc to accept a weak compromise.
EU officials backed the text while admitting it lacked ambition and failed to advance meaningful action.
Despite the weak outcome, the 27-nation bloc reaffirmed its pledge to curb pollution and limit warming to 1.5°C.
EU leaders vowed to keep moving away from fossil fuels and to keep financing clean energy abroad.
Wopke Hoekstra praised EU unity and framed the final deal as a step toward stronger future climate action.
Shifting Alliances Undermine Global Climate Ambition
Dutch MEP Mohammed Chahim said President Lula set high expectations for the summit’s leadership.
Chahim noted that the EU arrived ready to spearhead a coalition of ambitious partners.
He explained that geopolitical fragmentation across the world reduced the summit’s chances of success.
Chahim said oil-producing states mounted strong resistance and shifted the global balance of influence.
He added that the EU and the UK fought uphill to preserve even minimal ambition.
He also pointed to coordinated opposition from BRICS members against decisive fossil-fuel phase-out measures.
BRICS, a ten-member group led by Moscow, aims to counter Western influence on global issues.
Irish minister Darragh O’Brien said his government supported the final text after considerable hesitation.
He regretted the absence of a credible fossil-fuel phase-out roadmap sought by more than 80 nations.
Former US Vice President Al Gore said petrostates blocked efforts to outline a clear transition away from fossil fuels.
Gore insisted that Brazil’s COP30 Presidency will continue work on a roadmap supported by dozens of countries.
Warnings Intensify as Science Goes Unheeded
Climate experts and environmental groups repeated warnings about the summit’s empty outcome.
Nikki Reisch said the agreement ignored clear scientific and legal demands to end fossil-fuel dependence.
Reisch argued that major polluters refused responsibility while global fires, floods, and heatwaves intensified.
She insisted that powerful nations cannot escape legal accountability by weakening scientific findings.
Doug Weir called the final text a moral failure for communities already suffering climate disruption.
Weir said global action has not advanced since the Dubai summit two years earlier.
Climate Analytics reported that full implementation of COP28 pledges could significantly slow global warming.
Bill Hare said such action could hold warming below 2°C instead of the 2.6°C expected under current policies.
World leaders met in Belém to review global efforts to keep warming below 1.5°C under the Paris Agreement.
They gathered for two weeks in the Amazon to evaluate progress and identify new pathways forward.
Australia and Turkey will host the next rounds of climate negotiations.
