DESPITE early hopes in Brazil, the climate change summit concluded at the weekend without commitments on fossil fuels, leaving vulnerable nations disheartened and the multilateral process under strain.
What began with remarkable promise under Brazil’s presidency concluded instead with “disappointment, and, for many, the unsettling feeling of having watched the multilateral climate process take a step backwards”.
“It’s been my 15th COP,” says Prof John Sweeney, emeritus climatologist from Maynooth University in Ireland, and this one followed very predictable lines.”
But this year’s conclusion, he stresses, is marked less by the expected frustrations and more by the collapse of ambitions many thought finally within reach.
Sweeney explains that Brazil had laid significant groundwork ahead of the summit. Hosting the conference in the Amazon carried a symbolism and urgency that the world could not ignore. The presidency hoped to produce clear commitments on forest protection, fossil fuel phase-out, and finance for vulnerable nations. Yet, as negotiations stretched deep into the night and into the weekend, the final text emerged stripped of its strongest language.
“The big winner,” Sweeney says “is sitting in Washington.” A meeting between the United States and Saudi Arabia, days before the final plenary, appeared to seal the fate of the communiqué: any mention of fossil fuels was removed. For the vast majority of nations pressing for decisive language on the root causes of climate change, it was a bitter defeat.
For the first time in 30 years of UN COPs, the White House had no official representation at the event in Belém. A decision that had a negative impact on the outcome of the Conference.
In a collective reaction to the conclusion of COP30, African Non-State Actors (NSAs) have warned that that the decisions adopted still fall short of securing true climate justice for the continent least responsible for the crisis yet suffering its most devastating impacts.
The NSAs acknowledged the COP30 decision to mobilise $1.3 trillion annually by 2035, with
developed countries taking the lead, saying that this marks the first time Parties have committed to a quantified pathway of climate finance “at scale.” They noted that, for Africa, where climate impacts already cost 5–15 per cent of GDP growth each year, this commitment is significant.
They, however, called for clear burden-sharing arrangements, predictable public finance, and stronger accountability measures to ensure the pledge delivers real resources to
countries most in need.
