The curtain has come down on COP30, the United Nations climate summit that took place in the Amazonian city of Belém, Brazil, marking a tense, dramatic, and at times chaotic two weeks of negotiations. As delegates departed on November 23, 2025, the mood was a mix of exhaustion, frustration, and guarded hope. For all the anticipation surrounding this year’s summit—set against the lush backdrop of the Amazon rainforest and animated by Indigenous rights protests, a fire, and even venue evacuations—the final deal left many with a sense of unfinished business.
According to BBC News, the summit ended with a deal that notably omitted any direct reference to fossil fuels, despite more than 80 countries, including the UK and EU, pushing for a commitment to accelerate the phase-out of oil, coal, and gas. The final agreement, dubbed the Mutirão, instead called on countries to "voluntarily" speed up their efforts to reduce fossil fuel use. Oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, Russia, and India, held firm in their stance that they should be allowed to exploit their resources to bolster economic growth. As a representative for Saudi Arabia put it, "Each state must be allowed to build its own path, based on its respective circumstances and economies."
This resistance was met with disappointment by many. Daniela Durán González, Colombia’s Climate Delegate, told BBC News, “Colombia believes that we have sufficient scientific evidence saying that more than 75% of the global greenhouse gas emissions come from fossil fuels. So we do believe it's time that the Convention on Climate Change starts talking about that reality.” Her frustration was echoed by Juan Carlos Monterrey-Gomez of Panama, who observed, “Ten years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the negotiators that your governments sent to COP30 are not defending your future. They are defending the very industries that created this crisis: the fossil fuel industry and the forces driving global deforestation… A climate decision that cannot even say ‘fossil fuels’ is not neutrality, it is complicity.”
The US, long a heavyweight in climate negotiations, was conspicuously absent from COP30. As BBC News reported, President Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, labeling climate change “a con.” Veteran negotiator Jennifer Morgan told the BBC that the absence of a US delegation was a "hole" in the negotiations, especially during the intense, overnight sessions where oil-producing countries pushed back against stronger language on fossil fuels. “In a 12-hour negotiation overnight, when you have oil-producing countries pushing back hard, to not have someone counteracting on that, it certainly was hard,” she explained.
Despite the setbacks, there were glimmers of progress. The summit saw the launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility by Brazil, an ambitious fund designed to pay countries to protect tropical forests. By the close of COP30, the facility had raised at least $6.7 billion, with support from over 90 countries for a global deforestation action plan. However, the UK had not yet contributed, and Brazil faced criticism for its own plans to expand offshore oil and gas production at the mouth of the Amazon, with output projected to increase into the early 2030s according to BBC News.
As Inside Climate News reported, the conference was marked by more than just political wrangling. There were Indigenous rights demonstrations, a fire that forced participants to evacuate, and logistical issues ranging from flooded venues to waterless toilets. Around 50,000 registered delegates were evacuated twice, and at one point, a group of about 150 protestors broke into the venue, carrying signs that read, “our forests are not for sale.” Toya Manchineri, representing the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, underscored the ongoing struggle: “Indigenous Peoples will remain vigilant, mobilised, and present beyond COP30 to ensure that our voices are respected and that global decisions reflect the urgency we experience in our territories. For some, COP ends today, for us territorial defense in the heart of the Amazon is every day.”
For poorer nations, COP30 delivered a promise to triple international funding for climate adaptation by 2035, although this was five years later than originally requested and lacked a firm financial target. Sierra Leone’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Jiwoh Abdulai, saw some hope in the outcome: “There is a clearer recognition that those with historic responsibility [countries that emitted more planet-warming gases in the past] have specific duties on climate finance.”
Another notable development was the agreement to establish a “just transition mechanism,” designed to support workers and communities as the world shifts from fossil fuels to clean energy. This was hailed as a win by civil society groups. Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, remarked, “The adoption of a Just Transition mechanism was a win shaped by years of pressure from civil society. Governments must now honour this Just Transition mechanism with real action. Anything less is a betrayal of people – and of the Paris promise.”
Still, the overall sentiment was that the deal was weaker than hoped for. Marina Silva, Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, reflected, “I believe we can show today that, despite delays, contradictions and disputes, there is continuity between the ambition of Rio-92 and today’s effort. That we remain capable of cooperating, of learning, and of recognising that there are no shortcuts – and that the courage to confront the climate crisis is the result of persistence and collective effort.”
Internationally, leaders at the G20 summit—held the same weekend and also missing the US—reaffirmed support for the Paris Agreement and the need for climate finance, but the lack of US engagement left others “cautious and indecisive,” as Li Shuo of the Asia Society Policy Institute noted. “Belém has laid bare an urgent truth: in the absence of strong political momentum for greater ambition, the climate agenda will be driven less by the COP process and more by the economic forces unfolding in the real world.”
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, pointed to the “growing global momentum, both in and outside of the negotiating halls, to transition away from fossil fuels as agreed in Dubai at COP28, halt deforestation—including the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility that now stands at US$6.7 billion—and pursue rapid, high-impact measures such as cutting methane emissions.”
Perhaps the most striking aspect of COP30 was the sheer complexity and diversity of voices—Indigenous leaders, campaigners, diplomats, and scientists—all pushing for action in a world increasingly divided by geopolitics and economic interests. As António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, reminded delegates, “COPs are consensus-based – and in a period of geopolitical divides, consensus is ever harder to reach. I cannot pretend that COP30 has delivered everything that is needed. COP30 is over, but our work is not.”
With COP31 scheduled for Turkey in 2026, the world will be watching to see whether the momentum from Belém can be translated into real action. For now, the journey continues—with all its contradictions, hope, and urgency—toward a more sustainable future.
