{"id":45282,"date":"2025-11-24T18:55:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T02:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45282"},"modified":"2025-11-24T18:55:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T02:55:13","slug":"climate-talks-end-with-empty-deal-that-fails-on-forests-finance-and-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/climate-talks-end-with-empty-deal-that-fails-on-forests-finance-and-fossil-fuels\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Talks End With \u2018Empty Deal\u2019 That Fails on Forests, Finance, and Fossil Fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"COP30<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago (C) gestures next to his advisers after the plenary session was interrupted following Colombia\u2019s intervention at the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Bel\u00e9m, Para state, Brazil, on November 22, 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Pablo Porciuncula\/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCOP30 provides a stark reminder that the answers to the climate crisis do not lie inside the climate talks\u2014they lie with the people and movements leading the way toward a just, equitable, fossil-free future,\u201d one campaigner said.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov 22, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Nations<\/a> Climate Change<\/a> Conference, or COP30, concluded on Saturday in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil<\/a> with a deal that does not even include<\/a> the words \u201cfossil fuels\u201d\u2014the burning of which scientists agree is the primary cause of the climate crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental and human rights<\/a> advocates expressed disappointment in the final Global Mutir\u00e3o decision, which they say failed to deliver road maps to transition away from oil<\/a>, gas, and coal<\/a> and to halt deforestation\u2014another important driver of the rise in global temperatures since the preindustrial era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"COP30<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\"BRAZIL-CLIMATE-COP30-UN\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis is an empty deal,\u201d said Nikki Reisch, the Center for International Environmental Law\u2019s (CIEL) director of climate and energy program. \u201cCOP30 provides a stark reminder that the answers to the climate crisis do not lie inside the climate talks\u2014they lie with the people and movements leading the way toward a just, equitable, fossil-free future. The science<\/a> is settled and the law is clear: We must keep fossil fuels<\/a> in the ground and make polluters pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COP30 was notable in that it was the first international climate conference to which the US did not send a formal delegation, following President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement<\/a>. Yet, even without a Trump administration<\/a> presence, observers were disappointed in the power of fossil fuel-producing countries to derail ambition. The final document also failed to heed the warning of a fire that broke out<\/a> in the final days of the talks, which many saw as a symbol for the rapid heating of the Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRich polluting countries that caused this crisis have blocked the breakthrough that we needed at COP30.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe venue bursting into flames couldn\u2019t be a more apt metaphor for COP30\u2019s catastrophic failure to take concrete action to implement a funded and fair fossil fuel phaseout,\u201d said<\/a> Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity<\/a>, in a statement. \u201cEven without the Trump administration there to bully and cajole, petrostates once again shut down meaningful progress at this COP. These negotiations keep hitting a wall because wealthy nations profiting off polluting fossil fuels fail to offer the needed financial support to developing countries and any meaningful commitment to move first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The talks on a final deal nearly broke down between Friday and Saturday as a coalition of more than 80 countries who favored more ambitious language faced off against fossil fuel-producing nations like Saudi Arabia<\/a>, Russia, and India<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the dispute, Colombia\u2019s delegate said<\/a> the deal \u201cfalls far short of reflecting the magnitude of the challenges that parties\u2014especially the most vulnerable\u2014are confronting on the ground,\u201d according to<\/a> BBC News.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, a deal was struck around 1:35 pm local time, The Guardian <\/em>reported<\/a>. The deal circumvented<\/a> the fossil fuel debate by affirming the \u201cUnited Arab Emirates<\/a> Consensus,\u201d referring to when nations agreed<\/a> to transition away from fossil fuels at COP28<\/a> in the UAE. In addition, COP President Andr\u00e9 Corr\u00eaa do Lago said<\/a> that stronger language on the fossil fuel transition could be negotiated at an interim COP in six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On deforestation<\/a>, the deal similarly restated the COP26<\/a> pledge to halt tree felling by 2030 without making any new plans or commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate justice<\/a> advocates were also disappointed in the finance commitments from Global North to Global South<\/a> countries. While wealthier countries pledged to triple adaptation funds to $120 billion per year, many saw the amount as insufficient, and the funds were promised by 2035, not 2030 as poorer countries had wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must reflect on what was possible, and what is now missing: the road maps to end forest destruction, and fossil fuels, and an ongoing lack of finance,\u201d Greenpeace<\/a> Brazil executive director Carolina Pasquali told The Guardian<\/em>. \u201cMore than 80 countries supported a transition away from fossil fuels, but they were blocked from agreeing on this change by countries that refused to support this necessary and urgent step. More than 90 countries supported improved protection of forests<\/a>. That too did not make it into the final agreement. Unfortunately, the text failed to deliver the scale of change needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate campaigners did see hope in the final agreement\u2019s strong language on human rights and its commitment to a just transition through the Bel\u00e9m Action Mechanism, which aims to coordinate global cooperation toward protecting workers<\/a> and shifting to clean energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big win to have the Bel\u00e9m Action Mechanism established with the strongest-ever COP language around Indigenous<\/a> and worker rights and biodiversity<\/a> protection,\u201d Su said. \u201cThe BAM agreement is in stark contrast to this COP\u2019s total flameout on implementing a funded and fair fossil fuel phaseout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oxfam<\/a> Brasil executive director Viviana Santiago struck a similar note, saying: \u201cCOP30 offered a spark of hope but far more heartbreak, as the ambition of global leaders continues to fall short of what is needed for a livable planet. People from the Global South arrived in Bel\u00e9m with hope, seeking real progress on adaptation and finance, but rich nations refused to provide crucial adaptation finance. This failure leaves the communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis exposed to the worst impacts and with few options for their survival.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe climate movement will be leaving Bel\u00e9m angry at the lack of progress, but with a clear plan to channel that anger into action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romain Ioualalen, global policy lead at Oil Change International<\/a>, said<\/a>: \u201cRich polluting countries that caused this crisis have blocked the breakthrough that we needed at COP30. The EU, UK, Australia<\/a>, and other wealthy nations are to blame for COP\u2019s failure to adopt a road map on fossil fuels by refusing to commit to phase out first or put real public money on the table for the crisis they have caused. Still, amid this flawed outcome, there are glimmers of real progress. The Bel\u00e9m Action Mechanism is a major win made possible by movements and Global South countries that puts people\u2019s needs and rights at the center of climate action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indigenous leaders applauded language that recognized their land rights and traditional knowledge as climate solutions and recognized people of African descent for the first time. However, they still argued the COP process could do more to enable the full participation of Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite being referred to as an Indigenous COP and despite the historic achievement in the Just Transition Programme, it became clear that Indigenous Peoples continue to be excluded from the negotiations, and in many cases, we were not given the floor in negotiation rooms. Nor have most of our proposals been incorporated,\u201d said Emil Gualinga of the Kichwa Peoples of Sarayaku, Ecuador<\/a>. \u201cThe militarization<\/a> of the COP shows that Indigenous Peoples are viewed as threats, and the same happens in our territories: Militarization occurs when Indigenous Peoples defend their rights in the face of oil, mining<\/a>, and other extractive projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many campaigners saw hope in the alliances that emerged beyond the purview of the official UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process, from a group of 24 countries who have agreed<\/a> to collaborate on a plan to transition off fossil fuels in line with the Paris goals of limiting temperature increases to 1.5\u00b0C to the Indigenous and civil society activists who marched<\/a> against fossil fuels in Bel\u00e9m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe barricade that rich countries built against progress and justice in the COP30 process stands in stark contrast to the momentum building outside the climate talks,\u201d Ioualalen said. \u201cCountries and people from around the world loudly are demanding a fair and funded phaseout, and that is not going to stop. We didn\u2019t win the full justice outcome we need in Bel\u00e9m, but we have new arenas to keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2026, Colombia<\/a> and the Netherlands will cohost the First International Conference on Fossil Fuel Phaseout. At the same time, 18 countries have signed on<\/a> in support of a treaty to phase out fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever big polluters may try to insulate themselves from responsibility or edit out the science, it does not place them above the law,\u201d Reisch said. \u201cThat\u2019s why governments committed to tackling the crisis at its source are uniting to move forward outside the UNFCCC\u2014under the leadership of Colombia and Pacific Island states\u2014to phase out fossil fuels rapidly, equitably, and in line with 1.5\u00b0C. The international conference on fossil fuel phaseout in Colombia next April is the first stop on the path to a livable future. A Fossil Fuel Treaty is the road map the world needs and leaders failed to deliver in Bel\u00e9m.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These efforts must contend with the influence not only of fossil fuel-producing nations, but also the fossil fuel industry<\/a> itself, which sent<\/a> a record 1,602 lobbyists to COP30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCOP30 witnessed a record number of lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry and carbon capture sector,\u201d said CIEL fossil economy director Lili Fuhr. \u201cWith 531 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) lobbyists\u2014surpassing the delegations of 62 nations\u2014and over 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists making up 1 in every 25 attendees, these industries deeply infiltrated the talks, pushing dangerous distractions like CCS and geoengineering. Yet, this unprecedented corporate capture has met fiercer resistance than ever with people and progressive governments\u2014with science and law on their side\u2014demanding a climate process that protects people and planet over profit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, Jamie Henn of Make Polluters Pay told Common Dreams <\/em>that the polluting nations and industries overplayed their hand, arguing that Big Oil<\/a> and \u201cpetro states, including the United States<\/a>, did their best to kill progress at COP30, stripping the final agreement of any mention of fossil fuels. But their opposition may have backfired: More countries than ever are now committed to pursuing a phaseout road map and this April\u2019s conference in Colombia on a potential \u2018Fossil Fuel Treaty\u2019 has been thrust into the spotlight, with support from Brazil, the European Union<\/a>, and others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henn continued: \u201cThe COP negotiations are a consensus process, which means it\u2019s nearly impossible to get strong language on fossil fuels past blockers like Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the US, who skipped these talks, but clearly opposed any meaningful action. But you can\u2019t block reality: The transition from fossils to clean energy is accelerating every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom Indigenous\u00a0protests<\/a>\u00a0to the thunderous rain on the roof of the conference every afternoon, this COP in the heart of the Amazon was forced to confront realities that these negotiations so often try to ignore,\u201d he concluded. \u201cI think the climate movement will be leaving Bel\u00e9m angry at the lack of progress, but with a clear plan to channel that anger into action. Climate has always been a fight against fossil fuels, and that battle is now fully underway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago (C) gestures next to his advisers after the plenary session was interrupted following Colombia\u2019s intervention at the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Bel\u00e9m, Para state, Brazil, on November 22, 2025.  (Photo by Pablo Porciuncula\/ AFP via Getty Images) \u201cCOP30 provides a stark reminder… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45282"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45283,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45282\/revisions\/45283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}