Brazil struggles to secure COP30 climate deal as fossil fuel divide persists

Brazil failed to land an early COP30 climate deal on Wednesday, though President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remained upbeat about the prospects of progress in the last two days of the summit despite differences between nations on key issues. The Brazilian hosts of the two-week UN summit in the Amazonian city of Belem had hoped to secure approval for a deal covering some of the most divisive issues in the global climate talks, including fossil fuels and climate finance. Lula spent the day meeting delegations from key negotiating blocs to hash out a deal. "I am so happy that I leave here certain that my negotiators will have the best result a COP could have ever offered to the Planet Earth," he told reporters after the meetings, referring to the acronym for the climate meetings known formally as the Conference of the Parties. Brazil had hoped to buck the trend in which recent climate summits ran well past deadline, but a promised revised deal text did not materialise on Wednesday and was now not expected until Thursday. Rifts remain over issues The summit has brought nearly 200 countries together to try to ratchet up multilateral action to limit climate change, despite the absence of the United States, the top historic greenhouse gas emitter. But rifts on key issues remain, posing a fresh test of international will to slow global warming. A central issue in the COP30 talks is whether countries will agree to develop a "roadmap" setting out how the world will transition away from fossil fuels. Burning coal, oil and natural gas is the main source of the emissions heating the planet. The COP28 climate summit in 2023 agreed to this transition, but nations have not mapped out how - or when - it will happen. Dozens of countries including Germany, Kenya and Britain have rallied behind a deal for a roadmap away from fossil fuels - but as of Wednesday, less than half of countries at the summit had publicly backed this idea. To bring more countries on board with the idea, the European Union submitted a proposal late on Wednesday. Read moreCOP30: First draft of climate pact lands in Brazil The proposal, reviewed by Reuters, said countries would offer a roadmap to manage the shift from fossil fuels guided by the best available science on climate change, but in a "non-prescriptive" way - meaning it would not impose specific obligations on individual countries. 'We've got blockers,' Vanuatu says Still, not every nation is on board with the transition roadmap concept. Ralph Regenvanu, the climate minister for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, whose people have been impacted by rising sea levels it attributes to climate change, told Reuters Saudi Arabia was one of those opposed to plans to transition away from fossil fuels. Read moreThousands march at COP30 to demand end to deforestation and fossil fuels Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, did not respond to requests for comment. "I think it's going to be very difficult ... because we've got blockers," Regenvanu said. Other island nations said the issue was vital. "We're going to have to fight tooth and nail. There are many parties who have already said that they do not want that in the text at all," Tina Stege, the Marshall Islands climate envoy, told Reuters. Other contentious issues in the package include pinning down how rich countries will provide financing to poorer countries to switch to clean energy, and what must be done about a gap between promised emissions cuts and those needed to stop temperatures rising. One diplomatic standoff that had been hanging over the conference was nearly resolved on Wednesday. Turkey and Australia drew close to striking a deal under which Turkey will host next year's COP31 event, while Australia will lead the conference's negotiations among governments, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters)