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The United Nation’s COP30 closed in Belém on November 22, Saturday with a fragile compromise that left the summit visibly divided. After two weeks of tense negotiations, COP President Andrei Lago ended the conference with a personal pledge to draw up two “road maps”: one to halt and reverse deforestation, and another to guide countries in transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just and equitable way.
The consensus agreement at COP30 was titled “The Global Mutirão: Uniting humanity in a global mobilisation against climate change”.
Lago said the Mutirão Decision captures the spirit of the COP. Mutirão, a Portuguese-Brazilian word meaning “coming together,” was the theme of COP30. The Global Mutirão agreement is meant to push countries to act faster by stressing teamwork and shared responsibility.
It brings together the main areas of climate work, mitigation, adaptation, finance, and cooperation, and tries to solve some long-standing problems in climate talks.
But the agreement drew sharp criticism from many quarters, as the final text made no mention of fossil fuels. More than 80 countries and the European Union had earlier called for a phasedown of fossil fuel use and the creation of a global fossil fuel roadmap. Moments after the COP ended, Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted a message condemning what he described as “oil-driven greed” that, at a decisive moment in the Amazon, denied humanity “the simple possibility of living as a humanity bound to existence.”
He added that “humanity will not survive unless fossil capital is extinguished, unless emissions from oil, coal, and gas are brought to zero. If this does not stop, it will kill our children and grandchildren across the planet. Irresponsible bureaucrats do not know on which side of the scale to stand—on the side of life or on the side of greed. Greed leads to the death of all living things.”
Richer countries balked at tougher climate finance obligations, and developing nations declined to endorse a fossil fuel phase-out plan without reliable guarantees to fund their shift.
Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and member of the Elders, told the media, “This deal isn’t perfect and is far from what science requires. But at a time when multilateralism is being tested, it is significant that countries continue to move forward together.”
She added, “While it is deeply disappointing that countries failed to agree on a collective roadmap to phase out fossil fuels or end deforestation, the global direction of travel is clear. We saw real steps in establishing a just transition mechanism, agreeing on a gender action plan, and calling for triple adaptation finance for vulnerable nations by 2035.”
Experts also raised concerns that food systems and related solutions were entirely excluded from the Mutirão decision. “Food systems, which governments claimed were central to climate action, have been erased from these negotiations. Not by accident. Industrial agriculture holds extraordinary power over this process, and it shows. Two years ago, 160 countries signed a declaration on sustainable agriculture with a great ceremony. Today, they cannot bring themselves to mention the word ‘food’ in the Muritão decision. This is not failure. This is capture,” said Raj Patel, IPES-Food panel expert and professor at the University of Texas. IPES-Food is an international panel of experts on sustainable food systems.
Elisabetta Recine, also an IPES-Food expert and president of the Brazilian National Food and Nutrition Security Council (Consea), said negotiators failed to act, leaving the lived realities of those suffering from hunger, poverty, and climate shocks unheard. “Food solutions were on display everywhere around COP30—from the 80 tonnes of local agroecological meals served to delegates, to concrete proposals for tackling hunger—but none of this made it into the negotiating rooms or the final agreement,” she said.
Uruguay also registered strong dissent over the exclusion of fossil fuel language in the final text.
Amid the wave of criticism, Simon Stiell opened his closing speech by acknowledging the discord. “We knew this COP would take place in stormy political waters. Denial, division and geopolitics have dealt international cooperation some heavy blows this year.”
He continued, “But friends, COP30 showed that climate cooperation is alive and kicking, keeping humanity in the fight for a livable planet, with a firm resolve to keep 1.5C within reach. I’m not saying we’re winning the climate fight, but we are undeniably still in it, and we are fighting back.”
He added that “194 countries representing billions of people have said in one voice that the Paris Agreement is working, and resolved to make it go further and faster.”
At COP30, countries agreed on a clearer plan to speed up global climate action. They set a target to raise 1.3 trillion dollars every year by 2035 to help cut emissions and help communities deal with climate impacts. Money for adaptation will grow fast too, doubling by 2025 and tripling by 2035, and the loss and damage fund will now get regular top-ups so it doesn’t run dry. Leaders also launched two new efforts, the Global Implementation Accelerator and the Belém Mission to 1.5C, to make sure countries actually carry out the promises they make. Another decision was for countries to work together to fight climate-related misinformation so people get clear and trustworthy facts.
One important point is that countries agreed again to follow Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, which says richer nations must provide financial support to developing countries as they move away from fossil fuels. The text also tells countries not to use climate rules as excuses for unfair trade barriers, and it highlights how important it is to close the gaps in national climate plans and stay on track for the 1.5C goal. Overall, the Mutirão aims to shift global climate action from slow, repeated compromises to more coordinated and practical work on the ground.
Alongside the Mutirão, countries reached agreement on ten additional measures, ranging from training workers for a clean-energy future to expanding technology sharing and boosting support for nations already suffering climate damage. They also set out a global goal on adaptation to track how well the world is preparing for worsening climate impacts.