Following an intense night of negotiations, the Cop30 climate summit in Belém has wrapped up with a deal that many are celebrating as hard-fought success — although environmentalists are warning it still does not go far enough. Nearly 200 countries came together to show that, despite deep geopolitical divides, global cooperation is still alive. One of the main outcomes is a tripling of funding for climate adaptation, though the $120 billion/year target has been pushed back to 2035 — a concession that disappointed many countries vulnerable to climate impacts.
What’s Missing — and Why It Matters
Critics, however, say the deal lacks ambition. The final text contains no explicit reference to fossil fuels, as officials bowed to pressure from heavy-hitting petrostates like Saudi Arabia. While the final text does not contain a formal commitment to a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, more than 90 countries agreed in a separate pledge outside of the UN process to advance voluntary plans to transition away from fossil fuels. Deforestation, a key concern among Amazonian and Indigenous communities, was similarly not adequately highlighted in the formal agreement, and it disappointed many.
Small Wins, Big Signals
Even with its limitations, Cop30 achieved a few notable structural wins. A Just Transition Mechanism was established by the United Nations to assist workers, Indigenous peoples, and marginalized communities on the green transition. The summit also set in motion Brazil’s Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a funding mechanism that aims to incentivize forest conservation outside of the United Nations. UN climate chief Simon Stiell noted that while the world is not out of the woods just yet, the deal signals that multilateralism “is alive and kicking”: the world is still loosely united in maintaining 1.5°C within reach. Click here for the source
