COP30 Week 2: Recap

After a first week marked by major pledges, key announcements, and large-scale protests, week two of COP30 began with a significant development: concessions by the Brazilian government on long-sought Indigenous land demarcations. The week’s core focus quickly shifted back to fossil fuels, specifically the contentious debate over whether a phase-out should be included in the final agreement. With all eyes on the delegates in Belém to deliver a meaningful deal, here are the main takeaways from the second half of the UN climate summit.

—

COP30 Week 1: Recap

A lot has happened in Belém this week, from a fire in the Blue Zone that disrupted negotiations on Thursday afternoon to dozens of countries and hundreds of businesses calling for a fossil fuel phase-out.

The week was also marked by both small- and large-scale protests and direct action events, following two large Indigenous-led protests on week one. They are a stark contrast from past conferences in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Dubai, UAE, where tight security cracked down on demonstrations.

“We haven’t seen protests like this in years,” Astrid Puentes Riaño, UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and a COP veteran of many years, told Earth.Org. “It’s important to note that the Brazil presidency has tried to incorporate people’s voices, with the Global Ethical Stocktake, Children’s Day, special envoys… But it’s not finished. The process still has a long way to go.”

More on the topic: ‘People’s COP’ Marked By Civil Society Protests and Direct Action Events

Participants also used different forms of art – dancing, photography, sculpture, poetry, and painting – to engage with their audiences and bring marginalized voices to the fore.

Our reporter spoke with several activists about the message they brought to COP30 – from pro-nuclear activists handing out bananas to passersby seeking to demystify concerns around radioactivity to disability activists demanding greater information accessibility, better consideration of people with disabilities in climate adaptation, and an official seat at the table.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the hundreds of volunteers that help run every aspect of the conference. This year, more than 1,900 residents of Belém were trained as volunteers, after a selection process where they had to demonstrate English skills and other competencies. Our reporter spoke to some of them.

If you want to take a step back and learn more about the UN climate negotiations process, check out this guide on the history of the COP and this glossary to help you navigate the negotiations.

Below is a recap of the main announcements and events from COP30 Week 2.

Fossil Fuels

On Tuesday, the COP30 Presidency published a draft text on a “global mutirão” – a cover decision for COP30. The text drew together four big issues to be discussed: finance, trade, transparency and ambition. It also mentioned a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels – a pledge adopted at COP28 two years ago – although only as an option.

“The current reference in the text is weak and it’s presented as an option. It must be strengthened and it must be adopted,” Tina Stege, Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands, said at a press conference alongside representatives from more than a dozen supportive countries.

Throughout the week, calls for the phaseout of fossil fuels gathered support from more than 80 countries joined a coalition, among them most Small Island Developing Nations and most EU countries, the UK, and Brazil. The movement is unprecedented in the history of the UN climate conferences.

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on Wednesday proposed the creation of a “mutirão road map” to accelerate the energy transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels. “We need to keep our ambitions high when it comes to lowering the emissions. It requires implementation,” he said, according to Bloomberg.

More than 100 organizations, including businesses and business groups, have also urged governments to agree to start developing a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels. “A robust, credible roadmap would help countries and businesses plan the shift to clean energy, strengthen energy security and reduce costs for consumers. Anchoring the roadmap in real-world momentum toward clean energy and electrification would provide much-needed clarity for investment and national implementation,” the coalition wrote in a letter to the COP30 Presidency. 

However, “[t]here’s little expectation that a fully realized plan on fossil fuels will emerge by Friday,” Bloomberg wrote this week, with “a commitment to discuss it over the next year or longer” as one potential solution. COP30 CEO Ana Toni told a press conference that a “great majority” of country groups they had consulted saw a fossil-fuel roadmap as a “red line”, while COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago spoke of “significant resistance” to the idea.

Mutirão text

The COP30 Presidency’s latest version of the mutirão text published on Friday does not include mentions of fossil fuels. It calls on parties to “urgently advance actions to enable the scaling up” of finance from all sources and for “efforts” to triple adaptation finance.

Shortly after, the Guardian revealed that a group of 29 countries had written a letter to the presidency in which they threatened to block any agreement that would not mention a commitment to phase out fossil fuels. Signatories include: Austria, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Marshall Islands, México, Monaco, the Netherlands, Panamá, Palau, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and Vanuatu.

“We express deep concern regarding the current proposal under consideration for a take it or leave it…We cannot support an outcome that does not include a roadmap…We respectfully yet firmly request that the presidency present a revised proposal…The success of the presidency will lie in presenting a balance and forward-looking outcome, rather than in asking others to accept only what the least ambitious are willing to allow,” the letter read.

More on the topic: Increasing Fossil Fuel Exploration Threatens Biodiversity Hotspots, Say Activists at COP30

Deforestation

Tropical Forest Forever Fund

On Wednesday, German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said that the German government will invest one billion euros (US$1.15 billion) in the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) – Brazil’s flagship initiative to pay for forest conservation – over the next decade. “This is about protecting the tropical rainforests, the lungs of our planet,” said Schneider.

53 countries endorsed the fund last week, but its initial investment target of $25 billion was cut back significantly, with initial pledges reaching just $5.5 billion.

18 board members, equally representing rainforest nations and donor countries, are set to oversee the initiative, which will support up to 70 eligible developing nations. A minimum of 20% must be allocated towards Indigenous groups and traditional communities.

Land rights

On Monday, Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara announced that declaratory ordinances will be issued for 10 new Indigenous lands. Declaratory ordinances are one of the last formal steps in the process to demarcate an Indigenous Land in Brazil. They recognize the perimeter of the area and establish the physical boundaries of the territory. After this phase, the land is officially approved and registered to be exclusively used by populations living there.

According to Indigenous leaders present at the high-level meeting where the announcement was made, the package of ordinances meets a historical demand for territories to finally be recognized as part of the climate solution, given the proven role of Indigenous lands in containing deforestation and preserving the Amazon.

The decision followed two large-scale Indigenous demonstrations at the COP30 venue that had already prompted the Brazilian government to move forward with the demarcation of two Indigenous Lands belonging to the Munduruku people. One of them – the Sawré Ba’pim – appears on the list released this Monday with territories to be declared. With this list, the number of indigenous territories whose demarcation processes have advanced that were announced by Brazil’s government during the climate conference in Belém should rise to 11.

More on the topic: Brazilian Government Announces Ordinances to Recognize 10 Indigenous Lands

US Absence

The official absence of the United States at COP30 was highlighted at a US Climate Action Network press conference on Monday, on the seventh day of the climate event in Belém, Brazil. Representatives of US organizations stated that, even without a government delegation present, the country “casts a shadow” over the debates and increases the deadlock on core issues such as climate finance and loss and damage.

The US might not be sitting at the negotiating table this year, but it is not entirely absent from Belém. An independent association of federally elected officials, the Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC), is holding bilateral discussions onsite. Individual US states and their leaders – including California governor Gavin Newsom and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham – as well as former vice president Al Gore, also flew to Brazil.

COP31 Host

And finally, next year’s COP31 climate summit will be held in Turkey, after Australia dropped its bid to host the annual talks.⁠
⁠
After months of negotiations, Australia this week agreed to support the Turkish bid in return for their minister chairing the talks – a highly unusual arrangement has taken observers by surprise. The COP Presidency is typically held by the host country⁠
⁠
Turkey has proposed holding the 2026 summit in Antalya, a resort city of 2.7 million people.⁠

“Whatever the forum, whoever the President, the urgency and focus cannot change, and phasing out fossil fuels and ending deforestation must be at the core of the COP31 agenda,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter said following the announcement.

He called out Australia for “not fighting hard enough for our future”, criticizing the country for not supporting a roadmap to end fossil fuels.

“Australia has the global responsibility as COP31 President to show the kind of leadership for the world that is being demanded by  Pacific nations . As over 80 countries have already made clear at COP30 in Bélem, there needs to be a rapid global phase out of fossil fuels and a clear roadmap to do so. The Albanese government must end approvals for new coal and gas projects, and deliver a clear national plan and timeline for the managed phase-out of all fossil fuels, including exports,” he added.

In Pictures

Featured image: UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth via Flickr.