COP30 talks enter overtime as EU blocks proposed climate deal

BELÉM, Brazil: Negotiations at the COP30 climate summit went into overtime on Saturday after the European Union objected to a draft agreement, saying it fell short of advancing global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The two-week summit, hosted by Brazil and seen as a test of global cooperation in the absence of the United States, was originally scheduled to conclude on Friday. However, an impasse between negotiators forced discussions to continue through the night.

According to officials, the Brazilian presidency has been working to build consensus around a compromise text that most of the nearly 200 participating countries were prepared to accept. The EU, however, maintained that the proposed deal remained unbalanced and did not sufficiently address emission-cutting commitments. Any final agreement requires full consensus.

Prospects for a detailed plan on how and when countries would move away from fossil fuels had already dimmed, with the Arab Group strongly opposing any explicit commitments. As a result, negotiators focused on securing agreement on a voluntary “Global Implementation Accelerator,” aimed at guiding countries on ways to enhance their emissions-reduction efforts.

A draft of the proposed deal, seen by Reuters, included a call to triple global finance for helping developing nations adapt to climate impacts by 2035.

The EU signalled it was willing to “move beyond its comfort zone” on climate finance for developing nations, but only if stronger language on emissions cuts was included in the final document.

Sources told Reuters that the COP30 presidency was working on a separate text addressing fossil fuels. It remained unclear whether Brazil would issue the declaration independently or whether other countries had agreed to endorse it.

Earlier attempts to include fossil-fuel language in the main text had failed, and the separate declaration was not expected to become part of a consensus-based final agreement.