The UN climate summit failed to agree on a fossil-fuel phase-out plan, leaving the European Union increasingly isolated as global ambition declines.
Delegates at COP30 in Belém approved a final text without any fossil-fuel exit path, provoking critics who labelled the outcome a moral failure and an empty deal.
The United States withdrew from climate negotiations and created a political and financial void, while President Donald Trump dismissed climate change as a con job.
Countries dependent on fossil-fuel revenue, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, rejected every proposal that targeted a clear fossil-fuel phase-out.
EU leaders threatened to reject the final text one day before COP30 ended because nearly 200 nations needed to reach consensus.
EU officials ultimately endorsed the text because they saw no alternative, even while acknowledging its weak ambition.
The 27 EU members still upheld the 1.5°C limit and maintained commitments to cut pollution and curb global warming.
They pledged to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels at home and to keep financing clean-energy projects abroad.
Wopke Hoekstra, the EU climate commissioner, insisted the EU acted together and demanded stronger global climate ambition.
Fractured Alliances and Shifting Power
Dutch MEP Mohammed Chahim argued that President Lula set high expectations and the EU arrived ready to lead a coalition of ambitious partners.
He warned that fragmentation in the international system blocked progress and undermined coordinated climate action.
Chahim said resistance from oil-producing states proved overwhelming and shifting geopolitical balances weakened momentum for a fossil-fuel exit.
He noted that the EU and the United Kingdom struggled against the tide while BRICS members resisted decisive action.
BRICS, which includes ten emerging economies and operates under Moscow’s influence, positioned itself as a counterweight to Western agendas.
Irish minister Darragh O’Brien said he reluctantly supported the final text and regretted the absence of a credible fossil-fuel phase-out plan.
More than 80 countries, including Ireland, demanded such a roadmap during COP30, but negotiators refused to include it.
Former US Vice President Al Gore denounced the petrostates that blocked progress and slowed the transition away from fossil fuels.
Gore stated that Brazil would still pursue a global roadmap, supported by countries already backing stronger climate action.
Warnings From Scientists and Advocates
Climate researchers and environmental advocates echoed the same concerns.
Nikki Reisch of the Centre for International Environmental Law criticised the deal for ignoring legal and scientific demands to replace fossil fuels.
She argued that powerful polluters pointed fingers, tightened finances, and stalled progress while the world burned.
Reisch warned that attempts to hide science or evade responsibility would not protect major polluters from legal accountability.
Doug Weir of the Conflict and Environment Observatory called the final text a moral failure for communities already suffering climate impacts.
Weir said negotiators made no progress since Dubai two years ago and now faced an even steeper climb.
A Climate Analytics report estimated that full implementation of COP28 pledges could cut warming rates by one-third within ten years.
The report suggested governments could halve the rate of warming by 2040 if they tripled renewable energy and improved efficiency.
Bill Hare, the organisation’s CEO, argued that such actions could keep warming below 2°C instead of the projected 2.6°C.
World leaders gathered in Belém to evaluate global progress toward keeping temperatures below 1.5°C, ten years after the Paris Agreement.
They closed the summit after two weeks of talks in the Amazonian city that hosted the global climate review.
Australia and Turkey will host upcoming COP meetings that aim to revive stalled international climate cooperation.
