The president and the baby
It was a tense moment. A group of about 50 people from the Munduruku, an Indigenous people in the Amazon basin, had blocked the entrance to the Cop30 venue in protest, causing long lines of delegates to snake down access roads, simmering in the morning heat.
The Munduruku, unhappy about the ruination of their forest and rivers by industry and their lack of voice at Cop30, demanded to speak to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president. Instead, they got André Corrêa do Lago, the president of the talks.
With a scrum of onlookers and reporters jostling, Corrêa do Lago appeared and seemed to recognise the visual power of the moment. He was handed a baby cradled by one of the women in the group and held the child for some time, the angular diplomat in his open-necked shirt and suit puffing his cheeks out and smiling at a baby with body paint and a garland of bright petals.
A veteran diplomat, Corrêa do Lago’s role was to listen, nodding along to the protestations from the Indigenous representatives. He then led the Munduruku, with their spears, bows and arrows, young and old alike, through the crowd to a gated building for a further conversation, which lasted for more than three hours. OM
‘Nothing about us without us’
Cop negotiations can feel sterile and removed from the real world. Saturday’s protest was a reminder of the stakes of the climate crisis. Demonstrators travelled from across the Brazilian Amazon and around the world to demand the protection of forests, the phasing out of fossil fuels, and the prioritisation of climate justice.
It was the first major protest at a Cop in four years, after consecutive conferences in the repressive regimes of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan. Some marchers dressed in black staged a funeral for coal, oil and gas. Others held a 40-foot tall globe. Many called for marginalised people to have seat at the table in climate talks. Among the chants: “Nothing about us without us.” DN
Demand for a just transition
Colombia led a group of several dozen nations that ensured a just transition from fossil fuels was debated more often and more loudly than ever before at Cop30, even if the final agreement at Belém omitted all mention of oil, gas or coal. At a raucous press conference, the South American nation and the Netherlands announced they will hold a first international conference on the transition away from fossil fuels in Colombia next year.
Clearly frustrated by the slow pace of UN talks, 24 countries signed up to the creation of a separate but complementary process for high-ambition nations. A contingent of top scientists in Belém warned of climate “tipping points” and other dire consequences without a rapid transition.
It was the central topic of a press conference by the Fossil Fuel Non-Profileration Treaty initiative and then raised again when 82 countries from across the globe came together to back a roadmap. Brazil has promised to support a roadmap for the rest of its year-long presidency of Cop30. They will meet strong resistance from major oil producing nations. But, as Colombia’s environment minister, Irene Vélez Torres, said: “The fight will go on.” JW
Panic at the talks – and then disaster averted
Soon after the “mutirão” text – the core agreement at Cop30, which contained an oblique rather than direct reference to the need to phase out fossil fuels – was gavelled on Saturday afternoon, there was a sudden hiatus in the closing plenary session. Colombia raised an objection, and said it had not been heard. The Cop rulebook had to be consulted on whether another part of the complex agreement could be in effect “ungavelled” and reopened. And if it was, would that invalidate the previous gavelling of the mutirão text?
After more than an hour of consultation it was decided that the gavelling still stood, and the other disagreements were smoothed over. Disaster averted.
Cops are subject to heart-stopping moments at the gavelling stage. Last year India forced a halt in what would have been the closing minutes, when it disagreed with the deal. It was allowed through anyway – decisions can only be made by consensus but that does not mean unanimity.
Even at Paris, those of us in the plenary hall expecting an imminent gavelling on Saturday evening were kept waiting nearly two hours – close examination of the text had found a “shall” where countries had only agreed a “should” and it had to be amended.
A deal on the substantive issues was concluded by ministers from the 17 regional and interest groups at Cop30 at about 7.15am. Somehow, it still took until nearly 9pm to finish the Cop. In part, that is down to procedural issues. But it also reflects how hard it is to push through a deal with 194 countries by consensus. FH
‘I had dreamed of bigger results’: Marina Silva
One of the most touching moments of Cop30 was the demonstration of tearful humility, then inspiring defiance, by Brazil’s environment minister, Marina Silva, at the closing plenary.
Given a rapturous standing ovation for her ultimately unsuccessful efforts to create a roadmap away from fossil fuels and deforestation – the two most crucial issues in tackling global heating – Silva initially hung her head and sobbed, evidently overwhelmed by emotion. “I had dreamed of bigger results,” she had admitted shortly before.
But the applause continued and Silva lifted her head, then her arms, clasping her hands together in thanks, then raising a fist to demonstrate the fight would go on. Nobody tried harder than this daughter of the Amazon rainforest to lift the ambition of the Belém conference. She persuaded Lula to put the roadmaps on the Cop30 agenda as she urged him to take strong action to reduce deforestation, which is why Brazil has shown more progress than any other country to cut emissions over the past year.
Silva has also been a driving force behind the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which was drawn up in consultation with Indigenous and other traditional peoples, and for the first time promises direct payments to the communities who do the most to maintain standing forests.
That the global south emerged from Cop30 with a great deal more credit than the global north is largely thanks to her endeavours. JW
