Behind The Scenes At Cop30 How They Reached The Final Deal

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 9:10 AM

behind the scenes at cop30 how they reached the final deal

The all-night session was kept afloat by coffee that arrived about every two hours, saltine crackers and traditional Brazilian cheese dough-balls. As the sun dawned, a path emerged. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player It was the showdown nobody wanted. But in the end, it saved the climate summit. As the clock ticked past the deadline of 6pm on Friday in Belem, Brazil, the issue that, rightly or wrongly, came to define this year's UN climate talks was still unresolved.

The great, unanswered question was how to talk about fossil fuels: two words pathetically controversial for a summit trying to tackle climate change, given they are the main cause. There's a lot going on at TikTok right now. Countries attending COP30, the biggest climate meeting of the year, have agreed steps to help speed up climate action, according to a draft deal. The UN climate talks are a "nightmare" but the "best process we've got", the UK energy secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News as the COP30 summit ran into... The United Nations climate talks in Brazil were shut down on Thursday after a fire broke out on site - disrupting last-minute efforts to strike a global deal. The world's most valuable company has reported another series of expectation-beating results, heading off fears of an end to the AI bubble, for now.

The Independent November 26, 2025 Cover Story, In The Magazine, The News Today, WORLD Leave a comment COVER STORY | AGENCIES | It was the showdown nobody wanted. But in the end, it saved the climate summit. As the clock ticked past the deadline of 6pm on Friday in Belem, Brazil, the issue that, rightly or wrongly, came to define this year’s UN climate talks was still unresolved. The great, unanswered question was how to talk about fossil fuels: two words pathetically controversial for a summit trying to tackle climate change, given they are the main cause. But it had taken 28 COP meetings to even name those words in a deal.

Finally, the promise came in Dubai in 2023 to “transition away from fossil fuels”. In three decades of these meetings aimed at forging global consensus on how to prevent and deal with global warming, this will go down as among the most divisive. Many countries were livid when COP30 in Belém, Brazil ended on Saturday with no mention of the fossil fuels that have heated up the atmosphere. Other nations - particularly those with most to gain from their continued production - felt vindicated. The summit was a reality check on just how much global consensus has broken down over what to do about climate change. Here are five key takeaways from what some have called the "COP of truth".

The most important thing to come out of COP30 is that the climate 'ship' is still afloat The agreement does not include a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels worldwide. It took an extra day, but delegates at COP30, the United Nations' climate conference, have reached a deal on a final agreement. The agreement, however, falls far short of the high expectations many delegates, environmental groups and non-governmental organizations had going into the annual conference in Belém, Brazil. Despite more than 80 countries calling for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels worldwide, the primary cause of human-amplified climate change, that demand did not make it into the final text. Although the conference took place in what's called the "gateway to the Amazon," the COP30 agreement also doesn't include any significant new initiatives to stop deforestation and protect the Amazon rainforest, known as "the...

After two weeks of heavy negotiations, this year’s UN climate talks or COP30, wrapped up yesterday. Set in Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon, with Indigenous leaders and civil society front and centre, this Summit was a chance to turn years of promises into real action. And did that happen? Yes and no. COP30 was meant to be a “COP of Implementation” the moment governments would finally move from promises to action. And we arrived in Belém with three big fights on the table:

While negotiators argued behind closed doors, a different — and much stronger — force was rising outside the rooms. After three COPs in petro-states where civil society was pushed to the margins, COP30 felt like a breath of fresh air. This Summit unfolded in the Amazon — one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, protected and defended by Indigenous Peoples long before the UN ever existed. And for the first time in years, people could rally openly for real climate action. Indigenous Peoples, frontline communities, youth, activists, and everyday people came together and showed what genuine climate leadership looks like. Their voices spilled from the streets into the halls of COP30, raising the pressure on world leaders to deliver real progress.

Behind The Scenes At Cop30 How They Reached The Final Deal

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