cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42404131

Unpaywalled (archived)

The EU and a handful of other countries have been left unusually isolated as they push for action to tackle global warming, after geopolitical schisms spilled into climate policies at the UN COP30 summit in Brazil.

The meeting of 194 countries for more than two weeks in the tropical temperatures of the city of Belém nearly ended in collapse on Saturday when the EU warned of the possibility of a “no deal”. Countries such as the UK considered walking out.

Their efforts to directly reference fossil fuels or ambitious climate action language in a final agreement were blocked again and again by China, India, and some petro-states.

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“At a time when extreme heat, catastrophic floods and wildfires are setting new records every year, negotiators still could not summon the basic courage to stand up to fossil fuel interests,” [Martina Egedusevic, an expert in nature-based solutions and risk management at the University of Exeter] said.

Benoît Faraco, the ambassador in charge of climate change negotiations for France, said the EU and France had fought for a road map away from fossil fuels and deforestation all the way into the early hours of Saturday morning, in “bloc against bloc” negotiations, but to no avail.

“It is profoundly worrying to realise that climate multilateralism is still something that needs to be protected, that there is everything to play for,” he said.

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More than 80 countries had initially backed a proposal for a so-called road map aimed at setting out how countries could shift away from fossil fuels during the two-week talks. By the final night of talks, the EU, UK, Colombia and a handful of other nations remained the driving forces.

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China joined India, Saudi Arabia and other exporters in using COP as an opportunity to spar with the EU over its soon-to-be-introduced carbon border tax. The final agreement set out plans for further trade talks next year.

Other than on this issue, China remained quieter than expected at talks where the petrostates took centre stage. This is despite China’s renewable energy boom and President Xi Jinping’s affirmation that green energy is the “trend of our time”.

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