The 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30), held in Belém, Brazil, wrapped up on the 22nd, a day after its scheduled closing date, local time.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP) and others, after two weeks of negotiations over the final wording of the agreement, delegations from participating countries succeeded in producing a joint declaration on the morning of the day, a day past the scheduled end of the meeting.
The joint declaration calls for tripling, by 2035, adaptation financing for climate change crises such as sea level rise, storms, and droughts from current levels.
It also agreed to run a new voluntary initiative aimed at "accelerating implementation" of the actions needed to keep the increase in global temperature to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, and criticized unilateral trade actions such as carbon taxes.
This meeting drew international attention over whether the agreement would codify a phased reduction in the use of fossil fuels and matters related to the energy transition, but ultimately references to fossil fuels were dropped from the agreement.
At this year's COP30, countries rallied behind Brazil, the host, to draw up a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, but oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia expressed strong opposition.
Brazil ultimately proposed a draft agreement with references to fossil fuels removed ahead of the closing, and European Union (EU) country delegations that had protested this provision accepted a compromise after all-night talks on the final day, leading to the adoption of the final agreement.
Former Ireland President Mary Robinson said of the declaration, "It is not perfect and it falls far short of what the science requires," but added, "However, it is meaningful that countries are continuing to move forward together at a time when multilateralism is being tested."
At this meeting, the United States did not send a delegation at the federal government level. In response, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also issued a statement, saying, "COP is consensus-based, and at a time of geopolitical divisions, consensus is becoming ever more difficult to achieve."