Despite the fact that the formal closing session of the climate summit, COP30, has been scheduled for this Friday, the trend suggests that the deliberations will extend even over the weekend before an agreement is reached that achieves the consensus of all involved parties, a scenario already seen in previous summits.
The fire that forced the climate forum to halt for several hours on Thursday afternoon/evening has added a new delay to the talks, although a significant portion of them continued telematically. Although the Brazilian presidency expressed its desire to conclude the work today, the prevailing perception among the delegations is that the event will extend at least until Saturday, unless something unexpected occurs.
A topic at the climate summit
The transition to a circular economy with low carbon emissions has the potential to generate up to 100 million jobs by the year 2030, according to Moustapha Kamal Gueye, director of the Just Transition department of the International Labour Organization.
This is a figure of great relevance considering that one of the main concerns of nations most dependent on highly polluting industries is how to secure the future of their workers if these industries are forced to disappear or, at the very least, undergo a radical transformation. Gueye emphasized: «We do not want trees in a forest without people,» as «sustainability must be a vehicle for human well-being.» This implies that the ecological transition inevitably requires «recycling and upskilling» the workforce.
A report
UN Women has presented the ‘Monitoring on gender equality and policies,’ a tool developed in collaboration with the Kaschak Institute. It functions as a scoreboard that includes around fifty indicators ranging from health to unpaid domestic work, with the primary goal of evaluating the degree of integration of gender equality in the climate actions outlined in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
A statement
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has reiterated his call for goodwill and flexibility from the delegations attending the climate summit to make it possible to reach a global pact that, in his view, is still achievable in time and form. Guterres was emphatic: «no delegation will leave here with everything they want.»
A character
«We are falling into a hole and feel powerless,» was the simple yet forceful expression of Peruvian Saúl Lliuya. He resides in Huaraz, an Andean locality threatened by the accelerated melting of a glacier, which could cause the lagoon collecting its waters to overflow.
The Loss and Damage Fund, established three years ago with the mission of supporting communities globally most affected by rising temperatures, had projected to raise $790 million, but to date has not even reached $400 million.
An image
The image that marked the day is the evacuation that occurred due to the fire that broke out in the pavilion belonging to the East African Community in the Blue Zone, the area designated for climate negotiations.
The cause of the incident appears to be an electrical failure, to which the firefighters responded quickly and managed to control the flames. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, although about twenty people received medical attention for smoke inhalation or anxiety attacks. The area was reopened a few hours later, after confirming that safety conditions were adequate.
It is unavoidable to draw a parallel between the fire at the COP30 venue and the fires caused by climate issues around the planet.
The new draft omits the roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels
The presidency presented during the early hours of this Friday, the day scheduled for the conclusion of the climate summit, a draft resolution that avoids specifying the roadmap for ending the use of fossil fuels, which is one of the central points of the negotiations at this meeting.
The document states that the parties «recognize that the global transition to low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development is irreversible and the trend of the future,» and also «praise the 80 parties that have communicated long-term development strategies with low greenhouse gas emissions and urge those who have not yet done so to communicate these strategies as soon as possible.»
However, the draft does not include any mention of the long-requested ‘roadmap’ for the abandonment of fossil fuels, despite the fact that this Thursday, thirty countries sent a letter to the COP presidency stating that they will not support any text that leaves out this crucial aspect.
Among the signatories of this message are Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Iceland, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Panama, Palau, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. These countries consider that the latest proposal from the COP presidency «is a take it or leave it» and «does not meet the minimum necessary conditions for the COP results to be considered credible.»
About 36 countries reject the COP30 draft
A group of 36 nations, including Spain and seven Latin American countries, have sent a letter to the Brazilian presidency of COP30 warning that their intention is to reject the final document of the summit if this point is excluded.
🔵 Com a Zona Azul reaberta, as negociações retomarão nesta sexta-feira. Há um trabalho substancial pela frente. O presidente da COP30, embaixador André Corrêa do Lago, fala das expectativas para esta reta final. Assista! 🎥 pic.twitter.com/EkmRoysbPh
— COP30 Brasil (@Cop30noBrasil) November 21, 2025
The draft, which is still under negotiation, is structured around three main sections: «United in the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement,» «From negotiation to implementation,» and «Responding to urgency.»
In its articles, the text recognizes «the need to adopt urgent measures and provide support to achieve deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5°C pathways» and emphasizes that «financing, capacity building, and technology transfer are fundamental factors for climate action.»
Among the specific decisions included in the document is the launch of a ‘Global Implementation Accelerator,’ aimed at «keeping the 1.5°C target and supporting countries in implementing their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans.»
It also contemplates the launch of the ‘Belém Mission to 1.5,’ intended to «reflect on accelerating implementation and international cooperation and investments in nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans in terms of mitigation and adaptation.»
In search of 1.3 trillion
Additionally, it proposes «urgently promoting measures to increase financing for climate action in developing countries from all public and private sources to reach at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035,» and emphasizes «the urgent need to continue advancing towards the goal of mobilizing at least $300 billion per year by 2035 for climate action in developing countries, with developed countries leading the way.»
