By Kate Abnett and Lisandra Paraguassu, Reuters
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures while delivering a speech during the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference opening ceremony in Belem, Para State, Brazil. Photo: PABLO PORCIUNCULA / AFP
Brazil's president was set to meet key negotiators at the COP30 summit as part of a drive to land a deal ahead of schedule on some of the most divisive issues in the global climate talks, including fossil fuels and climate finance.
The two-week UN summit in the Amazon city of Belem has brought nearly 200 countries together to try to ratchet up multilateral action to limit climate change, despite the absence of the United States, the top historic greenhouse gas emitter.
Host Brazil is hoping to buck the trend that has seen recent climate summits run well past their deadline by seeking to endorse a package of agreements later on Wednesday (local time), and the outstanding issues on Friday.
Fresh draft expected on Wednesday
The COP30 presidency was expected to land a fresh draft of the initial deal early on Wednesday, but no announcements had been issued by late morning.
The first version of the deal published on Tuesday had presented a range of options that split opinion.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived back at the conference on Wednesday, according to Brazilian officials, giving renewed political impetus to the talks. He was expected to meet key negotiators as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Brazil and around 80 other supportive nations want to agree something that helps spur action on a 2023 agreement made at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels.
However, the idea of creating a roadmap to help guide that transition had so far been rejected by others, Brazil's COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago said on Tuesday.
'We've got blockers,' Vanuatu says
Pacific island nation Vanuatu's climate minister Ralph Regenvanu told Reuters Saudi Arabia was one of those opposed. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"I think it's going to be very difficult ... because we've got blockers," Regenvanu said.
Other contentious issues in the package include pinning down how rich countries will provide finance to poorer countries to switch to clean energy, and what must be done about a gap between promised emissions cuts and those needed to stop temperatures rising.
Poorer countries already bearing the impacts of global warming are rallying for a strong outcome.
"We want ambition on finance. We want ambition on adaptation. We want to see ambition on the transition," Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone's climate minister, told Reuters. "And we want to ensure that we live here on a path that is sustainable, not just for this generation, but for future generations."
Plans to launch a UN-backed global market for trading carbon offset credits, meanwhile, have hit a snag as governments dispute over funding to get the market up and running, five sources told Reuters.
- Reuters
