COP30 in Belém: Tripling Adaptation Funds but No Global Fossil-Fuel Exit Plan

After two intense weeks of negotiations in Belém, the U.N. climate summit known as COP30 closed with a compromise many called mixed — a notable boost in funding for adaptation, but no concrete global plan to phase out fossil fuels.

What the agreement delivers

Delegates agreed to significantly increase finance to help the most vulnerable countries adapt to climate change, with a pledge to triple adaptation funding phased in over the next five years. The package also contained targeted agreements on strengthening power grids and expanding sustainable biofuels.

What it does not deliver

Critically, the final text stopped short of including a clear, time-bound roadmap to transition away from oil, coal and gas — a central demand from scientists, campaigners and many Indigenous delegates. That omission left many advocates frustrated and heightened tensions in the closing sessions.

COP President André Corrêa do Lago said Brazil would prepare a national roadmap and invited willing countries to convene next year to discuss a fossil-fuel phase-out, though that process would not carry the formal authority of a COP decision.

Reactions from delegations

Responses in Belém ranged from cautious relief to sharp criticism. Ilana Seid, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, said: "Given what we expected, what we came out with, we were happy."

"I will be brutally honest: The COP and the U.N. system are not working for you... And today, they are failing you at a historic scale," Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, a negotiator for Panama, told the plenary.

Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone’s environment and climate change minister, struck a cautiously optimistic tone: "COP30 has not delivered everything Africa asked for, but it has moved the needle. This is a floor, not a ceiling." He emphasized that the outcome will be judged by how quickly pledges become projects that protect lives and livelihoods.

Indigenous voices and civil society

Belém was widely described as the "Indigenous peoples' COP." Indigenous groups and youth were highly visible, and protesters from Indigenous communities interrupted proceedings twice to demand stronger representation. Although Indigenous rights were not a major formal agenda item, the final text included, for the first time, an explicit paragraph recognizing Indigenous rights — a modest but meaningful step, according to Taily Terena of the Terena nation.

Setting and symbolism

Organizers deliberately located the talks on the edge of the Amazon to make the climate stakes tangible: participants experienced sweltering heat, intense humidity and heavy rains that flooded walkways. The venue also suffered a small fire during the summit, an incident that underscored concerns about safety and logistics but did not change the course of negotiations.

What comes next

The COP30 text leaves a mix of concrete financial commitments and open political questions. The immediate challenge is turning money and technical agreements into rapid on-the-ground projects while building broader international consensus on how — and how fast — to cut fossil-fuel emissions. Delegates and campaigners left Belém urging faster action ahead of next year’s meetings.

Key quotes: Ilana Seid (Alliance of Small Island States), Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez (Panama), Jiwoh Abdulai (Sierra Leone), Taily Terena (Terena nation), and André Corrêa do Lago (COP President).