COP30 climate talks in Brazil reach tentative deal after delay

It calls for more funding for developing countries, scraps mention of fossil fuel phase-out

- Ang Qing Correspondent

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu speaking to the media outside the Singapore Pavilion on Nov 21. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

(MINISTRY OF SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT)

A tentative deal has emerged after the UN climate conference COP30 Brazil overran its scheduled end.

The draft released on Nov 22 morning called for efforts to triple funding for developing countries to cope with the impacts of climate change by 2035, with the European Union backing the deal after allnight negotiations.

The updated deal, however, failed to explicitly mention steps to phase out planet-warming fossil fuels, which had been supported by the EU and more than 80 governments during the two-week conference.

Ahead of the summit's closing ceremony, EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra wearily told reporters that the proposed deal was a step in the right direction, even though the bloc would have liked to see more ambition.

"We are not going to hide the fact that we would have preferred to have more, to have more ambition on everything," he said. "And yet, the world is what it is."

The conference commenced its final meeting to pass the deal on Nov 22 afternoon.

Singapore's Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said in an interview on Nov 21 that the Republic was still hopeful that countries would come to a consensus.

She added that leaving the conference with some agreement is better than none. This comes as other parties refused to back down on their stance on fossil fuels, with some saying that "no deal is better than a bad deal".

A member of the European Parliament's delegation to COP30, Mr Bas Eickhout, had previously said on Nov 21 that the "failure to reach an agreement on a road map to transition away from fossil fuels would not only be a big win for petrostates, but also for Trump and his hard-right allies".