On Saturday evening, nations meeting at COP30 in Brazil agreed to launch “limited initiatives to strengthen emissions-cutting plans, as well as tripling finance” for adaptation, reports Climate Home News, but “fell short on the global transition away from oil, gas and coal”. In addition to the final “Belém political package”, the Brazilian presidency promised to create “roadmaps” on transitioning away from fossil fuels and protecting forests, the outlet explains. These were offered “at the eleventh hour” as a compromise solution, the article notes, “after some nations – especially European and Latin American states – voiced disappointment that a formal deal was not reached on one after strong pushback from large fossil-fuel producers led by Saudi Arabia”. Brazil’s roadmap process will sit outside the UN climate regime, the article adds. 

After gavelling the deal through, a “weary Brazilian COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago told delegates he recognised the talks had been tough”, reports Reuters. It quotes him as saying: “We know some of you had greater ambitions for some of the issues at hand.” Several countries had objected to the summit ending without stronger plans for reining in greenhouse gases or addressing fossil fuels, the article notes – including Colombia, Panama and Uruguay. A Russian delegate accused those objecting of “behaving like children who want to get their hands on all the sweets”, the newswire says. The comment was “called out by many Latin American delegates who said they were deeply offended by Russia’s remarks and defended their role in advocating for their countries’ best interests”.

Much of the reporting throughout the weekend focused on how the draft final deal had, in the words of Agence France-Presse (AFP), dropped “any direct mention of a fossil-fuel phaseout”. The meeting ran into overtime as “groups of countries led by the EU and Saudi Arabia clashed over the core issue of quitting fossil fuels”, says the Financial Times. It adds: “The EU and the UK were among those pushing for the reintroduction of previous references to the roadmap in the documents, while Saudi Arabia and Russia led those refusing to countenance it.” BBC News notes that “some developing countries have not backed the deal on fossil fuels because they want richer nations to first deliver on promises to give climate finance”. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra had warned that the impasse threatened the “reality of a no-deal scenario” at the talks, reports Bloomberg. He added: “How can anyone who is reading [the draft deal] across the world not be deeply disappointed?” Politico reports that Europe was “preparing to veto the final deal”. The Guardian, Associated Press, Reuters, O Globo, El Pais, Sky News and the Washington Post all reported on the “deadlocked” talks. 

While “more than 80 countries had initially backed” a fossil-fuel roadmap, the Financial Times says, “by the final night of talks, the EU, UK, Colombia and a handful of other nations remained the driving forces”. It adds: “Many other poorer and middle-income countries are betting that oil and gas will deliver more near-term benefits for their economies even if the long-term consequences of global warming will be devastating.” Despite the lack of ambition, Hoekstra told reporters that the EU would back the deal, AFP reports. The newswire notes the comments of French ecological transition minister Monique Barbut, who said it was a “rather flat text”, but Europe would not oppose it because “there is nothing extraordinarily bad in it”. Politico quotes UK energy secretary Ed Miliband, who said a walk-out was “on the edge” at times during the night – “because we just thought actually we’ve got to be able to look people in the eye”. With the gavel coming down almost 27 hours late, the final eight-page declaration “won grudging acceptance”, reports Bloomberg. 

Reporting on the main element of the final deal – called the “mutirão” – can be found pretty much everywhere, including the Associated Press, New York Times, Guardian, BBC News, AFP, Financial Times, Al Jazeera, CNN, Washington Post, Le Monde, Sky News, Deutsche Welle, Axios, Euronews, Los Angeles Times, Sunday Times, BusinessGreen and Daily Mail. 

For a comprehensive report and analysis of the entire summit, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth summary.

Following the end of COP30, UN climate chief Simon Stiell has warned that the world is not “winning the climate fight”, but adds that it is “fighting back”, reports the Guardian. Speaking after the final plenary in Belém, Stiell said that “denial, division and geopolitics has dealt international cooperation some heavy blows this year”, but “amid the gale-force political headwinds, 194 countries stood firm in solidarity – rock solid in support of climate cooperation”, the article reports. The newspaper notes that the summit “produced decisions on dozens of issues, including a promise to triple adaptation funding to protect communities against climate impacts, an agreement for a just transition mechanism (JTM) and recognition of the rights of Indigenous people”. The article also quotes UN secretary general, António Guterres, who said: “I cannot pretend that COP30 has delivered everything that is needed. The gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide.”

There is widespread reporting on the key “takeaways” from the summit – examples include the Associated Press, BBC News, Reuters and Bloomberg. Reuters also has what COP30 “delivered for forests and Indigenous people”, while the Guardian has “five threats to climate progress that dogged COP30”. Others have collected reactions to the final deal, such as AFP, Al Jazeera, BusinessGreen, Climate Home News and Backchannel. AFP also carries quotes from the Alliance of Small Island States, which said the final deal was “imperfect, but necessary for progress”.

China has welcomed the mutirão element of the deal reached at COP30, describing it as a “hard-won” outcome, reports state-run newspaper China Daily. It quotes delegation head Li Gao saying the decision demonstrates “strong political will” to “work together” on climate. Li tells Agence France-Presse he was “happy with the outcome”. The Paper, a Shanghai-based outlet, interviews climate envoy Liu Zhenmin, who says: “Some nations proposed roadmaps solely focused on ‘fossil-fuel phaseout’ without concurrently considering renewable energy development. This approach is unfeasible and would severely undermine national energy security, economic growth and social stability.”

An article in the print edition of Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily under the byline “Heyin” – denoting a reflection of the party’s views on international affairs – says China will “accelerate” its energy transition, but that “developed countries should also shoulder their historical responsibilities”. A commentary in state news agency Xinhua under the byline “Xinhua” says “too often, the west’s ambitious rhetoric [on climate] is not matched by meaningful follow-through”. The Global Times, Science and Technology Daily, China News, 21st Century Business Herald, Xinhua and Huxiu also cover COP30 outcomes.

Mongabay says a “routine partnership” on climate between China and India has become a “central force in holding together” COP30 negotiations. China and India spearheaded an “increasingly aligned push” at COP30 for “more climate finance and fairer rules”, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reports. Bloomberg says that “there’s little evidence” of China’s “leadership” at COP30. The Africa Report says tensions between developed countries and emerging economies, including “China and Saudi Arabia”, have left African countries “without crucial climate finance”.

MORE ON CHINA

• G20 countries will “boost Africa’s energy transition with [a] financial commitment”, China Daily reports. The G20 also “called for greater protection of critical minerals from unilateral trade actions”, seemingly in “reference to China”, Bloomberg says.
• China’s power consumption increased 10% year-on-year in October and 5% this year to date, BJX News says. Reuters says China’s power generation from fossil fuels rose 7% year-on-year in October, despite declines in “coal output”.
• China’s rare-earth magnet exports fell 5% in October from a month earlier, but shipments to the US “surged to a nine-month high”, Reuters reports. Bloomberg says recent Sino-Japanese tensions are unlikely to result in rare-earth export controls so that China can avoid “alienating other trading partners”.
• People’s Daily reports that another round of “central ecological and environmental protection inspections” have begun in eight provinces.
• A number of Chinese electrolyser manufacturers have issued an “anti-involution” initiative calling for healthy development of the industry, Jiemian reports.
• China’s growth rate for “concentrated solar power” installations reached 12% between 2020-2024, compared with 4% globally, International Energy Net reports.

The leaders’ declaration from a G20 summit in South Africa on Saturday stressed the seriousness of climate change “in a snub to US president Donald Trump, who boycotted the gathering”, reports Reuters. Trump pulled out of the meeting – the first to be held in Africa – and told other countries not to sign a communiqué, the Financial Times says, noting that he made “false claims that [South Africa] is persecuting its white population”. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said the joint agreement by the 19 remaining countries “reaffirms our renewed commitment to multilateral co-operation”, the article explains, adding: “The 30-page Johannesburg declaration called for increased funding for renewable energy projects, more equitable critical mineral supply chains and debt relief for poorer countries, among other issues.” The Associated Press notes that “Argentina said it also opposed the declaration after Argentine president Javier Milei – a Trump ally – also skipped the summit”.

In the first G20 summit to be held in Africa, South Africa broke with tradition by issuing the leaders’ declaration on the opening day of the talks, rather than the end, reports Al Jazeera. The document recognises the need to “rapidly and substantially” scale up climate finance “from billions to trillions globally from all sources”, reports AFP. It continues: “It highlight[s] inequalities in access to energy, particularly in Africa, and call[s] for increasing, de-risking and diversifying investments for sustainable energy transitions. The leaders said they would promote the development of early-warning systems for people at risk of climate-linked disasters, recognising that some of those most impacted were from least developed countries.” BBC News notes that “the US will host the G20 in 2026, with the summit expected to be held at Trump’s golf course in Florida”. The New York Times also has the story, while Bloomberg reports that, at an event before the meeting began, the EU pledged €7bn (£6.1bn) toward boosting renewable-energy generation and increasing electricity access in Africa.

At least 90 people have died and another 12 are missing after days of heavy rain in Vietnam led to flooding and landslides, reports BBC News. It continues: “The Vietnamese government says 186,000 homes have been damaged across the country, with more than three million livestock swept away. Officials estimate there has been hundreds of millions of pounds worth of damage…The floods are the latest extreme weather event to hit Vietnam in recent months, after typhoons Kalmaegi and Bualoi hit the country within weeks of each other.” Rainfall has exceeded 1.9 metres in some parts of central Vietnam over the past week, notes Sky News. The mountainous province of Dak Lak is “among the hardest hit areas”, reports Mint, where “more than 60 deaths have been recorded”. AFP says that while Vietnam is “prone to heavy rain between June and September”, scientists have “identified a pattern of human-driven climate change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive”. The Associated Press also has the story.

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce an extra £1.3bn for subsidies for new electric vehicles (EVs) and a further £200m for charging points in this week’s budget, reports the Guardian. The move comes as Reeves “attempts to prevent the market for clean cars drying up amid concerns about a new pay-per-mile tax”, the article says, adding: “Electric car experts welcomed news of the extra money, but warned the Treasury risked putting potential buyers off with its separate plans to tax them an extra 3p per mile on top of other road taxes.” The story is widely reported in the Independent, BBC News, Reuters, i newspaper, Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, while the Guardian looks at the impact of a pay-per-mile tax on EVs.

Separately, the UK “unveiled its new critical minerals strategy, setting out an ambition to raise the domestic production share of Britain’s mineral needs to 10% from 6%”, reports Bloomberg. It adds: “The UK is concerned about being over-reliant on China for the critical minerals it needs for products such as EVs and wind turbines.” The initiative comes with a £50m fund to boost production at tungsten and lithium mines in Cornwall, reports the Guardian, which adds: “Europe’s largest deposits of lithium are in Cornwall, and the EU singled out the county’s tungsten mine for potential financial support this summer.”

In other UK news, a government review has concluded that “overly complex” bureaucracy means the UK is the most expensive country in the world to build nuclear power plants, reports BBC News and the Financial Times. The report, from the “nuclear regulatory taskforce” established by prime minister Keir Starmer, recommends restructuring the nuclear industry’s regulatory bodies to create a single commission for nuclear regulation, says the Guardian. According to the report, “nuclear plants should be built closer to urban areas and should be allowed to harm the local environment”, says the Times. BusinessGreen also has the story.

MORE ON UK

• Shell has estimated that the greenhouse gas emissions from the lifetime of the controversial Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea “would be the equivalent of 90% of Scotland’s emissions for 2023”, reports BBC News.
• Business secretary Peter Kyle is expected to announce today that the UK will cut energy bills by 25% for more than 7,000 manufacturers beginning in 2027, reports Bloomberg.
• Reeves is set to announce up to £14.5m in investment for Grangemouth former oil refinery in the budget, says BBC News.
• The net-zero-sceptic Daily Telegraph highlights the “envy-inducing jumps in profit” at the UK’s three transmission businesses.

There is widespread global reaction to the final COP30 deal. Bloomberg columnist David Fickling says the lack of a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels is “not quite the disaster it appears to be”. He continues: “Given the ability of oil exporters to veto every word of the text, it’s quite remarkable that such references ever made it through the drafting process. The fact that petroleum producers are now balking more aggressively at naming the problem we all face is a sign not of the failure of the energy transition, but of its success.” Instead, the “real problems are far away from the conference halls in Belém”, he argues: “If you want to understand what we’re really doing wrong, look instead at an obscure page on a UN website where governments lodge their emissions-reduction plans…They fall far short of what is needed.”

Clyde Russell, Asia commodities and energy columnist for Reuters, makes a similar point, arguing that the “limp” COP30 deal “matters little in renewables vs fossil battle”. He adds: “If China can maintain, or even lower prices for its clean-energy products it will be hard for the fossil-fuel exporters to compete.” In an interview with Le Monde, Laurence Tubiana – a special envoy to Europe for COP30 and chief executive of the European Climate Foundation [which funds Carbon Brief] – notes that “what is very positive is that we managed to disprove the idea that multilateralism is useless and that Donald Trump was right to leave the Paris Agreement”.

Others are less optimistic. Writing for Backchannel, Mohamed Adow, the founder and director of Power Shift Africa, writes that “negotiators have produced outcomes that…neither reflects scientific urgency nor responds to the lived realities of vulnerable communities already contending with climate collapse”. An editorial in India’s Business Standard says that “climate divisions hardened” at the “diluted” summit. Peter Prengaman, who leads the Associated Press global climate and environment team, says COP30 “may be remembered as a flop”. Genevieve Guenther, author and founding director of End Climate Silence, writes in the Guardian that COP30 was “wrecked by fossil fuel interests and our leaders’ cowardice”.

Elsewhere, there is reaction in Kenya’s Standard, Pakistan’s Dawn, Turkey’s Daily Sabah, as well as in the Indian Express, Grist, Down to Earth, Forbes, Semafor, E&E News, Reuters and Bloomberg.

In UK media reflecting on COP30, energy secretary Ed Miliband writes in the Guardian that the summit “was a test of whether, at a time of political challenge, countries would keep working together on the greatest collective threat we face or, with the US stepping out of the Paris agreement”. Despite the risk of a “domino effect of others departing”, countries “chose the path of cooperation”, he says. While the UK “wanted more from this COP”, Miliband says, “we have seen the emergence of an impressive coalition of 83 countries from the global north and global south” support a roadmap away from fossil fuels. He notes: “This offers such an important lesson: that detailed negotiations matter, but the movements we build around them profoundly influence what can be delivered.”

Multiple UK outlets carry articles with their journalists’ analysis and reflections on the summit outcomes. These include the Guardian, BusinessGreen, Financial Times, Economist, Politico, Sky News and Observer. Sky News also has a “behind the scenes” article on how the final deal was reached. Additional comment can be found in Context, Climate Home News and the Conversation.

In non-COP30 UK comment, an editorial in the Times says that Miliband’s “focus on wind and solar power is myopic”, arguing that a “sensible solution to this coming crunch is an interim new fleet of traditional gas-fired stations, allowing nuclear to catch up”. An editorial in the climate-sceptic Sun also attacks Miliband – once again – because his “net-zero dream simply doesn’t add up”. Climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph columnist Matthew Lynn accuses Miliband of “fantasy economics” as domestic energy prices are set to rise by £3 from January. Finally, in the Observer, climate editor Jeevan Vasagar writes that “high energy costs threaten UK’s net-zero business endeavours”.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Robert McSweeney, with contributions from Henry Zhang and Anika Patel. It was edited by Leo Hickman.

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