The atmosphere is tense in Belém, Brazil, where COP30 is about to end. Negotiations continued late into the night on Saturday, November 22, in a fierce struggle to finalize an agreement, after two chaotic weeks of summits in the Amazon. The goal is to find a way to make up for lost time in the fight against carbon pollution, support climate change adaptation in poor countries, and demonstrate the viability of multilateralism in a fractured world. A closing session is scheduled for 10:00 AM (2:00 PM Paris time), but the time could change. Follow our live coverage.
The European Union is considering a summit ending “without an agreement.” Several countries, including France, condemned the omission of any mention of the role of fossil fuels in climate change. “We’re at an impasse. What’s clear is that Europeans are going to be isolated,” a delegation from a European country told several media outlets, including franceinfo. Since dawn on Friday, nations have been arguing in Belém over a text from the Brazilian presidency that no longer contains the word “fossils.”
Photo Sipa /Eraldo Peres
Turkey and Australia have agreed on the division of labor for COP31. COP31 will be held from November 9 to 20, 2026, in Antalya, a resort city on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Australia will be the “chair of the negotiations” and will have a vice-chair, while the formal title of COP31 president will go to Turkey. The arrangement, which has been approved by the regional group to which both nations belong, still needs to be ratified by all the nations gathered in Belém for COP31.
‘Stop Climate Sabotage’ stickers on road signs. In France, activists have affixed flames to road signs in at least 24 French departments to denounce the sabotage of climate negotiations by leaders of wealthy nations and the fossil fuel industry, reports the Non-Violent Action COP21 movement.
