Cop30 Climate Summit Extends as Countries Clash over Fossil Fuel Phaseout

Brazil’s Cop30 climate summit entered overtime on Friday as nearly 200 nations remained sharply divided over a draft agreement that excludes any call to phase out fossil fuels — a central demand for many countries aiming to curb global warming.

The latest text, released by host Brazil, triggered immediate pushback. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra called the draft «unacceptable», warning that the talks risked ending without a deal.

«What is now on the table is clearly no deal,» he told reporters.

Cop30 President Andre Correa do Lago urged delegates to keep negotiating, saying, «We must reach an agreement between us,» after a tense public plenary session.

The summit’s divisions highlight long-standing tensions around the future of fossil fuels and how to finance a global energy transition. Major oil and gas producers, along with several emerging economies, opposed references to a fossil fuel phaseout in earlier drafts, leading to their removal.

France’s ecological transition minister, Monique Barbut, said Russia, Saudi Arabia, India and «many» emerging economies were blocking progress. But some officials defended the omission, with South Asia’s special envoy Arunabha Ghosh arguing that developing countries must balance climate goals with energy security and jobs dependent on fossil fuel industries.

This year’s summit, held without U.S. participation after President Donald Trump declined to attend, comes as climate activists and Indigenous groups intensify calls for stronger action on fossil fuels — the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Negotiations are set to continue as delegates search for a compromise to avoid a collapse of the talks.