Sawt Falasteen - COP30 deal under threat as nations clash over fossil fuels

After nearly two weeks of negotiations in the Amazonian city of Belem, the draft text unveiled by COP30 host Brazil on Friday made no mention of "fossil fuels" or the word "roadmap" that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had himself publicly supported.

"What is now on the table is unacceptable. And given that we're so far away from where we should be, it's unfortunate to say, but we're really facing a no-deal scenario," European Union climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters.

More than 30 countries -- including wealthy nations, emerging economies and small island states -- had warned in a letter to Brazil that they would reject any deal that did not include a plan to move away from fossil fuels.

France's ecological transition minister, Monique Barbut, told AFP that oil-rich Russia and Saudi Arabia, along with coal producer India and "many" emerging countries, were blocking a deal on fossil fuels.

German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said the latest draft "cannot remain as it is" and warned that "negotiations will be tough", with only hours to go before COP30 officially ends.

Colombia's Environment Minister Irene Velez Torres on Friday said COP30 "cannot end" without a fossil fuel roadmap.

"We have the moral responsibility to echo the people's demands for climate justice and for the elimination of fossil fuels," she said.

Consensus is needed among the nearly 200 nations at the UN climate talks to land an agreement.

NGOs also rejected the draft deal, with Greenpeace urging nations to send it back to the Brazilian chair for revisions.

"Hopes were raised by initial proposals for roadmaps both to end deforestation and fossil fuels... but these roadmaps have disappeared," said Greenpeace climate politics expert Tracy Carty.

- Money fight -

Divisions remain not just over fossil fuels but trade measures and finance for poorer nations to adapt to climate change and move to a low-carbon future.

"The lack of finance from richer nations... remains an ongoing obstacle in these final days to securing bold and fair outcomes," Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told AFP.

The EU is also fighting resistance led by China and India to its "carbon tax" on imports such as steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizers -- measures Britain and Canada are also preparing to adopt.

Bronwen Tucker, public finance lead at advocacy group Oil Change International, called the latest draft text "outrageous."

"The Presidency has presented a shamefully weak text that fails to mention fossil fuels, fails to deliver accountability towards rich countries' finance obligations, and only makes vague promises on adaptation," Tucker said.

Negotiations toward a final outcome were delayed on Thursday when a fire torched a hole through the fabric ceiling of the COP30 venue, forcing a panicked evacuation.

Nineteen people were treated for smoke inhalation and two for anxiety attacks, officials said. The venue reopened later on Thursday night.

The conference is supposed to end on Friday but UN climate summits often run into overtime.

- Protests -

Lula has branded COP30 the "COP of truth," investing significant political capital in its success and defending his choice to hold it in Belem, despite concerns over inadequate infrastructure that have plagued the hot, humid city on the edge of the world's largest rainforest.

The fire was the third major incident since the summit began at the COP30 compound.

Last week, Indigenous protesters stormed the venue and blockaded the entrance days later in a peaceful demonstration.

The cause of the blaze was being investigated but may have been the result of a short circuit or other electrical malfunction, said Brazilian Tourism Minister Celso Sabino.

E.AbuRizq--SF-PST