by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
BELÉM, BRAZIL (Worthy News) – Tens of thousands of climate change delegates have failed to bring down the curtain over the use of oil and natural gas amid opposition from some countries led by Saudi Arabia, as well as the United States.
Those attending the 30th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as Conference of the Parties (COP30), also underdelivered on hopes to end deforestation.
The conference held in the Amazon hadn’t exactly given a good example: A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest was built for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém.
Trend Asia, an Indonesian civil society organization focused on energy transition, recorded 317 private-jet landings from delegates, including one flying just 28 kilometers (17.3 miles) to reach the destination.
“Private jets emit up to 14 times more CO₂ per passenger than commercial flights, making them the most polluting way to travel. This clearly contradicts the climate goals of COP30, which are meant to protect the planet,” Trend Asia stressed.
MULTILATERALISM UNDER STRAIN
However, despite these controversies and the U.S. government not sending delegates, those attending the gathering showed that there was still hope, suggested Simon Stiell, the U.N. climate chief. “We knew this Cop would take place in stormy political waters,” he said after an extended and occasionally angry final plenary at the climate summit. “Denial, division, and geopolitics have dealt international cooperation some heavy blows this year.”
However, Cop30 showed that “climate cooperation is alive and kicking”, Stiell claimed in an apparent reference to President Donald J. Trump, who has called the climate crisis a “hoax” and a “con job.”
Trump has come to embody the opposition to progress on dealing with what climate change activists view as “dangerous global heating.”
Stiell said, “I’m not saying we’re winning the climate fight. But we are undeniably still in it, and we are fighting back. Here in Belém, nations chose unity, science, and economic common sense.”
He noted that this year there had been “a lot of attention on one country” stepping back, again pointing to the U.S. “But amid the gale-force political headwinds, 194 countries stood firm in solidarity – rock solid in support of climate cooperation.”
INDIGENOUS FOREST PROTECTION
He highlighted one section of the COP30 agreement: “The global transition towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development is irreversible and the trend of the future.” Stiell added: “This is a political and market signal that cannot be ignored.”
Brazil seized the moment to showcase its environmental agenda, announcing the demarcation of 10 new Indigenous territories covering nearly 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers).
Officials also confirmed that roughly one-fifth of the country’s new tropical-forest fund will go directly to Indigenous communities tasked with protecting the Amazon.
Yet the move did little to lift spirits among negotiators frustrated that COP30 failed to produce any agreement on phasing out fossil fuels — a central demand for many nations.
Tensions rose further when a fire broke out at the venue on November 20, forcing evacuations and delaying the talks at a critical moment.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest Stories from Worthy News
In one of the most sweeping crackdowns on underground Christianity in recent years, Chinese authorities have formally arrested 18 leaders of the Beijing Zion Church, according to the Christian rights organization ChinaAid. The arrests finalize detentions that began in early October as part of a multi-province operation targeting unregistered Christian groups.
Israel has approved a multi-year plan to bring roughly 5,800 members of India’s Bnei Menashe community to the country by 2030, the government announced Sunday, calling the move both strategic and demographic in significance.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the United States has reaffirmed its pledge to preserve Israel’s strategic edge in the Middle East, even as President Donald Trump advances a controversial sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may have lost its high-profile founder, Elon Musk, but its mission is still running inside the federal bureaucracy, according to Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor.
A federal judge on Monday dismissed criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the cases — Lindsey Halligan — was never lawfully appointed to serve as interim U.S. attorney.