The UNFCCC COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, ended without any mention of fossil fuels, after oil-producing countries Russia and Saudi Arabia blocked a deal to phase out coal, oil, and gas. India joined the naysayers, while the European Union (EU) and the UK made a strong pitch for a transition roadmap.

Some 80 countries supported the EU and UK’s initiative, but during negotiations, the proposal stalled due to opposition from petrostates.

After the summit, the EU delegation said, “At COP30, despite our persistent efforts and the European Parliament’s clear mandate on mitigation and the phase-out of fossil fuels, we faced a unified BRICS–Arab front and a Presidency unwilling to match our level of ambition, and we must regret that the final outcome did not go further.”

The U.S. stayed away from the Summit.

Among the outcomes of the summit were the decisions, albeit with no mandatory pathways, to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 for climate action and double adaptation finance by 2025 and triple it by 2035.

At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, developing countries slammed the $300 billion-a-year climate finance target by 2035, saying it falls well short of their $1.3 trillion demand.

The summit proposed setting up a two-year program to discuss climate finance issues, including Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which mandates that developed country parties provide financial resources to assist developing countries with climate change mitigation and adaptation.

India, which led a group of countries including China and Saudi Arabia, emphasized that reducing greenhouse gas emissions was primarily the responsibility of developed nations. It appreciated the efforts of the summit Presidency in supporting India in beginning the journey towards a long-overdue focus on Article 9.1.

The agreement also acknowledged the concerns of India and China on unilateral climate change response measures taken by countries. “Measures taken to combat climate change, including unilateral ones, should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade,” it said.

India said these measures are increasingly affecting all developing countries and violate the principles of equity and the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities enshrined in the Convention and its Paris Agreement. It stressed that these issues cannot continue to be brushed under the carpet, adding that the parties have made a beginning here to reverse this trend.

India and China have consistently raised concerns about the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a premium on imported goods based on their embedded greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council has recommended to the European Commission that solar products be brought under the CBAM’s ambit, as they rely heavily on carbon-intensive materials such as aluminum and steel, which are already covered by the carbon tariff measure.