During the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), dozens of countries called for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels.
Media reports from yesterday (19th November) revealed almost 20 ministers from more than 80 countries had called for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, with Germany, Kenya, Sweden, Ireland, and the UK among those backing the proposal.
This year, the leading climate conference is taking place in Belém, Brazil, and is due to close tomorrow (Friday, 21st November).
Before the summit finishes, UK energy secretary Ed Miliband stressed during a speech that decisive action is needed, and he outlined three key pathways that should ‘begin the day after Belém.’
First, he argued, ‘we need to show our will to go further and faster to [keep] warming to 1.5 degrees, because that is what it means to uphold [the Paris Agreement].’
Second, he called for clarity on climate finance, referencing a commitment of $300 billion by 2035 – previously agreed at COP29 – and plans to scale up.
Finally, Miliband insisted that nations ‘must build on the presidency’s ideas for a pathway to a transition away from fossil fuels, because there is no answer to the climate crisis without action on this issue.’
However, the first draft of the COP30 agreement remained vague and only briefly mentioned the roadmap to help countries ‘progressively overcome their dependency on fossil fuels.’ The draft also referenced a separate roadmap – the Belém Roadmap to 1.5 – which is intended to address the gap between climate pledges and actual implementation.
The UN’s latest emissions gap report warns that under current policies, global temperatures are on track to rise by 2.8°C.
Jasper Inventor, deputy programme director at Greenpeace International, welcomed the recognition of the ‘ambition gap’ in the roadmap, but said this ‘should not be a roadmap to nowhere…we need action plans.’
He added: ‘This does not provide a roadmap to end forest destruction and is too weak on fossil fuels. Calling for countries to progressively overcome their dependency on fossil fuels and develop roadmaps towards halting and reversing deforestation, fails to add timelines or go far enough in keeping the 1.5°C solution in sight.’
The Climate Action Network (CAN) criticised the draft for not matching the scale of the ambition gap, and they have called for a unified roadmap by COP32 to deliver ‘a just, equitable and orderly transition away from fossil fuels to renewables.’
A revised draft of the COP30 agreement was due on 19th November, but by the end of Wednesday it remained unpublished for countries’ perusal.
Commenting on Ed Miliband’s speech, Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said the UK likes to appear ‘all in on climate action, but strong words without concrete plans for how the government will live up to them does nothing for people or our planet.’
‘From the podiums the UK claims it’s a climate champion, but in the negotiation room it’s blocking cooperation on delivering the Belém Action Mechanism, needed to deliver a fair and just transition at the international level,’ Rehman continued.
‘Ed Miliband rightly criticised the forces of climate denialism, but just as deadly are the politics of delay at this most critical time. What’s needed in these halls is the understanding that fairness goes hand in hand with the need for urgency.’
COP30 first launched on 10th November and our sister title, Environment Journal, has been reporting on the key developments.
Image: Shutterstock
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