COP30 Opens in Belém With Tough Talks on Fossil Fuels, Finance and a New Amazon Fund

Overview

• Early financing headline: the Tropical Forests Forever Fund launched with roughly US$5.5 billion in pledges, including US$3 billion from Norway, US$1 billion each from Indonesia and Brazil, and €500 million from France, with 20% directed to Indigenous and traditional communities.
• Negotiations start under procedural strain, with multiple agenda items still lacking consensus and officials working to secure an approved program before formal sessions move into implementation issues.
• Only 109 of 194 parties have filed updated climate targets for 2035, a shortfall that observers say undermines efforts to raise ambition during the conference’s first week.
• Geopolitics weighs on the talks as the United States sent no delegation and other major emitters’ leaders were absent, with separate reporting alleging recent U.S. pressure at the International Maritime Organization to blunt new shipping pollution rules.
• Belém’s limited infrastructure has forced workarounds such as two cruise ships housing more than 10,000 participants, while Brazil draws scrutiny for authorizing offshore oil exploration near the Amazon on the eve of the summit.