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COP30 Opens in Brazil With Urgent Calls for Action as U.S. Backs Away From Paris

U.S. retrenchment from Paris leaves a tougher path to clinching commitments on fossil fuels, forests, finance.

Overview

  • Talks opened in Belém with appeals for a collective “mutirão” push, launching two weeks of negotiations with representatives from roughly 170 countries and tens of thousands of attendees through Nov. 21.
  • The Trump administration skipped senior-level participation and is withdrawing again from the Paris Agreement, a move small island states and former U.S. envoys say undercuts unity and bargaining power.
  • Brazil’s Lula urged delegates to “defeat the deniers” and accelerate decarbonization, even as his government faces scrutiny for authorizing new Amazon oil extraction.
  • Negotiators are centering debates on phasing out fossil fuels, setting adaptation metrics, and securing long-term climate finance, with developing nations pressing for pathways toward roughly $1.3 trillion annually.
  • The EU arrived with a 2040 emissions-cut target of 90% versus 1990 that includes carbon-credit flexibilities, and Brazil is promoting a Tropical Forests Fund targeting about $125 billion that has already drawn early multi‑billion‑dollar pledges.