“There is an intention to move quickly,” stated Maria da Graça Carvalho at the conclusion of the second day of the high-level segment of the UN climate change conference (COP30).
The Portuguese official mentioned that the COP30 presidency promised to send, on Wednesday, early in the morning or overnight, a document expected to be “very close to the final.”
When asked about one of the most sensitive issues, whether or not to endorse the creation of a roadmap to progressively reduce fossil fuels, a goal defined in the penultimate COP, the minister recalled that Brazilian President Lula da Silva “publicly expressed his desire” for the roadmap to phase out fossil fuels by 2030 to be among the conference’s conclusions.
“We have been waiting for a proposal from the presidency on this matter. And there hasn’t been one yet. There are initiatives from other countries, and I don’t know if they are waiting to see the adherence to these initiatives, which are somewhat peripheral to the negotiation,” Maria da Graça Carvalho stated.
However, for the Portuguese minister, there is a difference between joining a process led by the Presidency and a process currently led by Colombia.
Colombia presented a document named the “Belém Declaration on Ending Fossil Fuels,” advocating for the creation of a roadmap for the gradual cessation of fossil fuels and proposing an international conference in April of the following year to advance this dialogue.
The proposal has reportedly been supported by dozens of countries, but Portugal, while supporting the creation of such a roadmap, has not joined the initiative: “It is different when led by the COP presidency, with all legitimacy and consultations, and thus we were waiting for it to enter the formal negotiation circuit.”
In a statement sent to journalists regarding a potential roadmap for abandoning fossil fuels, the European climate action commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, expressed that it is “positive that this agenda is being advanced.”
“Our energy transition in the EU is steering us away from fossil fuels, which we have done and will continue to do. It is great that others also see merit in this. We hope to build as broad a coalition as possible on this,” he added.
The need for a transition away from fossil fuels was officially mentioned for the first time two years ago at COP28 in Dubai, but it wasn’t clear how or when.
To address this gap, Lula da Silva, at the opening of COP30, proposed the idea of a roadmap. The first draft text presented today by Brazil includes, as one of the options to be negotiated, the creation of a “ministerial roundtable” to support countries in developing these roadmaps to “gradually overcome their dependency on fossil fuels.”
