Wealthy countries should triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal

The world edged a small step closer to the end of the fossil fuel era on Saturday, but not by nearly enough to stave off the ravages of climate breakdown.

Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase-out of fossil fuels, and they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries.

Three representatives of developing countries speak candidly about meetings behind closed doors in Belém

In the negotiating rooms at the Cop30 climate conference, representatives from vulnerable countries work to get the best deal they can. Here, three of them reveal what happens behind closed doors.