It started with hope that this could be the moment we finally did something about the climate crisis, says the environment correspondent Damien Gayle, who has been reporting from the world’s biggest climate conference, Cop30.
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This hope wasn’t unfounded: two years ago, almost 200 countries at the Cop28 summit agreed to a deal that for the first time called on all countries to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change.
Speaking before the conference, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said the world needed “roadmaps that will enable humankind … to overcome its dependence on fossil fuels”.
But, when this year’s deal at the UN summit in Brazil finally came on Saturday night – in a process that had to be rescued by last-ditch talks running into the early morning – for many this hope was shattered. The final deal never even mentioned the words “fossil fuels”.
Activists say the agreement is not nearly enough to save the planet – which is still on track for a catastrophic 2.6C increase in temperature, two major reports this month found – while governments around the world are ramping up coal, gas and oil extraction that will put climate goals beyond reach.
Why did this happen – and what hope should we keep? Watch @damiengayle explain more, and head to the link in bio to read Genevieve Guenther, the founding director of End Climate Silence, on why we shouldn’t give into despair just yet.
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