Following a dramatic fire and evacuation yesterday afternoon, negotiations restarted and continued into the night, with the COP30 presidency putting out a series of draft texts, including the main “Mutirão” cover decision at 3am local time. What’s most contentious is what’s not in them.
There are no roadmaps for transitioning away from fossil fuels or for halting deforestation, as called for by Brazil’s president and around half of countries.
Because of these omissions and concerns on finance, a group of 29 countries – from Europe, Latin America and small islands – wrote a joint letter to the Brazilian COP presidency expressing their “deep concern” over what they call “a take it or leave it” proposal.
“The legacy of the Presidency in making COP30 a milestone moment will depend on the quality – rather than the speed – of the outcome,” they wrote, adding “a weak text would be remembered as a missed and regrettable opportunity and would undermine the credibility of the process, of the Presidency and of the [climate] regime itself”.
They added that they are “concerned by emerging narratives suggesting that ambitious countries are slowing progress” and “the challenge arises when a package that omits essential elements is presented with the expectation of unconditional acceptance, reflecting only what is acceptable to a limited few”.
They call for the Presidency to submit a revised proposal and not ask them to “accept only what the least ambitious are willing to allow”. EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said the text was “no way close to the ambition we need on mitigation” and “we are disappointed with the text currently on the table”.
All governments are scheduled to gather for a plenary meeting around 10 or 11am, where fireworks are likely.
Vague goal to triple adaptation finance included
The draft text does include a “call for efforts” for developed countries to triple adaptation finance compared to 2025 levels by 2030 and “urges” developed countries to “increase the trajectory” of their adaptation finance.
But it has no numbers attached to it and the EU’s climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said that that the EU is “willing to be ambitious on adaptation, but we would like to make clear that any language on finance should squarely be within the commitment reached last year on the [New Collective Quantified Goal on finance agreed at COP29]”.
The tripling idea emanated from the Least Developed Countries in Bonn in June and was later picked up by other developing countries. With indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation being negotiated in a separate room, developing countries have argued that deciding on metrics to measure adaptation has little point if developed countries are not going to properly fund it.
“Calls” is the same verb used in the COP26 pledge – which is off track – for developed countries to double adaptation finance by 2025. “Calls” is one of the softer verbs used in climate talks, weaker than “instructs”, “urges”, “invites” or “encourages”.
And the baseline – and lack of a quantitative target – will likely raise concerns. Developing countries want a tripling from the amount of adaptation finance developed countries should be providing in 2025, which would be an increase from at least $40bn to $120bn a year.
If calculated from actual 2025 adaptation finance levels, analysis by CARE and Oxfam suggests that is likely to be around $25 billion, though exact figures will not be available until 2027. Using that baseline rather than the 2025 goal could shave about $50 billion a year off what developing countries can expect in 2030, which will not meet rapidly rising needs amid worsening droughts, floods, storms and heatwaves.
Tricky issues of trade, finance and emissions cuts covered
The ‘Mutirao’ text covers the contentious issues which competing negotiating blocks tried, and failed, to get on the COP agenda. It proposes outcomes including new initiatives, talks and calls – but nothing concrete and significant.
On emissions-cutting ambition – a small island and EU priority – the text proposes the creation of a “Global Implementation Accelerator” and a “Belem Mission to 1.5” – both aimed at helping countries improve their climate action. Governments are also “encourage[d]” to strengthen their existing NDC climate plans “at any time with a view to
enhancing its level of ambition”.
On finance – a developing country priority – the text “decides” to scale up finance for developing countries and “calls for enhanced efforts” to meet the COP29 promise to triple annual outflows of funds like the Green Climate Fund. And it promises a “roundtable” of senior ministers on how they’re meeting the finance goal decided at COP29.
On the nexus between trade and climate – an emerging economy priority to discuss – it requests three annual dialogues at the June Bonn sessions. An African trade negotiator told Climate Home News it was “a start” but disappointing that there is not a “full COP item on it”. “It’s like they want to kill it but in a polite way,” the negotiator said.
The post COP30 Bulletin Day 11: Countries revolt as new text leaves out fossil fuel roadmap appeared first on Climate Home News.
COP30 Bulletin Day 11: Countries revolt as new text leaves out fossil fuel transition roadmap
The nonprofit said in a new report that pipeline company Energy Transfer reported hundreds of oil spills to federal regulators in recent years, among other incidents.
The environmental nonprofit Greenpeace was under the microscope in a North Dakota trial this year. Now the organization is calling attention to the environmental impacts of the pipeline company that brought it to court and won a $345 million judgment.
Greenpeace Scrutinizes the Environmental Record of the Company That Sued the Group
Climate Change
Wisconsin Tribes Have Helped the Lake Sturgeon Recover. Climate Change Is Stressing Its Ability to Adapt.
The ancient, enormous fish have lived on Earth for more than 150 million years but changing weather conditions have researchers questioning whether future generations will thrive.
On a cool October morning, members of the St. Croix Chippewa Tribe gathered at the Clam Lake boat landing in northern Wisconsin, carrying five-gallon buckets of small, wriggling lake sturgeon. After a short prayer calling on their ancestors, they tipped the six-month-old fish—raised in the Tribe’s newly built hatchery—into the lake. It was the Tribe’s first sturgeon release and the latest chapter in one of North America’s great freshwater conservation success stories.
Climate Change
China Briefing 11 December 2025: Winter record looms; Joint climate statement with France; How ‘mid-level bureaucrats’ help shape policy
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing.
China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
Record power and gas demand
DOMESTIC TURBINES: China’s top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), expects both electricity demand and gas demand to hit the “highest level yet recorded in winter”, reported Reuters. Data from a sample of coal plants nevertheless showed a recent drop in output year-on-year. Meanwhile, China has developed a “high-efficiency” gas turbine which will “strengthen[ China’s] power grid with low-carbon electricity”, said state news agency Xinhua. According to Bloomberg, the turbine is the first to have been fully produced in China, helping the country to “reduce reliance on imported technology amid a global shortage of equipment”.
‘SUBDUED’ OIL GROWTH: Chinese oil demand is likely to “remain subdued” until at least the middle of 2026, reported Bloomberg. Next year will see “one of the lowest growth rates in China in quite some time”, said commodities trader Trafigura’s chief economist Saad Rahim, reported the Financial Times. Demand is set to plateau until 2030, according to research linked to “state oil major” CNPC, said Reuters. In the building materials industry, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are “projected to fall by 25%” in 2025 relative to pre-2021 levels, China Building Materials Federation president Yan Xiaofeng told state broadcaster CCTV.
FLAT EMISSIONS GROWTH: China’s CO2 emissions in 2024 grew by 0.6% year-on-year, reported Xinhua, citing the newly released China Greenhouse Gas Bulletin (2024). This represented a “significant narrowing from the 2023 increase and remains below the global average growth rate of 0.8%”, it added. (The bulletin confirms analysis for Carbon Brief published in January, which put China’s 2024 emissions growth at 0.8%.)
China-France climate statements
CLIMATE BONHOMIE: During a visit by French president Emmanuel Macron to China, the two countries signed a joint statement on climate change, reported Xinhua. It published the full text of the statement, which pledged more cooperation on “accelerating” renewables globally, as well as “enhancing communication” in carbon pricing, methane, adaptation and other areas. It also said China and France would support developing countries’ access to climate finance, adding that developed nations will “take the lead in providing and mobilising” this “before 2035”, while encouraging developing countries to “voluntarily contribute”.
MORE COOPERATION: China and France issued separate statements on “nuclear energy” cooperation, Xinhua reported, as well as on expanding cooperation on the “green economy”, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
EU’s new ‘economic security’ package
NEW PLANS, SAME TOOLS: Meanwhile, the EU has issued new plans to “boost EU resilience to threats like rare-earth shortages”, said Reuters, including an “economic security doctrine” that would encourage “new measures…designed to counter unfair trade and market distortions, including overcapacity”. A second plan on critical minerals will “restrict exports of [recyclable] rare-earth waste and battery scrap” to shore up supplies for “electric cars, wind turbines and semiconductors”, according to another Reuters article. Euractiv characterised the policy package as a “reframing of existing tools and plans”.
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‘NOT VERY CREDIBLE’: EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told the Financial Times that the latest push against the bloc’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which the outlet said is “led by China, India and Saudi Arabia”, was “not very credible”. A “GT Voice” comment in the state-supporting Global Times said the CBAM exposed a dilemma around the “absence of a globally accepted, transparent and equitable standard for measuring carbon footprints”. It called CBAM a “pioneering step”, but said climate efforts needed “greater international coordination, not unilateral enforcement”.
FIRST REVIEW: The EU has undertaken its first “formal review” of the tariffs placed on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), assessing a price undertaking offer submitted by Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture, reported SCMP. Chinese EVs – including both hybrid and pure EVs – saw their “second-best month on record” in October, with sales coming down slightly from September’s peak, said Bloomberg.
More China news
- ECONOMIC SIGNALS: At the central economic work conference, held in Beijing on 10-11 December, President Xi Jinping said China would adhere to the “dual-carbon” goals and promote a “comprehensive green transition”, reported Xinhua.
- EFFORTS ‘INTENSIFIED’: Ahead of the meeting, premier Li Qiang also noted earlier that energy conservation and carbon reduction efforts must be “intensified”, according to the People’s Daily.
- JET FUEL: A major jet fuel distributor is being acquired by oil giant Sinopec, which could “risk slowing [China’s] push to decarbonise air travel”, reported Caixin.
- SLOW AND STEADY: An article in the People’s Daily said China’s energy transition is “not something that can be achieved overnight”.
- ‘ECO-POLICE’: China’s environment ministry published a draft grading system for “atmospheric environmental performance in key industries”, including assessment of “significant…carbon emission reduction effects”, noted International Energy Net. China will also set up an “eco-police” mechanism in 2027, China Daily said.
- INNOVATION INITIATIVE: The National Energy Administration issued a call for the “preliminary establishment of a new energy system that is clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient” in the next five years, reported BJX News. The plan also noted: “Those who take the lead in [energy technology] innovation will gain the initiative.”
Spotlight
Interview: How ‘mid-level bureaucrats’ are helping to shape Chinese climate policy
Local officials are viewed as relatively weak actors in China’s governance structure.
However, a new book – “Implementing a low-carbon future: climate leadership in Chinese cities” – argues that these officials play an important role in designing innovative and enduring climate policy.
Carbon Brief interviews author Weila Gong, non-resident scholar at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy’s 21st Century China Center and visiting scholar at UC Davis, on her research.
Below are highlights from the conversation. The full interview is published on the Carbon Brief website.
Carbon Brief: You’ve just written a book about climate policy in Chinese cities. Could you explain why subnational governments are important for China’s climate policy in general?
Weila Gong: China is the world’s largest carbon emitter [and] over 85% of China’s carbon emissions come from cities.
We tend to think that officials at the provincial, city and township levels are barriers for environmental protection, because they are focused on promoting economic growth.
But I observed these actors participating in China’s low-carbon city pilot. I was surprised to see so many cities wanted to participate, even though there was no specific evaluation system that would reward their efforts.
CB: Could you help us understand the mindset of these bureaucrats? How do local-level officials design policies in China?
WG: We tend to focus on top political figures, such as mayors or [municipal] party secretaries. But mid-level bureaucrats [are usually the] ones implementing low-carbon policies.
Mid-level local officials saw [the low-carbon city pilot] as a way to help their bosses get promoted, which in turn would help them advance their own career. As such, they [aimed to] create unique, innovative and visible policy actions to help draw the attention [of their superiors].
They are also often more interested in climate issues if it is in the interest of their agency or local government.
Another motivation is accessing finance [by using] pilot programmes, if their ideas impress the central-level government.
CB: Could you give an example of what drives innovative local climate policies?
WG: National-level policies and pilot programme schemes provide openings for local governments to think about how and whether they should engage more in addressing climate change.
By experiment[ing] with policy at a local level, local governments help national-level officials develop responses to emerging policy challenges.
Local carbon emission trading systems (ETSs) are an example.
One element that made the Shenzhen ETS successful is “entrepreneurial bureaucrats” [who have the ability to design, push through and maintain new local-level climate policies].
Even though we might think local officials are constrained in terms of policy or financial resources, they often have the leverage and space to build coalitions…and know how to mobilise political support.
CB: What needs to be done to strengthen sub-national climate policy making?
WG: It’s very important to have groups of personnel trained on climate policy…[Often] climate change is only one of local officials’ day-to-day responsibilities. We need full-time staff to follow through on policies from the beginning right up to implementation.
Secondly, while almost all cities have made carbon-peaking plans, one area in which the government can make further progress is data.
Most Chinese cities haven’t yet established regular carbon accounting systems, [and only have access to] inadequate statistics. Local agencies can’t always access detailed data [held at the central level]…[while] much of the company-level data is self-reported.
Finally, China will always need local officials willing to try new policy instruments. Ensuring they have the conditions to do this is very important.
Watch, read, listen
BREAKNECK SPEED: In a conversation with the Zero podcast, tech analyst Dan Wang outlined how an “engineering mindset” may have given China the edge in developing clean-energy systems in comparison to the US.
QUESTION OF CURRENCY: Institute of Finance and Sustainability president Ma Jun and Climate Bonds Initiative CEO Sean Kidney examined how China’s yuan-denominated loans can “ease the climate financing crunch” in the South China Morning Post.
DRIVING CHANGE: Deutsche Welle broadcast a report on how affordable cleantech from China is accelerating the energy transition in global south countries.
EXPOSING LOOPHOLES: Economic news outlet Jiemian investigated how a scandal involving the main developer of pumped storage capacity in China revealed “regulatory loopholes” in constructing such projects.
$180 billion
The amount of outward direct investment Chinese companies have committed to cleantech projects overseas since 2023, according to a new report by thinktank Climate Energy Finance.
New science
- A new study looking at battery electric trucks across China, Europe and the US showed they “can reach 27-58% reductions in lifecycle CO2 emissions compared with diesel trucks” | Nature Reviews Clean Technology
- “Shortcomings remain” in China’s legal approach to offshore carbon capture, utilisation and storage, such as a lack of “specialised” legal frameworks | Climate Policy
China Briefing is written by Anika Patel and edited by Simon Evans. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org
The post China Briefing 11 December 2025: Winter record looms; Joint climate statement with France; How ‘mid-level bureaucrats’ help shape policy appeared first on Carbon Brief.
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