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As dawn was breaking the Amazonian city of Belém on Saturday morning, delegates remained trapped in a airless conference room, unaware whether it was day or night. They had been 12 hours in difficult discussions, with numerous ministers representing various coalitions of countries including the least developed nations to the most developed economies.

Patience wore thin, the air thick as sweaty delegates confronted the sobering reality: they would not reach a comprehensive agreement in Brazil. The latest global climate summit faced the brink of complete breakdown.

The central impasse: Fossil fuels

Scientific evidence has shown for more than a century, the CO2 emissions produced by consuming fossil fuels is increasing temperatures on our planet to alarming levels.

Nevertheless, during more than three decades of annual climate meetings, the crucial requirement to halt fossil fuel use has been addressed only once – in a decision made two years ago at Cop28 to "shift from fossil fuels". Officials from the Arab Group, Russia, and a few other countries were determined this would not happen again.

Increasing pressure for change

At the same time, a expanding group of countries were equally determined that movement on this issue was vitally needed. They had formulated a plan that was earning growing support and made it apparent they were ready to hold firm.

Developing countries strongly sought to make progress on securing economic resources to help them cope with the growing impacts of climate disasters.

Critical moment

In the pre-dawn period of Saturday, some delegates were willing to leave and trigger failure. "The situation was precarious for us," commented one energy minister. "I considered to walk away."

The critical development happened through negotiations with Saudi Arabia. Around 6am, principal delegates split from the main group to hold a private conversation with the head Saudi negotiator. They encouraged wording that would subtly reference the global commitment to "transition away from fossil fuels" made two years earlier in Dubai.

Unanticipated resolution

Rather than explicitly referencing fossil fuels, the text would refer to "the previous commitment". Upon deliberation, the Saudi delegation surprisingly agreed to the wording.

Participants expressed relief. Applause rang out. The settlement was completed.

With what became known as the "Amazon accord", the world took another small step towards the phaseout of fossil fuels – a hesitant, insufficient step that will scarcely affect the climate's ongoing trajectory towards disaster. But nevertheless a notable change from complete stagnation.

Major components of the agreement

• Alongside the oblique commitment in the formal agreement, countries will start developing a plan to systematically reduce fossil fuels
• This will be largely a voluntary initiative led by Brazil that will provide updates next year
• Addressing the required reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to stay within the 1.5C limit was likewise deferred to next year
• Developing countries secured a significant expansion to $120bn of yearly funding to help them manage the impacts of environmental crises
• This sum will not be delivered in full until 2035
• Workers will benefit from a "just transition mechanism" to help people working in fossil fuel sectors transition to the sustainable sector

Varied responses

With global conditions approaches the brink of climate "tipping points" that could eliminate habitats and plunge whole regions into crisis, the agreement was far from the "major breakthrough" needed.

"Cop30 gave us some modest progress in the right direction, but considering the severity of the climate crisis, it has not met the occasion," stated one policy director.

This limited deal might have been all that was possible, given the political challenges – including a US president who ignored the talks and remains aligned with oil and coal, the rising tide of rightwing populism, persistent fighting in various areas, extreme measures of inequality, and global economic volatility.

"Fossil fuel corporations – the energy conglomerates – were at last in the focus at the climate summit," notes one climate activist. "There is no turning back on that. The platform is open. Now we must turn it into a real fire escape to a more secure planet."

Major disagreements revealed

Although nations were able to welcome the formal approval of the deal, Cop30 also highlighted deep fissures in the only global process for addressing the climate crisis.

"UN negotiations are agreement-dependent, and in a era of international tensions, agreement is progressively challenging to reach," stated one senior UN official. "I cannot pretend that Cop30 has delivered everything that is needed. The gap between our current position and what evidence necessitates remains alarmingly large."

If the world is to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown, the international negotiations alone will fall far short.