Well, it could have been worse.
This was the first COP to happen after being hollowed out by the absence of a climate-denying United States.
Also, in the shadow of cost-of-living, trade and conflict crises, few governments brought their A-game.
There were fears, too, that the tropical heat and crumbling infrastructure of the Amazon’s seaport, Belem, would result in chaos.
But despite deafening Amazonian downpours drumming on the canvas of the temporary venue and even a fire, the summit concluded its business.
The failure to agree, or even to agree to disagree, on a “roadmap”, a discussion paper, about how best to phase out the use of fossil fuels was a major failure – though absolutely no surprise.
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Miliband: COP process is a nightmare
COPs continue to operate around consensus. Many compromises are made, but just one country can veto a proposal.
In the case of fossil fuels, it was a group of oil producers led by Saudi Arabia that saw to it that even talking about how to move on from oil and gas never made it.
A staggering thought, given this was the first COP to take place in a world that had just experienced a year that was warmer than at any time in modern human history.
But perhaps because of new global realities, this COP did achieve something others have rarely done.
It broke new ground and started important conversations about key issues that had received little attention before.
Like how trade must be aligned with the already rapid transition away from fossil fuels that is under way in many countries.
Also, how critical minerals and access to them must be given similar attention as fossil fuels, given their essential role in building alternative energy sources.
And while a plan to phase out fossil fuels didn’t get “gavelled through”, the conversation has started and it’s not going to stop.
There was progress too on forests – you’d have hoped there would be from a COP surrounded by rainforest – and Brazil‘s centrepiece Tropical Forests Forever Facility managed to win $5.5bn worth of support despite most nations’ coffers being bare.
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Brazil aims to save rainforests
Brazil also brought a quiet but necessary shift in paradigm to the talks.
For a decade, COPs have been dominated by countries like the UK, EU states and, until last year, the US, pressing for change because of the economic and societal opportunities that a green transition will bring.
The host country, rich in forests and indigenous groups who understand better than nearly anyone our economies’ total dependence on nature, argued that action was, instead, a moral imperative.
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“We already possess virtually all the technical solutions for climate change, biodiversity loss, and even pressing social issues,” minister Marina Silva told delegates.
“What is needed is the ethical commitment to apply our technical capabilities and accelerate our political decisions, ensuring we fulfil what we’ve already committed to.”
