The Indigenous protests and fire in the Blue Zone acted as metaphors for a disruptive and dysfunctional final agreement at COP30, which arrived late on Saturday (22 November).
The final agreement was divisive, with the COP30 President trying to gavel the deal through, only to be met with various rejections and objections from nations. What was eventually passed will be viewed as disappointing by many nations and green groups.
One of the key aspects still to be decided is whether the traditional COP model can still implement climate action in a fractured and divided global economy.
This divide led to notable exclusions from the final text, but some notable achievements were delivered in Brazil, ranging from a new Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), to a Just Transition Working Mechanism.
The fallout and voluntary roadmaps from this COP will rumble on, but here edie rounds up the top ten biggest stories from Belem.
1) Gavel comes down on 'global' agreement on Saturday evening
The COP organising team published a fresh round of texts on Saturday morning (22 November) after drafts published on Friday were not accepted by consensus. COP30 President tried to pass the amends swiftly, but as the gavel came down on the agreement, nations including Panama, Colombia, Uruguay, the EU, Argentina and Chile. Sierra Leone and Switzerland also voiced criticisms. As such the plenary was suspended.
Despite impassioned rejections from those nations, the plenary resumed at 6pm UK time, with the Presidency confirming that the gavelled agreement had been passed, without further changes, following "extensive consultation".
Corea do Lago said mistakes in the process were "not going to be repeated".
The 'Mutirão' that was passed makes no reference to fossil fuels (more on that below). It also stresses the importance of accelerated climate action, acknowledging in no uncertain terms that the world is set to significantly breach the Paris Agreement's warming pathways.
It "recalls with concern" historic gaps in wealthy, high-emission nations' plans to reduce emissions and support the most-impacted regions with climate adaptation.
It also states that the remaining carbon budget is "now small and being rapidly depleted", meaning that "deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions" are needed.
Nations "resolve decisively to transition to a focus on the implementation of the Paris Agreement", states the text.
Read our full coverage of the final agreement here.
2) Fossil fuel roadmap to be taken outside of UN process
The biggest talking point during COP28 in Dubai was whether nations would agree to 'phase down' or 'phase out' fossil fuels. They ultimately agreed to pursue a 'transition away' from fossil fuels.
With global energy system emissions still rising and national climate plans still lacking, Brazilian environment minister Marina Silva sought to rally nations around a new roadmap, detailing how the transition would be delivered.
She received strong support. More than 80 nations offered their backing, from small island developing states to significant economies like China and the UK. Almost three-dozen of these nations said on Friday that they would not leave the COP without the inclusion of the roadmap in the final agreed texts.
Support also came from all manner of non-state actors including businesses, nature NGOs and healthcare professionals.
The roadmap faced opposition from the outset, with nations such as Saudi Arabia and a coalition of African nations affirming they would veto any mention of fossil fuel transitions in the final texts.
There is no mention of fossil fuels in the final agreement, but Cop president André Correa do Lago insisted that roadmaps would be created on fossil fuels and deforestation.
"Youth and civil society will demand us to do more to fight climate change. I will try not to disappoint you during my presidency. I will create two roadmaps; one on halting and reversing deforestation and the other to transition away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner," Correa do Lago said.
These would likely sit outside of the UNFCCC official processes, and Colombia and the Netherlands are jointly hosting the First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in April, in Colombia next year.
3) Deforestation roadmap also omitted from final agreement
Alongside fossil fuels, a roadmap to halt deforestation this decade was also left out of the texts.
The COP Presidency has committed to introducing such a roadmap separately, despite it being something that has already agreed upon, via the Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022.
Brazil had been pushing for nations to support a new roadmap detailing measures to halt deforestation by 2030. This had been backed by more than 44 countries but is not mentioned in the final Mutirão.
The text "emphasises the importance of conserving, protecting and restoring nature and ecosystems towards achieving the Paris Agreement... including through efforts towards halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030".
There has been plenty of initiatives and financial mechanisms that will support efforts to reduce deforestation and protect biodiversity, but not having the overarching roadmap has caused frustration amongst green groups and delegates in Brazil.
4) Forest conservation finance pledges fell short of Brazil's $25bn target
One of Brazil's key aims going into the COP was attracting funding for the new Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), which will provide predictable, long-term investment for countries that maintain and manage their tropical forests. Funding will come from public, private and philanthropic sources.
The World Bank agreed to act as a temporary home for the TFFF shortly before the COP began. Also at that time, more than 30 countries stated that they supported the idea in principle. But only a handful committed to paying in before the summit concluded.
Norway pledged $3bn, Germany $1.15bn, Brazil $1bn, Indonesia $1bn and France $577m.
Brazil's longer-term goal is for the TFFF to attract $25bn of public finance commitments and a further $100bn from private and philanthropic finance.
5) Indigenous voices made themselves heard
Around 3,000 people representing Indigenous groups from around the world were on this year's COP delegates list. Around 1,000 were invited into the Blue Zone to take part in official negotiations - 500 from Brazil and 500 from other nations. The defining image of the summit is indisputably that of COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago holding an Indigenous woman's baby, who wears a striking crown of red flowers.
Some Indigenous groups argued the organisers' overall approach to their inclusion in the COP process was not sufficient. They expressed anger and disappointment that, after 30 COPs, their lands are still being damaged by high-carbon and polluting activities like mining, industrial agriculture and fossil fuel extraction.
The main COP entrance had to be closed for several hours on Friday 14 November as more than 100 Indigenous protestors held a peaceful sit-in. They were calling for land demarcation, protection for environmental defenders, direct access to climate finance and stronger requirements for Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
6) AI was on the agenda for the first time
Every COP presidency publishes a thematic agenda, assigning each day (or in Brazil's case, each pair of days) a topic of focus for announcements and side events.
2025 marked the first time that AI was included on this agenda. Similarly, it also covered climate-related misinformation and disinformation, along with more traditional topics like energy and industry.
As the COP began, a new 'Green Digital Action Hub' was unveiled. It aims to coordinate efforts to reduce tech-related emissions and promote more sustainable digital solutions worldwide. It will act as a central resource for expertise and tools, with a particular focus on providing support to emerging and developing nations.
The launch of the Hub comes one year after 82 countries and almost 1,800 other organisations told the UN that it would be valuable and necessary.
7) COP31 and COP32 hosts were confirmed
It has finally been confirmed that Turkey will host next year's COP - but under a very unusual agreement. Australia dropped its rival hosting bid on the grounds that its climate minister, Chris Bowen, could act as summit president. He will be assisted by his Turkish counterpart, Murat Kurum.
Australia is also pushing to host a pre-COP event in the Pacific, to rally countries around a new resilience fund for island nations in the region.
Due to the nature of the UNFCCC process, COPs tend to be bigger every two years. The next 'big one', COP32, will be held in Ethiopian capital Addis Abba, it was confirmed on 11 November.
8) Saudi Arabia torpedoed efforts to join up the climate, biodiversity, and desertification COPs
In an email briefing from a journalist on the ground in Belem, team edie were told that Saudi Arabia had been "playing the role of a pantomime villain" once again.
Renowned for blocking strong language on fossil fuels, the petrostate this year kiboshed efforts to shape a formal agreement for more collaborative multilateral work on the interlinked issues of climate change, biodiversity and land management. These are the three topics the UN holds regular international COPs on, per the Rio Convention of 1992.
Virtually all other nations present agreed on the need for a more joined-up approach, so observers did say there is still hope to build synergies in the future. The next biodiversity COP and desertification COP will take place next year, in Armenia and Mongolia respectively.
9) Donald Trump was criticised on the global stage
US President Donald Trump withdrew the nation from the Paris Agreement at the start of the year. Almost immediately, Bloomberg Philanthropies stepped up to pledge funding for the US's share of the UNFCCC process, while cities and states, alongside businesses, quickly adopted the "we are still in" mantle once more.
Trump's climate nihilism weighed on the minds of many at COP. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he was "against humanity" and should be "punished" with "oblivion".
No formal US delegation was on the ground in Brazil, but that didn't mean there was no representation at all.
California Governor Gavin Newsom told attendees that he'd allow extra oil and gas extraction offshore in his state "over his dead body". He also called Trump "an invasive species". Also present were former US climate diplomats Todd Stern, Trigg Talley, and Sue Biniaz.
10) The big ag and fossil fuel lobby were given a seat at the table (again)
Each year, Kick Big Polluters out trawls through the delegate list to identify those with fossil fuel interests. It looks for national delegations from petrostates like Saudi Arabia, as well as representatives for businesses and trade bodies in coal, oil, ga,s and carbon capture.
Around 1,600 COP30 attendees met this definition of a fossil fuel lobbyist. While the absolute number was lower than COP29 or COP28, the proportion - one in 25 attendees - was higher. No country sent more than 1,600 representatives aside from host Brazil.
"It's common sense that you cannot solve a problem by giving power to those who caused it," said Kick Big Polluters Out campaigner Jax Bongon.
The group also tracked the number of attendees representing the industrial agriculture industry, which accounts for at least one-fifth of global annual emissions. It counted 302, a 14% year-over-year increase in absolute numbers.
The Amazonian Work Group said the agribusiness lobby at COP is "now blatant", with some of history's biggest polluters now sponsoring summit features.