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The climate chief, the minister, has called on all nations to show the courage needed to confront the imperative of a global transition away from fossil fuels, describing the creation of a detailed plan as an “ethical” response to the climate crisis.

The minister emphasized, however, that involvement in this process would be voluntary and “self-determined” for interested governments.

This issue stands as one of the most contentious matters at the UN climate summit in Brazil, with countries split over whether and in what way such a roadmap can be addressed. As the host, Brazil has adopted a carefully neutral stance on what can be included on the official agenda.

Silva expressed approval for the potential of a plan, without explicitly committing the country to it. The minister stated: “When we have a terrain that is quite grim, it is helpful that we have a guide. But the guide does not force us to travel, or to climb.”

In an interview, the minister noted: “The map is an response to our scientific understanding [of the climate emergency]. It is an moral response.”

Dozens of nations meeting in Belém for the UN climate summit, which is starting its next phase, are aiming to determine how a worldwide transition of fossil fuels could work. They hope to advance a historic resolution reached two years ago at a previous UN summit to “transition away from fossil fuels.”

The pledge had no a timetable or details on how it could be achieved, and even though it was passed by all, some nations have since attempted to back away from the promise. Efforts last year to elaborate on its practical implications were blocked by opposition from oil-dependent nations at COP29.

As a result, there was no mention of the transition away from fossil fuels in the outcome of that conference.

For these reasons, the host has been cautious of demands by some nations to place the transition on the schedule for the current summit. But Silva has strived in private to make sure the pledge could be discussed at the conference outside the formal program.

The minister convinced the nation's president, and he made public reference repeatedly to the need to “move away from dependence on traditional energy” at the global leaders' meeting that came before COP30, and at the start of the summit.

“This is a matter that we know at a certain time had to be put forward, because it is the sole way to face the issue from the root,” the minister explained. “We acknowledge that it is challenging, and we cannot offer unrealistic expectations. Raising the subject is courageous, and I hope [to see] this bravery from all, from producers and consumers.”

The nation had not started the push for a transition, the minister said, because that had been initiated at COP28. Instead, it was allowing the discussions to take place in accordance with what certain nations wished. “We know these topics are delicate. We will provide the chance to discuss it,” she added.

Time is insufficient at COP30 to draw up a roadmap, a process Silva said could take a number of years because many countries confronted complex challenges around reliance on fossil fuels, or aimed to use the proceeds from exporting fossil fuels to finance their development.

“The country raises the topic, because it is both a producer and consumer,” the minister noted. “But Brazil is different, because it, if it wants to, does not have to depend on non-renewables. We have to understand that there are certain nations that rely on carbon energy in their economies and don’t have simple alternatives, and others where oil and gas are the foundation of their economy.

“To be just is to be just to everyone, but the essential, primordial fairness is not being unfair to the planet, because it is our shared home.”

Should the proposal receives sufficient backing, COP30 could set up a platform in which the process of creating a roadmap to the transition could start.

The process would involve discussions with all participating nations to the UN climate treaty and criteria for how the initiative would unfold, the minister said. “After we have criteria, a governance structure can be developed; after we have a strategy, and create safeguards to be able to build confidence in the process, I believe that with these components we can turn positive concepts into actions that are more defined, and more concrete.”

There is no guarantee that a suggestion to start developing a plan would be accepted at the conference, even if it does not require the formal consent of the summit, which proceeds by unanimous agreement and can be disrupted by special interests. COP experts have suggested they believe there could be backing for such a proposal from about 60 countries, but there are thought to be at least forty opposed. There are 195 countries participating at the negotiations.

“In spite of being the root cause of global warming, fossil fuels are about the most divisive topic there is within the UN negotiations, so to see a chunky group of countries publicly backing a path to realizing worldwide phaseout is in itself highly significant.”

“Put simply, there’s no path to a planet where temperature rise remains below 1.5 degrees in which nations aren’t able to discuss ending fossil fuel use.”

“We need this language for real in this discussion. It’s highly illogical that we discuss everything but that when the main issue are the actual challenge.”

Negotiations continued on the weekend on several outstanding issues that have not yet been included into the formal schedule: commerce, transparency, finance and how to tackle the shortfall between the carbon reduction nations have planned and those required to hold to the 1.5-degree temperature target.

A summit chair pledged a “document” that would cover these issues, after discussions – which have been going on since the start of the week – were unresolved. The official urged nations to embrace the “mutirão” spirit, referring to one of collaboration and positive discussion.

Work on additional key issues – such as adaptation to the impacts of the climate crisis, the fair shift for those affected by the transition to a low-carbon economy and how to strengthen institutional capacity in less developed nations – carried on productively, the host said.

The host nation's lead representative said the detailed part of the COP proceedings was approaching completion, and the political stage – when ministers who have the power to change their nations' positions join – was starting.