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Brazil’s climate chief, Marina Silva, has urged every country to demonstrate the courage needed to address the imperative of a global transition away from fossil fuels, labeling the development of a detailed plan as an “ethical” answer to the global warming emergency.

The minister stressed, though, that participation in this process would be voluntary and “self-determined” for willing nations.

The topic remains one of the most debated matters at the UN climate summit in the host country, with nations split over if and in what way such a strategy can be discussed. Hosting the event, the nation has maintained a balanced position on what can be placed on the official agenda.

Silva voiced approval for the possibility of a plan, though not explicitly committing the country to it. She stated: “When we have a terrain that is quite grim, it is helpful that we have a map. But the map does not compel us to proceed, or to advance.”

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

Dozens of countries meeting in Belém for the UN climate summit, which is entering its next phase, are aiming to establish how a worldwide phaseout of oil, gas, and coal could work. They aim to advance a landmark resolution reached two years ago at COP28 to “transition away from fossil fuels.”

That commitment lacked a schedule or specifics on the way it could be achieved, and although it was adopted unanimously, some nations have since attempted to back away from the promise. Attempts last year to expand on its real-world implications were stymied by resistance from petrostates at COP29.

As a result, there was no mention of the transition away from carbon fuels in the outcome of COP29.

For these reasons, the host has been cautious of calls by certain nations to include the transition on the schedule for COP30. But Silva has strived in private to ensure the topic could be talked about at the conference outside the official agenda.

The minister won over the nation's leader, and he gave public reference repeatedly to the need to “shift from reliance on fossil fuels” at the global leaders' meeting that preceded the conference, and at the start of the summit.

“The issue is something that we understand at some point had to be raised, because it is the sole way to address the issue from the root,” Marina Silva said. “We acknowledge that it is challenging, and we must not sell unrealistic expectations. Bringing up the topic is brave, and I wish [to see] this bravery from all, from producers and consumers.”

The nation had not started the call for a transition, she said, because that had been initiated at the earlier summit. Rather, it was allowing the talks to occur in line with what certain nations wished. “We understand these subjects are delicate. We will give the chance to talk about it,” she said.

There is not enough time at the summit to draw up a roadmap, a task Silva called could take several years because numerous countries faced complicated issues around reliance on fossil fuels, or wanted to use the revenue from selling fossil fuels to finance their economic growth.

“Brazil raises the topic, because it is simultaneously a producing nation and consumer,” the minister noted. “But the nation is different, because Brazil, if it chooses to, does not have to rely on fossil fuels. We have to recognise that there are some that depend on carbon energy in their economic systems and don’t have simple alternatives, and others where fossil fuels are the basis of their economic structure.

“To be just is to be just to all, but the fundamental, primordial justice is to avoid being unjust to the planet, because it is our shared home.”

If the proposal gains sufficient support, COP30 could set up a forum in which the process of creating a roadmap to the transition could start.

The endeavor would require discussions with every participating countries to the UN framework convention on climate change and criteria for how the initiative would proceed, Silva said. “Once we have standards, a management framework can be developed; after we have a strategy, and create protections to be able to establish trust in the process, I believe that with these elements we can transform positive concepts into actions that are clearer, and more concrete.”

It is uncertain that a suggestion to begin drawing up a roadmap would win approval at the conference, although it may not need the official approval of the conference, which proceeds by unanimous agreement and can be disrupted by special interests. Climate analysts have suggested they believe there could be backing for such a proposal from about 60 countries, but there are believed to be at least forty against. There are 195 countries participating at the talks.

“In spite of being the primary source of climate change, fossil fuels are about the most divisive subject there is within the UN negotiations, so to see a chunky group of nations publicly backing a path to achieving worldwide phaseout is in itself pretty groundbreaking.”

“In simple terms, there’s no route to a world where warming stays below 1.5 degrees in which nations cannot to talk about fossil fuel phaseout.”

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

Negotiations carried on on the weekend on several unresolved topics that have still not been incorporated into the official schedule: commerce, openness, finance and how to tackle the gap between the emissions cuts countries have proposed and those required to keep to the 1.5C warming target.

A summit chair pledged a “document” that would cover these issues, after consultations – which have been underway since the start of the week – were unresolved. The official urged countries to embrace the “mutirão” attitude, referring to one of cooperation and constructive discussion.

Work on additional key topics – including adaptation to the impacts of the climate crisis, the fair shift for those impacted by the move to a green economy and how to build governance capabilities in less developed nations – carried on constructively, the host reported.

Brazil’s chief negotiator stated the technical phase of the COP proceedings was nearing the end, and the political phase – when ministers who have the authority to alter their countries’ positions arrive – was beginning.