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The environment minister, the minister, has called on every country to show the courage needed to confront the necessity of a worldwide fossil fuel phaseout, labeling the creation of a roadmap as an “ethical” answer to the global warming emergency.

The minister stressed, though, that involvement in this process would be voluntary and “independently decided” for willing governments.

The topic remains one of the most debated subjects at the UN climate summit in the host country, with nations divided over if 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 schedule.

Silva voiced support for the potential of a roadmap, though not directly committing Brazil to it. She remarked: “In times we have a terrain that is quite grim, it is helpful that we have a guide. But the guide does not compel us to travel, or to advance.”

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

Dozens of countries gathered in Belém for the UN climate summit, which is starting its next phase, are seeking to establish how a worldwide phaseout of oil, gas, and coal could be implemented. They hope to build on a historic agreement made two years ago at COP28 to “transition away from fossil fuels.”

That pledge had no a schedule or specifics on how it could be achieved, and even though it was adopted by all, several countries have later tried to back away from the pledge. Attempts last year to expand on its real-world implications were blocked by resistance from petrostates at COP29.

Consequently, there was no mention of the shift away from fossil fuels in the final agreement of that conference.

For these reasons, the host has been wary of demands by some nations to place the phaseout on the schedule for the current summit. But Silva has worked hard in private to make sure the pledge could be discussed at the summit apart from the official agenda.

The minister convinced the nation's leader, who gave public reference repeatedly to the need to “move away from reliance on fossil fuels” at the global leaders' meeting that preceded COP30, and at the start of the summit.

“The issue is something that we understand at a certain time had to be put forward, because it is the only way to address the issue from the root,” the minister explained. “We recognise that it is challenging, and we cannot offer false hopes. Bringing up the subject is courageous, and I wish [to see] this courage from everyone, from producing nations and consumers.”

Brazil had not started the push for a phaseout, she said, because that had been done at COP28. Instead, it was enabling the talks to take place in accordance with what certain countries wished. “We know these subjects are delicate. We will provide the chance to discuss it,” she added.

Time is insufficient at COP30 to create a roadmap, a process Silva called could take several years because numerous nations confronted complex challenges around dependence on fossil fuels, or wanted to use the revenue from selling oil and gas to finance their economic growth.

“Brazil brings up the topic, because it is simultaneously a producing nation and consumer,” she said. “But the nation is different, because it, if it chooses to, need not rely on non-renewables. We have to understand that there are some that depend on carbon energy in their economic systems and lack simple alternatives, and others where fossil fuels are the foundation of their economic structure.

“To be fair is to be just to everyone, but the fundamental, primordial fairness is to avoid being unjust to the Earth, because it is our shared home.”

Should the proposal receives sufficient support, the summit could establish a platform in which the work of drawing up a strategy to the transition could begin.

This process would involve discussions with every participating countries to the UN climate treaty and guidelines for how the initiative would proceed, Silva explained. “Once we have standards, a management framework can be drawn up; once we have a plan, and establish protections to be able to build confidence in the system, I believe that with these elements we can turn positive concepts into steps that are clearer, and more concrete.”

It is uncertain that a proposal to begin drawing up a plan would be accepted at the conference, although it may not need the official approval of the conference, which operates by consensus and can be hijacked by special interests. Climate experts have suggested they believe there could be backing for such a idea from about sixty nations, but there are believed to be at least 40 opposed. There are one hundred ninety-five countries represented at the negotiations.

“In spite of being the primary source of climate change, fossil fuels are about the most contentious subject there is within the international climate talks, so to see a sizable group of nations publicly supporting a route to achieving worldwide phaseout is in itself highly significant.”

“Put simply, there’s no path to a world where temperature rise stays below 1.5C in which nations cannot to discuss fossil fuel phaseout.”

“We require this wording for actual in this conversation. It’s quite stupid that we talk about everything but that when fossil fuels are the actual problem.”

Discussions carried on on Saturday on several unresolved issues that have still not been incorporated into the official agenda: trade, openness, funding and how to address the gap between the carbon reduction nations have proposed and those needed to hold to the 1.5-degree warming target.

A summit president pledged a “document” that would cover these matters, after discussions – which have been going on since Monday – were unresolved. He urged nations to adopt the “mutirão” attitude, referring to one of cooperation and constructive dialogue.

Work on additional key topics – such as adjustment to the effects of the climate emergency, the fair shift for those impacted by the move to a green economic system and how to build institutional capacity in developing countries – proceeded productively, the presidency said.

The host nation's lead representative said the detailed phase of the COP proceedings was nearing completion, and the high-level stage – when government leaders who have the power to alter their countries’ stances arrive – was beginning.