(VOVWORLD) -At the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30), currently taking place in the city of Belém, Brazil, 80 countries supported Brazil’s proposal to negotiate a “roadmap” for the gradual phase-out of fossil fuels.
The number of countries calling for more ambitious negotiations to address this primary cause of climate change has risen significantly in recent days. This was evident at a press conference on Tuesday that was attended by ministers from Colombia, Spain, the UK, Kenya, Germany, Sweden, and Norway.
Ed Miliband, the UK’s Minister of State for Energy Security, said this issue must be at the center of discussions, and Colombia’s Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said that the topic has been avoided at many previous COP summits and now is the time to finally act.
At COP28 in Dubai, the international community addressed for the first time the need to “transition away” from fossil fuels, but did not specify how or when this should be done. During the opening session of COP30 Brazilian President Lula da Silva introduced the idea of developing a roadmap and identified it as a top priority on the agenda.