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The environment minister, Marina Silva, has called on every country to show the courage needed to address the imperative of a worldwide transition away from fossil fuels, labeling the creation of a detailed plan as an “moral” answer to the global warming emergency.

She stressed, though, that involvement in this process would be voluntary and “independently decided” for interested governments.

This issue remains one of the most debated subjects at the COP30 in the host country, with countries split over whether and in what way such a strategy can be discussed. Hosting the event, the nation has maintained a carefully neutral stance on what can be placed on the formal schedule.

Silva voiced support for the possibility of a plan, without explicitly pledging Brazil to it. She stated: “In times we have a situation that is quite grim, it is good that we have a map. But the map does not force us to travel, or to advance.”

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

Dozens of countries gathered in Belém for the UN climate summit, which is starting its second week, are aiming to determine how a worldwide transition of oil, gas, and coal could work. They aim to build on a historic resolution reached two years ago at a previous UN summit to “transition away from fossil fuels.”

The pledge lacked a schedule or details on how it could be realized, and although it was adopted unanimously, several countries have since tried to disavow the pledge. Efforts last year to elaborate on its practical implications were blocked by resistance from petrostates at another UN summit.

Consequently, there was no mention of the shift away from carbon fuels in the outcome of COP29.

Because of this, Brazil has been wary of calls by certain nations to place the transition on the schedule for COP30. But the minister has worked hard in private to make sure the pledge could be discussed at the summit apart from the formal program.

The minister won over Brazil’s leader, who made mention repeatedly to the need to “shift from dependence on fossil fuels” at the global leaders' meeting that came before COP30, and at the opening of the event.

“The issue is something that we know at some point had to be raised, because it is the sole way to face the problem from the source,” Marina Silva explained. “We acknowledge that it is challenging, and we cannot offer false hopes. Raising the subject is brave, and I wish [to see] this courage from all, from producers and using countries.”

Brazil had not initiated the call for a phaseout, she clarified, because that had been initiated at the earlier summit. Rather, it was allowing the discussions to occur in line with what certain countries wished. “We understand these topics are delicate. We will provide the opportunity to discuss it,” she said.

There is not enough time at the summit to draw up a roadmap, a task Silva said could take several years because numerous countries confronted complex issues around dependence on carbon-based energy, or aimed to use the proceeds from selling oil and gas to fund their economic growth.

“Brazil brings up the subject, because Brazil is simultaneously a producer and consumer,” she noted. “But the nation is different, because Brazil, if it chooses to, does not have to rely on non-renewables. We have to recognise that there are certain nations that depend on fossil fuels in their economies and lack easy alternatives, and others where fossil fuels are the foundation of their economy.

“To be fair is to be fair to all, but the fundamental, primordial fairness is not being unjust to the planet, because it is our home.”

If the proposal gains sufficient support, COP30 could establish a forum in which the process of creating a strategy to the phaseout could start.

The process would require discussions with every signatory 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; once we have a strategy, and establish safeguards to be able to establish trust in the system, I am confident that with these components we can turn positive concepts into steps that are more defined, and more concrete.”

It is uncertain that a suggestion to begin developing a plan would be accepted at the conference, although it may not need the formal consent of the summit, which proceeds by unanimous agreement and can be disrupted by particular groups. COP analysts have indicated they think there could be support for such a proposal from about 60 countries, but there are thought to be at least forty opposed. There are one hundred ninety-five nations represented at the negotiations.

“In spite of being the primary source of global warming, carbon-based energy are about the most divisive subject there is within the UN negotiations, so to see a sizable group of nations publicly backing a path to achieving worldwide transition is in itself highly significant.”

“In simple terms, there’s no path to a planet where temperature rise remains below 1.5 degrees in which nations cannot to discuss ending fossil fuel use.”

“We require this wording for real in this discussion. It’s quite stupid that we talk about everything but then when the main issue are the real problem.”

Negotiations continued on Saturday on several outstanding issues that have still not been incorporated into the formal agenda: trade, openness, funding and how to tackle the gap between the emissions cuts nations have planned and those needed to keep to the 1.5-degree warming target.

A summit president promised a “note” that would cover these matters, after discussions – which have been underway since Monday – were unresolved. The official called on nations to adopt the “mutirão” attitude, meaning one of cooperation and constructive discussion.

Work on other substantive topics – including adaptation to the impacts of the climate emergency, the just transition for those affected by the transition to a low-carbon economic system and how to strengthen institutional capacity in developing countries – carried on productively, the host said.

Brazil’s chief negotiator stated the technical phase of the COP proceedings was approaching the end, and the political phase – when ministers who have the power to alter their nations' stances arrive – was starting.