UN climate talks fail to secure new fossil fuel promises

Following bitter rows, the UN climate summit COP30 in Belém, Brazil has ended with a deal that contains no direct reference to the fossil fuels that are heating up the planet.

It is a frustrating end for more than 80 countries including the UK and EU that wanted the meeting to commit the world to stop using using oil, coal and gas at a faster pace.

But oil-producing nations held the line that they should be allowed to use their fossil fuel resources to grow their economies.

The meeting takes place as the UN says it fears global efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels have failed.

The two weeks of talks were at times chaotic. Toilets ran out of water, torrential thunderstorms flooded the venue, and delegates struggled to cope in hot, humid rooms.

The COP's around 50,000 registered delegates were evacuated twice. A group of about 150 protestors broke into the venue, breaching security lines, and carrying placards reading "our forests are not for sale".

On Thursday a large fire broke out, scorching a hole into the roof and forcing participants to rush outside.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva chose the city of Belém to put the world's attention on the Amazon rainforest and to bring a rush of finance to the city.

Countries at the talks have competing interests, depending on their national circumstances and how exposed they are to the effects of climate change. Some countries were happy about the outcomes.

India praised the deal, calling it "meaningful". A group representing the interests of 39 small island and low-lying coastal states on Saturday called it "imperfect" but still a step towards "progress".

Poorer nations have come away with a promise for more climate finance to help them adapt to the impacts of climate change.

"It has moved the needle. There is a clearer recognition that those with historic responsibility [countries that emitted more planet-warming gases in the past] have specific duties on climate finance," said Sierra Leone Minister of The Environment and Climate Change Jiwoh Abdulai.

But it's a sour end for more than 80 countries, who negotiated through the night to keep stronger fossil fuel language in the deal.

UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband insisted the meeting is a "step forward".

"I would have preferred a more ambitious agreement," he said.

"We're not going to hide the fact that we would have preferred to have more, to have more ambition on everything," EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told journalists.