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As dawn crept over the Amazonian city of Belém on Saturday morning, negotiators remained stuck in a airless conference room, unaware whether it was day or night. They had been 12 hours in difficult discussions, with dozens ministers representing various coalitions of countries including the poorest nations to the richest economies.

Frustration mounted, the air thick as weary delegates acknowledged the sobering reality: they would not reach a comprehensive agreement in Brazil. The 30th UN climate conference faced the brink of total collapse.

The major obstacle: Fossil fuels

As science has told us for nearly a century, the carbon dioxide produced by consuming fossil fuels is heating up our planet to critical levels.

Nevertheless, during over three decades of annual climate meetings, the urgent need to halt fossil fuel use has been mentioned only once – in a resolution made two years ago at Cop28 to "shift from fossil fuels". Delegates from the Middle Eastern nations, Russia, and a few other countries were determined this would not be repeated.

Mounting support for change

At the same time, a expanding group of countries were just as committed that progress on this issue was vitally needed. They had developed a plan that was attracting growing support and made it apparent they were ready to hold firm.

Developing countries desperately wanted to advance on securing funding support to help them manage the already disastrous impacts of climate disasters.

Critical moment

By the early hours of Saturday, some delegates were ready to leave and trigger failure. "The situation was precarious for us," commented one energy minister. "I considered to walk away."

The breakthrough occurred through negotiations with Saudi Arabia. Near 6am, key negotiators left the main group to hold a closed-door meeting with the chief Saudi negotiator. They encouraged wording that would subtly reference the global commitment to "shift from fossil fuels" made two years earlier in Dubai.

Surprising consensus

Rather than explicitly namechecking fossil fuels, the text would refer to "the UAE consensus". After consideration, the Saudi delegation unforeseeably accepted the wording.

Participants showed visible relief. Cheers erupted. The deal was done.

With what became known as the "Amazon accord", the world took an incremental move towards the systematic reduction of fossil fuels – a hesitant, inadequate step that will scarcely affect the climate's ongoing trajectory towards crisis. But nevertheless a important shift from complete stagnation.

Important aspects of the agreement

• Alongside the indirect reference in the legally agreed text, countries will start developing a plan to gradually eliminate fossil fuels
• This will be largely a voluntary initiative led by Brazil that will report back next year
• Addressing the essential decreases in greenhouse gas emissions to not exceed the 1.5C limit was also put off to next year
• Developing countries obtained a tripling to $120bn of yearly funding to help them adapt to the impacts of environmental crises
• This sum will not be completely provided until 2035
• Workers will benefit from a "just transition mechanism" to help people working in polluting businesses transition to the clean economy

Mixed reactions

With global conditions hovers near the brink of climate "tipping points" that could devastate environments and force whole regions into chaos, the agreement was far from the "significant advancement" needed.

"The summit provided some modest progress in the right direction, but considering the severity of the climate crisis, it has not met the occasion," warned one policy director.

This imperfect deal might have been the best attainable, given the political challenges – including a American leader who shunned the talks and remains wedded to oil and coal, the rising tide of nationalist politics, persistent fighting in multiple regions, extreme measures of inequality, and global economic uncertainty.

"Fossil fuel corporations – the fossil fuel giants – were ultimately in the focus at Cop30," says one policy convener. "There is no turning back on that. The political space is available. Now we must turn it into a actual pathway to a more secure planet."

Deep fissures revealed

While nations were able to celebrate the formal approval of the deal, Cop30 also exposed significant divisions in the only global process for tackling the climate crisis.

"Climate conferences are agreement-dependent, and in a era of international tensions, unanimity is ever harder to reach," observed one global leader. "It would be dishonest to claim that these talks has achieved complete success that is needed. The difference between our current position and what research requires remains alarmingly large."

Should the world is to prevent the gravest consequences of climate collapse, the international negotiations alone will fall far short.