‘They don’t want to listen’: negotiators on the state of Cop30 talks

In the negotiating rooms at the Cop30 climate conference, representatives from vulnerable countries work to get the best deal they can. Here, three of them reveal what happens behind closed doors.

‘Sometimes it’s like we are arguing with robots’

We need to keep the 1.5C goal – it is a lifeline for the planet. We agreed it in Paris 10 years ago . If we don’t stick to it, we face devastating impacts, all over the world, but especially for low-lying areas. They are the first to feel the sea-level rises, but there are many more impacts – cyclones, storms, extreme weather that we are already seeing.

And yet there are countries here who want to ignore this. They do not want to keep to the Paris agreement goal of 1.5C [above preindustrial levels]. In the negotiating rooms, they argue aga