Delegates also clashed over transparency. Rich nations want strict rules to verify that everyone keeps their promises. Developing nations worry these rules will become another burden without any new support.

Then there is the problem of national climate plans. Scientific reports make clear what is at stake. The State of Climate Action 2025 found that every part of the global economy was changing too slowly. Other research showed that current promises would still lead to dangerous warming. But no one agreed on how to push countries to do more.

Advocacy groups outside the official talks say they are struggling to be heard. Several pointed out that hundreds of oil and gas lobbyists have registered for the summit, thereby damaging the its credibility. Indigenous leaders said they have no access to spaces where diplomats decide the fate of their lands.

A few hopeful signs emerged during the first week. Finance ministers from several countries started exploring ways to fund the roadmap. Development banks said they wanted to coordinate better. Some nations floated ideas about more reliable long-term funding.

But those were just conversations. No one has agreed on how to collect $1.3 trillion every year. No system exists to help countries recover from disasters. No mechanism has emerged to force stronger climate plans.

Fund crisis, confusion led to clashes in the summit

The Baku-to-Belém Roadmap aims to raise $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 for poor countries struggling with the impacts of climate change. The plan calls for reforming development banks and attracting private investors. But delegates could not decide how much would come from government budgets versus private companies.