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A fire occurred at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, leading to evacuations and causing interruptions in United Nations climate discussions during a crucial moment when diplomats were making significant efforts to finalize an agreement on enhancing climate actions.

A fire broke out in the pavilion area of the Blue Zone, where supplementary events occur during official discussions. It was contained within a few minutes, but officials evacuated the whole area for safety inspections.

The origin of the fire was thought to be an electrical appliance, possibly a microwave, according to the local fire department.

Thirteen individuals received treatment due to inhaling smoke.

With Friday set as the final day and talks moving slowly, the leadership of the climate conference had originally intended for ministers and officials to stay late on Thursday. The fire disrupted an already struggling process.

The summit had already failed to meet a self-set deadline on Wednesday to finalize agreements on several important matters, including climate financing and transitioning away from…

“It implies there’s a significant amount of work to be done within a short period. There were already major gaps to close, and this won’t make things easier,” said Teresa Anderson, the climate justice lead at ActionAid.

Some negotiators are concerned that the postponement, along with the original failure to reach an agreement, could lead to further concessions.

Individuals often experience a slight sense of closeness during an emergency such as this, […] but there are significant underlying interests involved,” noted experienced climate policy observer Alden Meyer from the European think-tank E3G, “you might end up with something so weak that nobody is interested in it.

Only a few hours prior to the fire, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had called on nations to “demonstrate openness and adaptability to achieve outcomes,” which he emphasized requires “compromise and shared understanding.”

On Wednesday, the summit had already failed to meet a deadline it set itself to finalize agreements on several critical matters, such as ways to boost climate funding for developing nations and fossil fuel phaseout.

However, Guterres stressed that he is “completely confident” that an agreement can be achieved even on these disputed matters. He mentioned that not implementing the most robust actions would constitute a failure.