The final hours of the COP climate talks that finally ended a day late in Brazil on Saturday were even more brutal than usual, foreshadowing a tough year ahead for Australian Climate Change and Energy Minster Chris Bowen, who will preside over next year’s talks in Turkey.

Things got particularly ugly when Russian diplomats turned their guns on a handful of Latin American countries, which in turn had delayed proceedings with a series of objections to the way the Brazilian COP president André Corrêa do Lago was managing the contentious negotiation over adaptation plans.

André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 president, sits as Simon Stiell, UN climate chief (left) speaks with other UN officials during a plenary session at the COP30 meeting.Credit: AP

“Don’t behave like children who want to get their hands on all the sweets and stuff them down their throats,” said a Russian diplomat to his American colleagues on the floor of the plenary session at one point, before demanding that they behave more cordially. India chimed in to agree.

As the dispute went on the session was stalled. The talks came close to collapsing entirely, says one observer.

Tempers are often frayed in the final hours of COP talks, and each year the gathering of nations signed up to the United Nations climate........

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