For the first time in the history of collective action against climate change, hopes were unusually high. People felt optimistic that global leaders, gathering in Belém, Brazil - near the world's largest rainforest - would finally reach a meaningful, broad agreement after their customary two weeks of deliberations.

Yet the world watched as COP30, which began with such promise, ended in failure. As always, the media first highlighted minor, superficial decisions, then dutifully listed the long catalogue of breakdowns and disappointments. Presenting the panacea before the poison has never saved a patient's life, and the same proved true at the closing session of the planet's most important climate governance event. After a grueling 12-hour extension, the outcome was exactly what the major powers had wanted all along.

Earlier, whether it was pure coincidence or a carefully orchestrated series of warnings, the effect was the same: it shook the global climate community. In the single week leading up to COP30, four major reports were released back to back. Many observers believe this unusual timing was deliberate; an attempt to prepare critics, activists and the public for the sobering reality that even the strictest decisions likely to emerge from the summit would still fall far short of what is needed to confront a crisis that grows more alarming by the day.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Intergovernmental Panel........

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