Ministers took over UN climate negotiations in Brazil Monday as COP30 entered its final stretch, with nations split on key issues and the EU defending a carbon tax criticized by China and others.Ministers arrived and delivered speeches to kickstart the second week of talks in the Amazonian city of Belem, with countries debating language over weak climate commitments, insufficient financial pledges and trade barriers.One of the biggest bones of contention is a flagship European Union policy, dubbed a “carbon tax” on imports.”Pricing carbon is something that we need to pursue with as many as possible, as quickly as possible,” the bloc’s climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, told the gathering.China, India and other allied countries want COP30 to adopt a decision against unilateral trade barriers — a dig at the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).Tested since 2023 and set to become fully operational in 2026, CBAM targets imports of carbon-intensive goods such as steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen.The head of China’s COP30 delegation, Li Gao, told AFP last week that nations should “avoid the negative impact of, for example, geopolitical unilateralism or protectionism.”EU and Chinese officials are due to hold talks later Monday on the issue, which has dominated discussions among delegates in sweltering Belem.”We’re not going to be lured into the suggestion that actually CBAM is a unilateral trade measure. And in that realm, we’re also not going to discuss it,” Hoekstra said in a news conference.- ‘Cannot afford to waste time’ -COP30 is due to end on Friday but the UN’s annual climate talks usually spill into overtime as exhausted negotiators struggle to find compromises over how to tackle climate change.”There is a huge amount of work ahead for ministers and negotiators. I urge you to get to the hardest issues fast,” UN climate Simon Stiell told the gathering.”When these issues get pushed deep into extra time, everybody loses. We absolutely cannot afford to waste time on tactical delays or stonewalling,” he said.Another divisive issue was a push by island states — backed by Latin American nations and the EU — for COP30 to respond to the latest projections showing the world will fail to limit warming to 1.5C.But major emerging countries, from China to Saudi Arabia, are wary of any text that implies they are not doing enough to curb climate change.”For Small Island Developing States, 1.5C is not a political slogan. It is a non-negotiable survival threshold for our people, our culture, and our livelihoods,” said Steven Victor, the environment minister of Palau and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).Victor told fellow ministers that AOSIS was disappointed over a lack of progress since nations agreed in 2023 at COP28 in Dubai to transition away from fossil fuels.Host nation Brazil wants COP30 to send an ambitious signal on fossil fuels, but the form it will take — a UN decision, which requires consensus, or a separate declaration from willing countries — remains unclear.Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Ackmin urged ministers on Monday to agree to “integrated action plans” for transitioning away from fossil fuels.- Money talks -Money is again at the heart of the negotiations, after last year’s summit in Baku ended with an agreement for developed countries to provide $300 billion annually in climate finance to poorer nations — a figure criticized as greatly insufficient.Developing countries, especially from Africa, want COP30 to point the finger at developed nations for falling short on providing financing to help adapt to climate change and cut emissions.The Brazilian COP30 presidency published a memo Sunday evening summarizing these divergent viewpoints and proposing options.”This is the Brazilian presidency setting the table for the end game,” Li Shuo, a climate expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute.Ministers will have to “achieve the very delicate balance between these three pieces,” Li said.ia-ico-alb-lth/des

The US Supreme Court agreed on Monday to weigh in on a policy of turning away migrants before they can cross the US-Mexico border to present an asylum claim.The policy known as “metering” was rescinded by the Biden administration but President Donald Trump is seeking a ruling in the event it may be reinstated.Trump campaigned for president on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States.He has taken a number of actions since returning to the White House in January aimed at speeding up deportations and reducing border crossings.The Immigration and Nationality Act allows an “alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States” to apply for asylum.A divided appeals court ruled last year that this applies to potential asylum seekers at ports of entry “whichever side of the border they are standing on.”The Trump administration is asking the conservative-dominated Supreme Court to reject this interpretation.”In ordinary English, a person ‘arrives in’ a country only when he comes within its borders,” Solicitor General John Sauer said in a filing. “An alien thus does not ‘arrive in’ the United States while he is still in Mexico.”Al Otro Lado, an immigration rights group representing asylum seekers, welcomed the Supreme Court decision to hear the case.”Our immigration laws require the government to inspect and process people seeking asylum at ports of entry and allow them to pursue their legal claims in the United States,” it said in a statement.”The government’s turnback policy was an illegal scheme to circumvent these requirements by physically blocking asylum seekers arriving at ports of entry and preventing them from crossing the border to seek protection,” Al Otro Lado said.Vulnerable families, children, and adults fleeing persecution were stranded in perilous conditions where they faced violent assault, kidnapping, and death, the group added.The Trump administration announced last month that it would drastically cut back the number of refugees to be accepted annually by the United States to a record low and give priority to white South Africans.Under the new policy, the United States would welcome 7,500 refugees in fiscal 2026, down from more than 100,000 a year under Democratic president Joe Biden.