In the end, after seasoned negotiators had declared that no agreement on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, dealing with international carbon trading, was better than a bad deal, it was Brazil that held up a final decision, The Guardian recounts. “It insisted that its carbon sinks—mainly forests, including the Amazon—should count towards its emissions-cutting goals, while also selling carbon credits derived from preserving forests to other countries to count towards their emissions targets. Other countries said this was double counting and would undermine the carbon trading system.”

In the end, delegates kicked Article 6 down the road, to be dealt with at next year’s COP. “Thankfully, the weak rules on a market-based mechanism, promoted by Brazil and Australia, that would have undermined efforts to reduce emissions have been shelved, and the fight on that can continue next year at COP 26 in Glasgow,” said veteran civil society negotiator Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa.