As week two starts in Belém, week one ended with talks on finance, one of, if not the greatest hurdle to progress: in part because no one can agree what is owed to whom, or why. The result is a free for all where anyone who is anyone will call for grants or reparations with the goal of shouting loud enough to get something. Some countries also deny how developed they are so they can point at others. It is hardly edifying. It’s something of the latest geopolitical game in many areas, but here the real life results are very much, well, real.

Few have blinked and actually committed funds to loss and damage, and you wouldn’t want to hold your breath for movement. The Loss and Damage Fund, launched at COP27 has already had a rocky ride, President Trump withdrew the US from the board and reluctance hardly covers the ground. The problem is that as the noise continues it becomes less likely, rather than more, that any major moves will be made. Neither the US nor China (the biggest historical emitters, chased by India) may well take the ‘might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb’ attitude.

The UNFCCC issued the Report on the Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T. Promising a “coherent action framework” to scale up climate finance, it contains five action “fronts” to deliver on the $1.3tr aspiration for climate funding. The Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance (IHLEG) also joined in, with a plan to mobilise $1.3tr in climate funding for developing countries by 2035.

More immediately, 35 global philanthropies committed $300m to ease public health crisis driven by climate change (see Bill Gates’ pivot on climate).

One brighter moment was the start of pledges for forest conservation and recognition of land rights. Also, progress was made on collaboration on carbon markets. The EU and China joined, along with the UK, Canada, Chile, Armenia, Zambia, France, Mexico and Germany.

Finally, there was an attempt to try and combat misinformation around climate change. The Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate is the fist time agencies and countries will work together to ensure misinformation is rebuffed.

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