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The environment minister, Marina Silva, has called on every country to show the bravery needed to confront the necessity of a global transition away from fossil fuels, labeling the creation of a detailed plan as an “ethical” answer to the global warming emergency.

She stressed, though, that involvement in this endeavor would be optional and “self-determined” for interested nations.

This issue remains one of the most debated subjects at the COP30 in the host country, with nations divided over if and in what way such a strategy can be addressed. Hosting the event, Brazil has maintained a balanced position on which items can be included on the formal agenda.

Silva voiced approval for the possibility of a roadmap, though not directly committing the country to it. She remarked: “When we have a situation that is quite grim, it is good that we have a map. But the map does not compel us to proceed, or to climb.”

In an interview, she added: “The map is an response to our scientific understanding [of the climate emergency]. It is an moral answer.”

Scores of countries meeting in the host city for the UN climate summit, which is starting its second week, are seeking to determine how a global transition of oil, gas, and coal could work. They aim to build on a landmark agreement made two years ago at a previous UN summit to “move away from non-renewable energy sources.”

The pledge lacked a timetable or details on the way it could be realized, and even though it was adopted unanimously, some nations have since tried to back away from the pledge. Efforts last year to elaborate on its real-world implications were stymied by resistance from petrostates at another UN summit.

As a result, there was no reference of the transition away from fossil fuels in the final agreement of that conference.

Because of this, the host has been cautious of calls by certain nations to place the phaseout on the schedule for the current summit. But Silva has worked hard in private to ensure the pledge could be talked about at the conference outside the official agenda.

She won over Brazil’s president, who gave public reference three times to the need to “move away from reliance on traditional energy” at the summit of world leaders that preceded the conference, and at the opening of the summit.

“This is something that we understand at a certain time had to be raised, because it is the sole way to address the issue from the root,” Marina Silva said. “We acknowledge that it is challenging, and we cannot offer unrealistic expectations. Raising the subject is courageous, and I wish [to see] this bravery from everyone, from producers and using countries.”

The nation had not initiated the call for a transition, the minister said, because that had been done at the earlier summit. Rather, it was allowing the talks to take place in accordance with what some nations wished. “We know these topics are delicate. We will provide the chance to discuss it,” she said.

There is not enough time at the summit to draw up a detailed plan, a task Silva called could take a number of years because many countries confronted complex issues around dependence on fossil fuels, or wanted to use the proceeds from selling oil and gas to finance their economic growth.

“The country brings up the subject, because Brazil is both a producer and consumer,” the minister noted. “But the nation is different, because it, if it chooses to, does not have to depend on fossil fuels. We have to recognise that there are some that depend on carbon energy in their economies and don’t have simple alternatives, and some where fossil fuels are the foundation of their economy.

“To be fair is to be fair to all, but the essential, primordial fairness is to avoid being unfair to the planet, because it is our home.”

Should the proposal gains sufficient backing, COP30 could set up a platform in which the work of drawing up a strategy to the phaseout could start.

The process would involve discussions with every participating countries to the UN climate treaty and criteria for how the process would proceed, Silva explained. “After we have standards, a management framework can be drawn up; after we have a plan, and create protections to be able to establish confidence in the system, I am confident that with these components we can turn good ideas into steps that are clearer, and more tangible.”

There is no guarantee that a proposal to begin drawing up a plan would be accepted at the conference, even if it does not require the formal approval of the conference, which proceeds by consensus and can be hijacked by particular groups. COP experts have indicated they believe there could be support for such a proposal from about 60 nations, but there are believed to be at least 40 opposed. There are one hundred ninety-five countries participating at the talks.

“Despite being the root cause of global warming, carbon-based energy are about the most contentious subject there is within the international climate talks, so to see a sizable coalition of nations publicly supporting a route to realizing global phaseout is in itself pretty groundbreaking.”

“Put simply, there’s no route to a planet where warming remains below 1.5C in which nations aren’t able to discuss fossil fuel phaseout.”

“We require this language for real in this discussion. It’s quite stupid that we talk about everything but then when the main issue are the real challenge.”

Negotiations carried on on the weekend on several outstanding topics that have not yet been included into the official agenda: trade, transparency, funding and how to address the gap between the emissions cuts countries have planned and those required to keep to the 1.5C warming target.

A summit chair promised a “document” that would address these issues, after consultations – which have been underway since the start of the week – were unresolved. He urged nations to adopt the “mutirão” spirit, meaning one of collaboration and positive discussion.

Progress on other substantive topics – such as adaptation to the effects of the climate emergency, the fair shift for those affected by the transition to a low-carbon economic system and how to strengthen institutional capacity in developing countries – carried on productively, the host reported.

Brazil’s chief negotiator stated the detailed phase of the COP proceedings was approaching completion, and the high-level phase – when government leaders who have the authority to alter their countries’ stances join – was beginning.