New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- The COP30 summit opened in Brazil's Belem on Monday with a brief agenda dispute that was swiftly resolved before the formal opening ceremony, with climate finance emerging as the dominant issue for the summit. The disagreement centred on Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which mandates developed countries provide financial resources to assist developing nations with mitigation and adaptation. Developing countries, particularly the G77 bloc, demanded its inclusion on the official agenda following inadequate and unpredictable climate finance flows. Developed countries, including the EU, resisted. The matter was resolved after it was agreed Article 9.1 would be discussed under Presidency consultations rather than on the formal agenda. The June Bonn climate meeting had also been delayed over the same issue. "India was among the first countries to raise concerns about the inadequacy of the finance outcome at Baku, and has carried that forward to Bonn demanding an agenda item on Article 9.1. This will remain crucial as finance is prominent in its absence and inadequacy across many tracks be it adaptation, mitigation and even the loss and damage fund that is yet to disburse fund. India must carry this mantle even at COP30," said Avantika Goswami, programme manager at the Centre for Science and Environment's Climate Change division. Climate finance will be an important issue at COP30, observers said. The focus is particularly significant for India, which led a fierce pushback against the underwhelming finance deal at COP29 in Baku last year. On November 5, the Brazilian COP30 and Azerbaijan COP29 Presidencies released the 'Baku To Belem Roadmap To USD 1.3T', documenting how to deliver $1.3 trillion annually for developing countries from all international sources by 2035. However, this document will not be on the negotiating agenda. During the opening ceremony, COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev handed the baton to incoming COP30 president Andre Corraa do Lago while calling on parties to deliver on past promises, especially on finance. "Today we are presenting donors with this invoice, which you can find on the COP29 media channels. This covers what donors have already promised. It includes the essential milestones that will keep us on track. First, we must double adaptation finance. This was due at the end of 2025. Second, we need to triple the UN climate funds by 2030. This was a key demand of Small Island Developing States. And we all agreed. So, we need substantial contributions to each fund's next replenishment round. The invoice concludes with the 300 billion, promised by 2035. And, in the same way that we expect countries to publish ten years of plans in their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plan, we also expect donors to publish their plans for how they will deliver their fair share of the 300 billion over these years," Babayev said. Earlier in the day, Lago told media that rich countries have lost enthusiasm for combating the climate crisis while China is surging ahead in producing and using clean energy. Observers believe China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, is positioning itself to fill the void created by the US, particularly given its economic interests in the green transition....