An unexpected problem is threatening to block discussions at Cop30, the major UN climate summit being held these days in Brazil.

Conservative and non-conservative countries around the world are squabbling over whether the summit texts will talk about only the two genders or whether they will be more…”inclusive”.

Before the talks even began conservative countries pushed for gender to be defined as biological gender because of concerns that “trans” and so-called “non-binary people” could be included in a plan to ensure that climate action promotes the gay agenda and propaganda.

In the preparatory talks for Cop30, Argentina and Paraguay requested that footnotes be added to an informal note on the status of negotiations to clarify the understanding of genders as female and male.

But the Vatican, which rarely intervenes in climate negotiations, also asked that reference be made to “biological sex” rather than just “gender”.

In the past, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran and Egypt have opposed references to gender.

The US was absent from the talks before Cop30.

On the other hand, some Western delegations, such as the EU, Norway and Canada, are keen to broaden the scope even though the subject of climate change is irrelevant with gender issues.

They asked, for example, to include references to women and girls “in all their diversity”. Countries participating in Cop30 are expected to agree on a gender action plan to integrate women’s experiences into climate action and shape more inclusive climate policy.