America’s renewed skepticism and even hostility under President Donald Trump’s second administration will not change the fact that climate change is real for a second.
Nor is this to deny the reality that the Global South, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), virtually all tropical countries with a population of about 700 million people, is on the front lines of the climate crisis.
Typhoons Tino and Uwan, which recently hit our region, especially the Philippines, are the latest evidence of this and a reminder of the urgent need for climate justice.
It has been stated many times what the Global South wants from summits like COP30. It really boils down to four things.
Developed countries need to listen
Meanwhile, developed countries need to listen to developing and underdeveloped countries on how to deal with climate change.
A rigid approach to various aspects of climate action, including technology, energy transition, and biodiversity conservation, will ultimately frustrate the honest and proactive steps that many Global South countries, including Malaysia and its ASEAN partners, are taking towards these goals.
Greater flexibility on the part of the Global North will go a long way in ensuring victory in the fight against climate change.
This is not an attempt to downplay or redirect anything. The right to live in a sustainable environment is undoubtedly a fundamental human right.
Israel’s devastating war in Gaza has resulted in widespread environmental damage, of which the West has remained mysteriously silent, but whose effects will last for decades, not just in the Middle East but in the wider world.
There is therefore no doubt that sustainability and human rights go hand in hand. Supporting the former, especially in ASEAN and the Global South, is a means of supporting the latter.
Developed countries need to bring their checkbook
It may be dangerous to say this harshly, but money speaks volumes. Various climate finance commitments, particularly for vulnerable countries, must not only be implemented but also strengthened.
The United Nations Global Policy Model estimates that developing countries will need approximately $1.1 trillion in climate finance by 2025 and $1.8 trillion by 2030.
Brazil, which holds the COP30 United Nations Climate Change Conference, rightly said it hoped the meeting in Belem would be remembered as the “COP for adaptation implementation.” This is a wise thing to do. Because while I don’t agree that it’s too late to act, it’s painfully clear that fighting climate change can no longer be about setting high goals. Rather, it’s time to deliver.
The Global South can lead on climate change
Indeed, the absence of the United States, the world’s superpower and largest economy, casts a shadow on the COP and international efforts to protect the environment. But America’s absence is no reason to retreat from climate action or other international causes. Rather, it is an opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen multilateral cooperation.
It is good for the United States to be involved, but the world can act without the United States. As has been widely reported, China’s carbon emissions have remained flat or declined over the past 18 months.
Additionally, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) proposed by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is an important part of the solution.
With the World Bank as trustee and interim host, TFFF aims to support durable conservation strategies and protect critical tropical ecosystems through global public-private partnerships.
The TFFF launch declaration, with a medium-term goal of achieving a $125 billion endowment, is supported by 53 countries and 19 sovereign wealth funds. It includes 34 tropical forest countries, covering 90 percent of the developing world’s tropical forests.
Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, Portugal, France and the Netherlands are reported to have already committed funding. So far, $5.5 billion in donations have been announced. Although it is a small step, it is a reassuring start to a long journey.
Nevertheless, TFFF shows that the Global South has the potential to build its own initiatives, including on existential global challenges such as climate change.
Again, this is something that the Global North must support. There is no doubt that we are “in debt” to tropical countries for the vast carbon sinks they provide.
This must be achieved through fair and transparent climate compensation, rather than prescriptive policies, to ensure that the burden of conserving irreplaceable biodiversity does not come at the expense of the education, employment and dignity of people in these countries.
ASEAN needs to play a role
Tropical countries, including ASEAN countries, cannot escape this responsibility.
It was disappointing that climate change was not featured more prominently at the recent 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, despite the 2025 Presidency theme being “Inclusion and Sustainability.”
To be fair, the chairman’s statement praised the regional bloc for “adopting the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change” and “welcoming the ASEAN Pavilion” at COP30, and that it “looks forward to the formulation of the ASEAN Climate Change Strategic Action Plan (ACCSAP) to further promote climate action in the region.”
The ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment was also adopted at the Kuala Lumpur summit after several years of diplomacy among member states.
We should also not forget that the ASEAN Summit saw Timor-Leste’s historic accession and progress on the ASEAN power grid.
These are all laudable achievements, but they still fall short of the positive attitude that developing countries often demand from developed countries. We must do as much, if not more, than we expect from others.
Some may argue that ASEAN lacks the financial capacity to act alone. However, the 2025 summit showed that it has the credibility and influence to bring together disparate blocs, including China, the BRICS economic union, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union, Africa and Latin America.
To what extent does the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change recognize that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has listed Southeast Asian countries as among the countries hardest hit by climate change?
Without action, words remain just words. This leaves ASEAN, with its proud record of neutrality, vulnerable to accusations of pandering to President Trump (who famously briefly attended the summit) in the face of climate-related disasters affecting its people.
What ASEAN, and indeed the rest of the Global South, needs is bold and decisive multilateral action in conjunction with like-minded regions.
The urgency that ASEAN has shown in defending its geopolitical interests and advancing economic integration must now manifest in stronger and more vocal climate leadership.
We can and should do more. It is not too late for both developed and developing countries to win the fight against climate change.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.
