There are growing calls for greater responsibility from developed countries, which emit the most gas.
Published November 8, 2025
Leaders of countries hit by the most devastating effects of the global climate crisis, including hurricanes and floods, have urged action at the United Nations climate conference COP30 in Brazil.
Ahead of Monday’s official kickoff, world leaders gathered on the edge of the rapidly shrinking Amazon rainforest, many focused on better balancing the gap between developing countries and rich countries that emit most of the world’s harmful gas emissions.
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stressed the need for a concrete roadmap to “reverse deforestation, overcome fossil fuels and mobilize the necessary resources.”
Another initiative aims to create a common global carbon market. There, companies whose emissions are less than the required target could receive credits and sell them to companies who over-promised.
Rich countries pledged $300 billion at last year’s summit to help poorer countries deal with the far-reaching effects of climate warming, but no funds have been allocated.
Furthermore, developing countries and international aid groups argue that this figure is woefully insufficient to meet needs, and are aiming for a target of $1.3 trillion in various forms of government and private aid.
“Please bow your head in shame.”
At Friday’s summit, Haitian diplomat Smith Augustine said that although Hurricane Melissa devastated Haiti, small island nations are the least responsible for climate change.
Kenyan Vice President Kitule Kindiki said the East African country, which experienced deadly landslides last week, is experiencing “extreme once-in-a-century droughts alternating with devastating floods that continue to claim lives.”
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said leaders attending the summit should “hang their heads in shame” because while the capital base of the Loss and Damage Fund established at the 2022 conference in Egypt is still less than $800 million, “Jamaica, not to mention Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas, is reeling from more than $7 billion in losses.”
Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, head of the African Union Commission, said leaders of countries suffering the most harmful effects of the climate crisis were not calling for charity, but “climate justice”.
Leaders also criticized the United States, which under President Donald Trump has branded climate change a “hoax” and taken a deep dive into fossil fuels, while refusing to send a special envoy to negotiations.
The world is “very likely” to exceed the global warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Celsius) within the next decade, the internationally agreed target set under the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said in its latest report earlier this week.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told officials gathered in Brazil that they could choose to lead to destruction or be led to destruction.
“Too many corporations are making record profits from climate destruction by spending billions of dollars lobbying, deceiving the public, and blocking progress. And too many leaders remain captive to these deep-rooted interests,” he said.
Guterres also said a 1.5 degree overshoot was inevitable in the short term, adding: “What matters is how high it is and for how long.”
The United Nations says global emissions need to be almost halved by 2030, reach net zero by 2050 and become net negative thereafter.
