TRANSCRIPT
In the tropical heat of the Brazilian Amazon, world leaders have come together for the United Nations annual climate summit. Hosting 50,000 people in the small city of Belem along the Amazon River, Brazil hopes to convince leaders to mobilise funds to halt the destruction of climate-stabilising tropical rainforests like the Amazon.
With some 17 per cent of the Amazon's forest cover vanishing in the past 50 years, Brazil's recent approval of oil drilling near the mouth of the river hangs awkwardly over the talks.Executive Director of Oxfam, Viviana Santiago, says the Amazon is more than just a symbol.
“The world needs to understand that Amazon, it's not only a word, it's a real space that are right now facing consequence. I think that understanding the importance about Amazon will connect people with this urgence. We need to protect, we need to find a way to really live in harmony with Amazon and the entire world.
With the United Nations confirming on Thursday that 2025 will be among the hottest years on record, the urgency for meaningful action on climate change is ever growing.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says governments can choose to lead, or be led to ruin.
“We need a paradigm shift to limit this overshoot's magnitude and duration and quickly drive it down. Even a temporary average overshoot will have dramatic consequences. It could push ecosystems past irreversible tipping points, expose billions to unliveable conditions, and amplify threats to peace and security. Every fraction of a degree means more hunger, displacement and loss, especially for those least responsible. This is moral failure and deadly negligence.”
COP30 marks 10 years since the Paris Agreement, which saw around 200 countries agree to limit global warming to 1.5 degree celsius above preindustrial levels.
Setting a sombre tone for the summit, Mr Guterres declared the world has already failed to meet that mark.
“(Brazilian) President (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) Lula, you have called this the COP of truth. I could not agree more. And the hard truth is that we have failed to ensure we remain below 1.5 degrees. Science now tells us that the temporary overshoot between 1.5 limit, starting at the latest in the early 2030s, is inevitable.”
A notable absence from this year's summit is the United States, which under the Trump administration has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement.
One of the world's biggest green house gas emitters, Donald Trump has branded the climate crisis one of the "greatest cons perpetrated on the world".
Colombian President Gustavo Petro says Donald Trump's absence shows his willingness to 'lead humanity into the abyss'.
"Today, literally, Mr. Trump is against humanity. His absence here shows it—Trump is against humanity. What should we do then? Leave him alone. Forgetting is the greatest punishment. When he wants to speak, let us speak about life, nothing else.”
China's President Xi Jinping is also absent, but has sent a delegation and China has pledged to double down on climate action.
As the world's biggest emitter, experts said China would need to commit to reducing emissions by at least 30 per cent from peak levels.
Instead, China announced a reduction target of just 7 to 10 per cent.
Leaders from the European Union and the UK are also in attendance.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK is all in on tackling climate change.
“So the UK is doubling down on the fight against climate change as an investment in future generations, yes, of course, but also crucially as an investment in improving the lives of working people here are now. Our aim is very simple - to make energy a source not of vulnerability, but of strength.”
Mr Starmer pledged the UK's biggest-ever push on clean energy and the largest nuclear building programme in a generation.
Amid a surge in right-wing governments in the European Union, the E-U struggled to reach a deal on their emissions targets until late on Wednesday evening.
In the end, they agreed to reduce emissions by between 66.25 per cent to 72.5 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels.
Despite some criticism over the target, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says it is the second most ambitious target of major emitters.
“My message is very clear. Europe is staying the course and we offer our support to our partners to do the same, because the whole world should reap the benefits of the clean transition.”
Among the most important attendees at the climate summit is the Alliance of Small Island State nations.
Facing some of the most urgent threats as rising sea levels threaten their very existence, small island states play a key role in keeping large emitters accountable.
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, spoke of the urgent need to reduce methane emissions.
“The reality is that methane is more destructive as we know, 80 times more destructive than carbon, and yet we continue to see methane flow in the atmosphere without significant actions to stop it.”
Carbon emissions last for centuries in the atmosphere, whereas methane lasts just 12 to 15 years.
While around 40 per cent of methane emissions come from agriculture, leakage from fossil fuel production makes up around 35 per cent.
If oil and gas companies take action to stop flaring and fix methane leaks, Mia Mottley says the world can buy more time to address carbon emissions.
“This Is the only chance that we have to reverse the temperatures, and the world, my friends, has never been changed by spectators and naysayers. The world is changed by people of action. Do we need everybody acting at the same time? That would be ideal. But if we don't, then we must construct a coalition of the willing and show everyone what they stand to benefit while we fight for the prosperity and stability of people and planet. I'm obliged to you. Thank you.”
