UNITED NATIONS, Nov 7 (IPS) – “Has the world given up the fight against climate change?” was a rhetorical question recently asked by the New York Times, perhaps with a degree of sarcasm. It could look like this, says Christiana Figueres, a founding member of the nongovernmental organization Global Optimism, “while US President Donald Trump rails about fossil fuels, Bill Gates prioritizes children’s health over climate protection, and oil and gas companies plan decades of higher production.”
But that’s far from the whole picture, Figueres said, noting that the vast majority of the world’s population — 80 to 89%, as Covering Climate Now partner newsrooms report — want stronger climate action.
Clean energy technologies are attracting twice as much investment as fossil fuels, and solar energy and regenerative agriculture are on the rise in the South, she said.
Meanwhile, the United States will not send senior officials to the COP30, according to the White House.
John Noel, campaigner at Greenpeace International, says the current government is ceding leadership and influence over the future of clean energy to other countries.
“It’s tragic, but not surprising. But for those of us traveling to Belem from the United States, we are on solid footing with public opinion broadly supporting the Paris Agreement and are more committed than ever.”
There are opportunities, he emphasized, for climate ambition at the subnational level, such as polluter pay mechanisms and government incentives for clean energy during the federal phasing out of support.
“World leaders at COP30 must move forward to adopt ambitious climate targets, end global deforestation by 2030, and promote a just energy transition, and climate action must continue,” Noel said.
Addressing the plenary of leaders at the Belem Climate Summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on November 6: “The hard truth is that we have failed to ensure we stay below 1.5 degrees.”
“The science now tells us that a temporary excess above the 1.5 limit – starting no later than the early 2030s – is inevitable. We need a paradigm shift to limit the magnitude and duration of this excess and to rapidly reduce it.”
Even a temporary exceedance will have dramatic consequences. It could push ecosystems past irreversible tipping points, expose billions to unlivable conditions and increase 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 fatal negligence, he warned.
However, the United Nations will not give up on the 1.5 degree target, he stated.
Although clean energy technology is advancing rapidly, political will is seen as weaker and current efforts are insufficient to prevent significant warming. For example, despite a pledge to reduce methane emissions, a new UN report indicates this goal is unlikely to be achieved.
Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, says people should be deeply concerned that governments, especially the Western countries that bear the brunt of the responsibility for the climate crisis, are still far from meeting their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and providing countries with adequate financial support for mitigation and adaptation.
“It should be concerning that these same governments, and prominent financial institutions such as the World Bank, are promoting false climate solutions such as carbon markets, which have been proven to be completely ineffective at reducing emissions,” she said.
Moreover, it should be clear to everyone that the new mining boom “we are witnessing for so-called critical minerals has nothing to do with the energy transition, but rather with the global competition for minerals for various industries such as the military, communications technologies and electric vehicles.”
The enormous amount of minerals such as lithium and cobalt will be impossible to supply without creating a new ecological and human crisis. It is time for governments to make responsible choices towards a real energy transition and stop expanding sectors such as the military, which divert public resources and contribute significantly to emissions, she stressed.
It is widely documented that simply replacing existing gas-powered cars with electric vehicles is impossible. If current demand for electric vehicles is projected until 2050, the lithium needs of the US EV market alone would require triple the amount of lithium currently produced for the entire world.
“We need aggressive policies to reduce the number and size of personal vehicles and deploy effective public infrastructure and other low-carbon transportation modes,” Mittal said.
At a press conference in Qatar on November 4, Guterres said governments must arrive at the upcoming COP30 meeting in Brazil with concrete plans to cut their own emissions over the next decade while delivering climate justice to those on the front lines of a crisis they did little to cause.
“Just look at Jamaica,” he said, referring to the catastrophic destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa last week.
The clean energy revolution means it is possible to reduce emissions while economies grow. But developing countries still lack the financial resources and technologies needed to support these transitions.
In Brazil, countries must agree on a credible plan to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for developing countries by 2035, he said.
“Developed countries must fulfill their commitment to double adaptation financing to at least $40 billion this year. And the Loss and Damage Fund must be capitalized with significant contributions.”
COP30 in Belém must be the turning point – where the world comes up with a bold and credible response plan to close the gaps in ambition and implementation, he said.
“To mobilize the $1.3 trillion per year in climate finance for developing countries by 2035; And to advance climate justice for all. The road to 1.5 degrees is narrow – but open.
Let us accelerate to keep that path alive for people, for the planet and for our common future,” said Guterres.
In the meantime New research from Oxfam and CARE Climate Justice Center finds that developing countries now pay back more to rich countries for climate finance loans than they receive: for every five dollars they receive, they pay back seven dollars. 65% of the financing is provided in the form of loans.
This form of crisis profiteering by rich countries worsens debt burdens and hinders climate action. This failure is exacerbated by deep cuts in foreign aid that threaten to further cut climate finance, betraying the world’s poorest communities that are bearing the brunt of escalating climate disasters, the joint report said.
Some key findings from the report:
- The rich countries claim to have mobilized $116 billion in climate finance by 2022, but the actual value is only about $28 to $35 billion, less than a third of the amount pledged.
- Nearly two-thirds of climate finance was provided in the form of loans, often at standard interest rates without concessions. As a result, climate finance is adding more every year to developing countries’ debt, which now stands at $3.3 trillion. Countries such as France, Japan and Italy are among the biggest culprits.
- Least developed countries received only 19.5% and small island developing States 2.9% of total public climate financing in the period 2021-2022, and half of that was in the form of loans that they have to repay.
- Developed countries benefit from these loans, with repayments exceeding expenditures. In 2022, developing countries received $62 billion in climate loans. We estimate that these loans will result in repayments of up to $88 billion, resulting in a 42% “gain” for creditors.
- Only 3% of funding was specifically aimed at increasing gender equality, despite the fact that the climate crisis disproportionately affects women and girls.
“Rich countries are treating the climate crisis as a business opportunity, not a moral obligation,” said Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam’s head of climate policy. “They lend money to the very people they have harmed in the past, pushing vulnerable countries into a cycle of debt. This is a form of crisis profiteering.”
This failure comes as rich countries implement the most brutal cuts in foreign aid since the 1960s. OECD data shows a decline of 9% in 2024, while projections for 2025 indicate a further reduction of 9 to 17%.
As the impacts of fossil fuel-driven climate disasters increase – displacing millions of people in the Horn of Africa, affecting 13 million people in the Philippines and submerging 600,000 people in Brazil alone by 2024 – communities in low-income countries will have fewer resources to adapt to the rapidly changing climate, the research shows.
IPS UN office report
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