As the world’s eyes turn to Belem, Brazil, the annual United Nations climate summit has opened with a chorus of urgent appeals and frank testimony from those living on the front lines of climate change. The gathering, which officially kicks off on November 10, 2025, brings together world leaders, diplomats, and—more than ever before—Indigenous representatives, all seeking answers and action for a planet in crisis.
Even before the summit’s formal start, the air in Belem was thick with emotion and expectation. Officials from nations most vulnerable to global warming stood before their peers, offering searing accounts of hardship and hope. Their message was clear: the world’s poorest and least responsible nations are suffering the gravest consequences of a warming planet, while the wealthiest continue to produce the lion’s share of emissions.
Smith Augustin, Haiti’s diplomat, did not mince words as he recounted the devastation wrought by Hurricane Melissa. “The hurricanes and the heavy rain devastated my country,” Augustin told the assembly, according to the Associated Press. “Developing countries, and especially the small island states, are the least responsible for climate change.” Yet, as he and others pointed out, promises of help have so far rung hollow. At last year’s summit, developed countries pledged $300 billion to help poorer nations cope with climate shocks. As of November 2025, not a cent has been distributed, a fact that stings in the wake of disasters like Melissa.
Kenya’s vice president, Kithure Kindiki, painted a similarly grim picture from East Africa. Torrential rains triggered a deadly landslide just last week, and rescuers are still searching for the missing. “A previously once-in-a-century cycle of extreme droughts alternating with devastating floods continues to wipe out lives,” Kindiki said. “This has now become common.”
For the Marshall Islands, the nightmare is already reality. “All we have to do is look out our front doors to witness the impact of climate change,” said Kalani Kaneko, the island nation’s foreign minister. “Now the sea rises, the coral dies and the fish stock leaves our shores for cooler waters.”
The summit’s agenda is packed, but two initiatives are front and center: protecting the world’s remaining forests and building a global carbon market. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been a driving force behind a new fund designed to pay 74 developing countries to preserve their rainforests. On the first day of the summit, the fund drew $5.5 billion in pledges from Brazil, Norway, France, and Indonesia, with Germany promising a “considerable” commitment. The ultimate goal? To leverage up to $125 billion in investments for forest preservation—a potentially game-changing sum, if delivered.
Finland’s President, Alexander Stubb, hailed the fund as a model for climate solutions, telling AP, “What we might be seeing now, according to studies, is a turn of the tide on carbon dioxide emissions. This is because of financing. This is because of innovation. … That’s why I think (the fund) is a good idea.”
Alongside forest protection, the summit saw Brazil and the European Union, together with China and several other nations, announce a coalition to create a unified global carbon market. The idea is to allow countries and companies that emit less than their assigned caps to sell credits to those who exceed theirs, creating a financial incentive to cut emissions. While such a system has long been discussed, it’s proven notoriously difficult to coordinate on a global scale. Still, attendees expressed optimism that this time, with more nations on board, progress might finally be within reach.
Yet, for all the talk of innovation and investment, the summit is shadowed by the absence of some major players—and by the deep divide between rich and poor nations. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax” and prioritized fossil fuels, boycotted the event, leaving other world powers to fill the void. China and India’s leaders also skipped the conference, though their representatives assured the gathering of their commitment to a green transition. “China is a country that honors its commitments,” said Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, according to AP. India’s diplomat, Dinesh Bahata, highlighted his country’s rapid expansion of renewables, noting that half of India’s energy capacity now comes from clean sources.
Many developing countries and advocacy groups argue that the $300 billion pledged by richer nations is nowhere near enough. They are calling for $1.3 trillion in public and private assistance to meet the scale of the crisis. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, in a pointed address, criticized the loss and damage fund established in 2022, which has a capital base of less than $800 million—even as Jamaica alone has suffered more than $7 billion in damages from recent storms.
The sense of urgency is only heightened by the latest scientific findings. The United Nations Environment Programme reported this week that it is “very likely” the world will exceed the crucial 1.5°C warming threshold within the next decade. Last year, 2024, was already the hottest on record. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned leaders in Belem, “Too many corporations are making record profits from climate devastation, with billions spent on lobbying, deceiving the public and obstructing progress, and too many leaders remain captive to these entrenched interests.” He added that overshooting 1.5°C is inevitable in the short term, “but what matters is how high and for how long.”
Against this backdrop, Indigenous voices have taken on a new prominence at the Belem summit. Brazil, for the first time, has established an Indigenous Peoples’ Ministry and expects over 3,000 Indigenous delegates to participate this month—up from just 170 at last year’s conference in Azerbaijan. Olivia Bisa, leader of the Chapra nation in Peru, spoke to the significance of this moment: “This time, world leaders are coming to Belem, to the heart of the Amazon, closer to our homes, our rivers, our territories. We need to be in the room, not right outside of it.”
But inclusion has not erased tension. Outside Belem, hundreds of Indigenous people staged protests against plans for a new railway that would cut through their ancestral lands. Marília Sena, a leader of the Tupinamba nation, delivered a message to the world: “We want people to see us who have been here for centuries, caring for the forest and the river.”
Despite the pledges, plans, and impassioned speeches, a sense of urgency—and frustration—hangs over Belem. As the world’s most vulnerable nations plead for climate justice, and as the scientific clock ticks ever closer to irreversible change, the outcome of this summit may shape not just policy, but the future of life on Earth itself.
