The world’s attention turned to Belém, Brazil, on November 6, 2025, as leaders, activists, and experts gathered for the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The summit’s opening was marked by soaring hopes, sharp words, and a conspicuous absence: U.S. President Donald Trump, who once again called climate change "the world’s biggest hoax" and withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement on his first day in office earlier this year, declined to attend or send senior officials. According to the BBC, this decision drew immediate condemnation from fellow world leaders, with Chile’s Minister of the Environment, Maisa Rojas, stating bluntly, “The science is very clear. It’s very important not to distort the truth.”
Set against the lush yet threatened backdrop of the Amazon rainforest, the summit convened as the world faces mounting evidence of climate crisis. The Amazon, often called the "lungs of the world" for its immense capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, has lost 17% of its forest cover in the past half-century, as reported by CBC. Wildfires, logging, and cattle ranching have all contributed to this loss, raising alarms about the rainforest’s—and the planet’s—future. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, hosting the summit, called the Amazon "no greater symbol of the environmental cause" and pressed for global powers to mobilize enough funds to halt the ongoing destruction of tropical forests worldwide.
Yet, the absence of the leaders of the world’s three largest polluters—the United States, China, and India—cast a shadow over the proceedings. As CBC noted, this left European leaders like British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron to confront the intensifying climate crisis and its daunting political challenges. Many participants worried that the U.S. withdrawal could signal a broader retreat from global climate action, undermining years of painstaking diplomatic progress.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the summit with a stark warning. "The more global warming intensifies, the more people will go hungry and be forced to leave their homes," Guterres said, as reported by Yonhap News Agency. He called surpassing the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C “red line” a "moral failure and a death-dealing negligence." The latest figures are sobering: the global average temperature in 2024 reached 1.55 ± 0.13°C above pre-industrial levels, already breaching the Paris target, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s "Global State of the Climate 2025" report. While 2025 may see a slight dip in temperatures, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and ocean heat content continue to rise, suggesting any reprieve will be fleeting.
The summit was not without hope or new faces. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa made a landmark appearance, pledging Syria’s commitment to global climate efforts and inviting investment in renewable energy as part of his country’s ambitious reconstruction plans after a brutal 14-year civil war. "We must strengthen bonds of cooperation from the Amazon to the Barada and Euphrates rivers, within a framework of strong inter-state collaboration and in support of the growing role of developing nations," al-Sharaa told delegates, as reported by AFP. The UN Security Council, in a symbolic gesture, voted to lift sanctions on al-Sharaa and his interior minister, further signaling Syria’s return to the international fold.
Brazil’s President Lula, meanwhile, walked a tightrope between environmental ambition and economic reality. While promising to slow Amazon deforestation and reduce carbon emissions, Lula also recently authorized state oil company Petrobras to explore for oil near the mouth of the Amazon River—a move environmentalists sharply criticized. "I don’t want to be an environmental leader," Lula retorted to accusations of hypocrisy. "I never claimed to be." His centerpiece proposal—a new Tropical Forests Forever Facility—aims to pay 74 forest-rich developing nations to preserve their trees, with funding from wealthier countries and commercial investors. Whether Brazil can rally enough support for this plan remains an open question, as existing UN climate funds have seen only modest contributions.
The urgency of the crisis was echoed by leaders and activists at related events, including the TIME100 Impact Dinner in Rio de Janeiro. Kara Hurst, Amazon’s chief sustainability officer, highlighted the company’s efforts to reduce emissions through technology, from minimizing packaging to electrifying delivery fleets. “We really have a limited amount of time with the climate crisis,” Hurst said, noting that Amazon’s disaster relief team is using AI to speed up responses to climate-driven disasters. Climate activist Tzeporah Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, called for a new global pact to phase out fossil fuel production, emphasizing, “A line has been drawn between the countries that are willing to step out and work on fossil fuel phase out and the countries that are holding back and the leaders that are denying the science.”
Leah Seligmann, CEO of The B Team, acknowledged both progress and setbacks: “We were on track for a 4 degree world, now we’re on track for a 2.4 degree world.” But she warned that the world is no longer on track to meet the 1.5°C goal, urging bigger, riskier investments. “The urgency couldn’t be greater. The need couldn’t be greater.”
California’s natural resources secretary, Wade Crowfoot, reminded attendees that adaptation to climate change is now a matter of public safety. In January 2025, wildfires scorched over 37,000 acres and destroyed more than 16,000 structures in Los Angeles alone. “Adapting to these changes, building resilience to these climate-driven threats is now a matter of public safety,” Crowfoot told TIME. Suriname’s President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons added a note of realism, stating, “It looks like we will not be able to achieve the 1.5 degrees, so we have actually not done very well in my opinion.” Still, she expressed hope that Indigenous stewardship could offer a model for sustainable resource management.
The debate over responsibility and action was fierce. Colombian President Gustavo Petro didn’t mince words, calling Trump’s absence "100 per cent wrong" and warning, “We can see the collapse that can happen if the U.S. does not decarbonize its economy.” Chile’s President Gabriel Boric also criticized Trump’s climate denial as "a lie." Indigenous groups, too, voiced concern that U.S. inaction was emboldening other nations to ignore the crisis. "It pushes governments further toward denial and deregulation," said Nadino Kalapucha, spokesperson for the Amazonian Kichwas group in Ecuador.
Yet, some experts saw a silver lining in the absence of the U.S. from negotiations. Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists told CBC, “Even if the U.S. plays an outsized role, it is one country, and there are over 190 nations coming to COP, many of which are willing to stand up to the destructive tactics of the fossil fuel industry.”
As the COP30 summit continues, the stakes could hardly be higher. The Amazon’s fate, the world’s climate targets, and the credibility of international cooperation all hang in the balance. Leaders are left to grapple not only with the daunting science but also with the political will—or lack thereof—to act before the window for meaningful change slams shut.