On September 24, 2025, the world’s attention turned to New York as more than 100 global leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly for a high-level summit on climate change. With international negotiations looming in Brazil just weeks away, the urgency to tackle the climate crisis was palpable—though the path forward remains as complex and contentious as ever.
China, the world’s largest carbon polluter, took the stage with a significant announcement. President Xi Jinping pledged that his country would cut emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035, marking a notable shift for an economy long criticized for its soaring carbon output. According to reports from the Associated Press, Xi also committed to increasing China’s wind and solar power capacity sixfold from 2020 levels and making pollution-free vehicles mainstream. "While some countries are acting against it, the international community should stay focused on the right direction," Xi remarked, a clear nod to ongoing global divisions.
Europe, too, sought to demonstrate leadership. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted that the continent’s emissions are down nearly 40% since 1940. She outlined a new, though not yet official, climate change plan, explaining that member states had agreed their nationally determined contribution would range between 66% and 72%. "Our infrastructure and investment in renewable energy and the price of carbon have all increased," von der Leyen said, promising a formal submission before the November negotiations in Brazil.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will host the upcoming climate conference in Belém, emphasized the global nature of the threat. "No one is safe from the effect of climate change. Walls at borders will not stop droughts or storms. Nature does not bow down to bombs or warships. No country stands above another," Lula declared, underscoring the need for collective action.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres drove the point home, stating, "The science demands action. The law commands it. The economics compel it. And people are calling for it." His words echoed the mounting frustration of scientists and activists who have watched years of negotiations yield incremental progress, often stymied by political inertia and powerful industry lobbies.
Yet, the summit was far from harmonious. On September 23, former U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the UN General Assembly, dismissing the climate crisis as a "con job" and vowing to dismantle renewable energy projects in the United States. According to The Guardian, Trump’s administration has already slashed environmental regulations and provided $18 billion in tax incentives to oil and gas firms since regaining control of both Houses. The fossil-fuel industry, for its part, spent at least $445 million in the last U.S. election cycle to influence politicians, especially Trump and Republicans.
Trump’s speech drew thinly veiled criticism from both Xi and Lula, who stressed the necessity of global cooperation even as some countries retreat from their climate commitments. The contrast between Trump’s rhetoric and the pledges from other world leaders couldn’t have been starker, highlighting deep divisions that threaten to undermine collective progress.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, Vanuatu—a nation of just 330,000 people—has taken on a leadership role in climate diplomacy that belies its size. On September 24, Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change, Ralph Regenvanu, spoke candidly about the country’s ongoing efforts to turn legal victories into real-world change. In July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), following years of advocacy led by Vanuatu, issued a unanimous advisory opinion clarifying that all states are required under international law to protect the climate, prevent further harms, and cooperate to address the crisis.
The ICJ’s opinion went further than previous agreements, declaring that the 1.5°C warming limit is legally binding and that government support for fossil fuel production and consumption—through subsidies or licenses—could constitute an “internationally wrongful act.” The ruling also opened the door for states to seek reparations, including compensation, if others breach their climate obligations.
"We are on the frontline in the Pacific, but no country, not even the US, is insulated from climate change, and we’re doing this on behalf of everybody," Regenvanu told The Guardian. He described Vanuatu’s strategy as building an “architecture outside of COP,” using tools like the ICJ advisory opinion to force states to comply with their obligations. "Every year we leave the COP depressed, but [we] will begrudgingly continue to participate because if we’re not at the table we’ll be on the menu. But I don’t think it is reformable," he added, highlighting the frustration many smaller nations feel about the slow pace of international negotiations.
Vanuatu’s track record is impressive. The country began calls for a loss-and-damage fund back in 1992—a fund finally established at the 2023 COP in Dubai. It was also among the first to advocate for the recognition of ecocide as a crime against humanity and has led the charge for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. Now, Vanuatu is working to secure a UN vote, likely after COP30 in Brazil, that would turn the ICJ’s advisory opinion into concrete political action. While Regenvanu acknowledges the resolution is unlikely to pass unanimously, he expects broad support and sees it as a vital step toward making the court’s findings enforceable obligations.
“We’re not getting anywhere with consensus-based decision-making because a few states can hold everyone else to ransom and stop new environmental safeguarding conventions like the plastic treaty, the universal levy on shipping and at COP. The only place that’s kind of safe from that is the UN general assembly, where it’s a majority vote,” Regenvanu explained. He even went so far as to suggest that in some forums, “it’s better the US isn’t there. We have less obstruction and less resistance in the room, so we can get more done.”
Back in Canada, municipal leaders echoed the call for urgency. According to CTV News, Canada’s mayors and councillors urged the fast-tracking of projects that combat climate change, underscoring the need for action not just at the international and national levels, but in cities and communities where the impacts of extreme weather are often most acutely felt.
The global climate fight is, in many ways, a story of contrasts: between the world’s largest emitters and its most vulnerable nations, between political will and entrenched interests, and between the pace of disaster and the speed of diplomacy. As the world looks ahead to COP30 in Brazil and beyond, the stakes have never been higher—or the need for decisive action more urgent. For all the frustration and division, the voices calling for change are only growing louder. And, as Vanuatu’s Regenvanu put it, "Eventually the day of reckoning will come for the US, and sooner or later something has to change."
