Leaders of 50 countries meet in Brazil’s Amazon for climate talks US will not attend the summit and will focus on rainforest conservation and adaptation financing
belem: World leaders are gathering in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belém for a major climate summit ahead of next week’s UN COP30 talks.
About 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend the two-day meeting starting Thursday in the rainforest city.
The United States is notably absent from the gathering, with President Donald Trump having already dismissed climate science as a “hoax.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are attending, while China and India are sending their deputies or climate ministers.
The summit venue in Belém has faced criticism due to limited infrastructure and expensive hotel accommodation deterring small delegations.
Authorities invested in renovations, but building work continued hours before the opening of the leaders’ summit.
Brazil aims to demonstrate continued global commitment to climate action despite broken promises and geopolitical challenges.
The US’s absence, coupled with Brazil’s recent approval for oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River, creates a strange backdrop.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has acknowledged that the world will miss the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Brazil is struggling to provide affordable accommodation, safe cruise ship cabins for delegations from low-income countries.
Hosts face the challenges of rallying climate action amid wars, tariff disputes and a populist backlash against green policies.
A recent vote to reduce global shipping pollution failed due to US pressure, highlighting the difficult political landscape.
Carolina Pasquali, executive director of Greenpeace Brazil, said leaders “need to give the COP a clear mandate to be ambitious.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushed for the implementation of new discussions, calling them “substantial conversations”.
The country is pushing for a global fund to reward tropical countries for protecting rainforests.
Adaptation funding has become a major focus especially for vulnerable countries facing climate disasters.
Developing countries want concrete details on increasing climate finance to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.
Current commitments would result in a temperature rise of 2.5°C by the end of the century, far exceeding the targets of the Paris Agreement.
Small island states have warned that they cannot tolerate temperatures rising by more than two degrees Celsius.
Lula said Brazil “wants to propose a roadmap to reduce fossil fuels” but acknowledged the difficulty of negotiations. -AFP
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