Global climate change is becoming increasingly catastrophic, requiring decisive action from wealthy economies. However, the leaders of China, India, and the United States will not hear these calls at the COP30 climate conference in Belém, as they will not be there. All appeals from developing countries will be directed at European leaders.
This was reported by Euronews.
The US is consistent in its denial of climate change, so no delegates from the White House will be present at COP30. China, despite the absence of Xi Jinping, still gave the event greater importance by sending Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. Instead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country will be represented at the summit only by Ambassador to Brazil Dinesh Bhatia.
Unjustified responsibility
European Union countries are responsible for only 5.9% of global emissions. At the same time, the countries whose leaders did not attend the summit are responsible for almost half of the planet's greenhouse gases: China (29.2%), the United States (11.1%), and India (8.2%).
The countries of the Global South are demanding that polluters take responsibility and finance climate programs – COP29 called on rich economies to allocate $1.3 trillion annually.
Developing countries that are less resilient to climate change want to hear about specific steps and actions this year. However, the composition of the participants suggests that only European leaders will be listening to these calls live.
Call for unity
The European community is not backing down from its climate commitments, although it no longer has the same internal unity. The vote on the NDC was tense and involved concessions, with skeptics calling the EU's sacrifice a “suicidal ‘green’ crusade.”
In 2024 alone, the EU contributed nearly €43 billion to climate mitigation measures. But this is not enough to support global sustainability.
“We call on others to contribute, especially those from developed countries and developing countries that qualify as upper-middle-income countries,” European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra said in an interview with Euronews.
EcoPolitics previously wrote about the events leading up to COP30 and expectations for the climate conference in Brazil.
