(Belen, November 10) World leaders acknowledged ahead of next week's UN climate conference that they have failed to limit global warming to within agreed limits.
The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will convene next Monday (November 10). Host country Brazil convened a two-day climate summit in Valen, northern Brazil, to provide "political direction" for the COP30 negotiations.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated bluntly at the Belen climate summit on Thursday (November 6) that the world's failure to fulfill its commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is a "moral failure and a fatal oversight."
He said, “Every fraction of a degree Celsius increase in temperature brings more hunger, displacement, and loss—especially to those least responsible. This could push ecosystems across irreversible tipping points, leaving billions in uninhabitable environments and further threatening peace and security.”
He criticized countries for spending approximately $1 trillion (about S$1.3 trillion) annually to subsidize fossil fuels, arguing that world leaders now face two clear choices: lead or be led to destruction. He pointed out that to minimize the damage, governments must now take more urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and protect the natural environment.
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Multiple countries criticized Trump's denial of climate change. The United States, the world's second-largest carbon emitter, did not send a representative to the Belém Climate Summit and will also be absent from the UN Climate Conference. At the Belém Summit, speakers from multiple countries criticized US President Trump for denying climate change. Trump has repeatedly claimed that climate change and global warming are a "hoax," not only accelerating fossil fuel production but also attempting to undermine global emissions reduction efforts.
Brazil hopes that COP30 can reaffirm that, despite war, trade tensions, an uncertain economic outlook, and the Trump administration's indifferent attitude, climate change remains a top global concern.
China, the world's largest carbon emitter, pledged at the Belém Summit to accelerate climate action, including vigorously developing renewable energy and accelerating a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. Other major economies such as the EU, the UK, and France attended the summit, indicating that the international community can still work together to address climate change.
2025 will be one of the hottest years on record. The World Meteorological Organization released a report on Thursday saying that a series of unusually high temperatures could make 2025 one of the hottest years on record. While this year will not surpass the record set in 2024, it will rank second or third.
The report shows that in the first eight months of this year, the global near-surface average temperature was 1.42 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas concentrations and ocean heat content, after reaching record highs in 2024, continued to climb this year.
World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Joachim Soro said that this unprecedented heatwave, coupled with last year's record rise in greenhouse gas concentrations, clearly indicates that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the coming years is virtually impossible. However, he emphasized that scientific research also clearly shows that reducing warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century remains entirely possible and is absolutely necessary.
