World leaders gathered in the Amazon rain forest on Friday to rebuke the climate stance of Donald Trump, leaving a ripple of tension through the summit in the city of Belém, Brazil.
Despite the United States not sending its leader, delegates said Trump’s absence was felt loud and clear. Colombia and Chile’s heads of government went so far as to brand him a liar for rejecting well-established climate science. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer admitted the once-solid global consensus on climate action is “sadly … gone”.
Over the next fortnight, nations aim to negotiate a fresh climate deal with a strong focus on forest protection, particularly the world’s tropical forests. But with major emitters such as the US, China, India and Russia notably absent, the path ahead looked far from smooth.
Strong words in Belém
At his first major address of the summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned of “extremist forces that fabricate fake news and are condemning future generations to life on a planet altered forever by warming.” Though he did not name Donald Trump, the target was clear.
Chile’s environment minister, Maisa Rojas, struck a sharper tone. “The science is very clear. It is very important not to falsify the truth,” she told the BBC. Her comment followed an earlier statement by Colombia’s president accusing Trump of deliberately undermining climate science.
Trump himself, speaking at the UN in September, called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” and said: “The entire globalist concept, asking successful industrialised nations to inflict pain on themselves … must be rejected completely and totally.”
Forests and funds
In Belém, forest protection is at the centre of the agenda. The Brazilian hosts aim to raise $25 billion for a facility dubbed the “Tropical Forests Forever” fund which is intended for managing ecosystems such as the Amazon and Congo Basin.
But in a blow to the plan, the UK opted out of its commitment to a flagship £95 billion (approximately $125 billion) fund to support global rainforests. Starmer had professed that the UK was “all-in” when it comes to climate, yet the decision left host Brazil visibly frustrated. According to Lord Zach Goldsmith, a former UK environment minister, the UK’s walk-away “caused real frustration … the Brazilian government behind the scenes is furious.”
Meanwhile, Prince William, speaking at the summit, hailed the fund as “a visionary step towards valuing nature’s role in climate stability,” adding that leaders must “be the generation that turned the tide not for applause, but for the quiet gratitude of those yet to be born.”
Why Belém matters
Belém is more than a picturesque backdrop. Positioned at the gateway to the Amazon Basin, the city symbolises the stakes of forest conservation. The world’s tropical forests cover just 6 % of land, yet store vast quantities of greenhouse gases and host about half of all species. The stakes are clear.
However, with financial pledges uncertain and political will in question, negotiators face a hard climb. One senior delegate summed it up: “We can talk all we like, but if the money doesn’t move, we will have lost another decade.”
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