By Kavita Mistry 
On Sunday, as the world prepared to begin deliberations on climate change in Belem — the lush, rain-soaked gateway to the Amazon in Brazil’s north — U.S. President Donald Trump mocked the COP30 summit. “They devastated Brazil’s Amazon Forest to build a four-lane highway for environmentalists. It’s become a huge scandal!” he posted on Truth Social, citing a Fox News story. Coming just a day after a deadly tornado tore through southern Brazil, Mr. Trump’s remark seemed to discredit the UN climate conference scheduled to begin on Monday (November 10, 2025). In reality, the road he referred to had nothing to do with COP30; it was a long-planned infrastructure project.
Mr. Trump’s post was far from the truth, but it exposed a deeper reality — the U.S. has turned its back on the climate crisis. The absence of the world’s largest emitter — historically — and biggest economy from COP30 may seem like a setback, yet Brazilian analysts believe the summit will move forward without Washington. “There is no doubt that the absence of the world’s largest economy from the Paris Agreement and now COP30 has a very significant impact,” said Paulo Artaxo, a leading Brazilian scientist known for his pioneering research in the Amazon. “But we are hopeful that other countries will fill this gap as the U.S. becomes even more isolated in decisions crucial for our planet. Their absence will have little impact on the final outcome of the summit.”
Not just the U.S., Europe’s climate resolve seems to be faltering too. After tense overnight talks, EU ministers agreed on Thursday to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, but the deal allows foreign carbon credits, reducing the real cut to about 85%. “Setting a climate target is not just picking a number — it is a political decision with far-reaching consequences,” said Danish minister Lars Aagaard, defending the compromise between the countries which do not agree on climate goals.
The developed world’s retreat from their responsibility has been evident — and expected. At the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio in July, the bloc of emerging powers had already set the tone for COP30 by pledging to make climate finance fairer for the developing world. The group had also backed the “Baku-to-Belem Roadmap,” a $1.3 trillion plan led by Brazil’s COP30 presidency to increase the climate funding. “The Global South can lead a new paradigm of development without repeating the mistakes of the past,” President Lula da Silva had said at the summit, urging rich nations to double adaptation funds by 2025 and give poorer countries more access to technology and resources.
With this commitment in the backdrop, President Lula landed in Belem on Thursday for the Climate Summit — a two-day prelude to COP30, which will bring together leaders from 143 countries and nearly 100,000 participants between November 10 and 21. As Mr. Lula seeks to position Brazil at the centre of global climate governance, the summit could become a defining moment for the BRICS countries as the U.S. and Europe drag their feet. “There’s a risk of reaching a point of no return for the multilateral system, which is being eroded,” warned Marina Silva, Brazil’s Environment Minister, just ahead of the meeting. “COP30 is our chance to strengthen climate multilateralism — rebuilding trust, cooperation, and solidarity — in an increasingly difficult geopolitical environment.”
The key fault-line at this summit — as in previous ones — is climate finance: developing nations, least responsible for global warming yet most affected by it, want rich countries to finally honour their past pledges. The rich world is defaulting on their promise.
The first test of Brazil’s climate diplomacy came last week with the launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), unveiled at the Climate Summit as part of the Baku-to-Belem Roadmap. COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago called TFFF “a very innovative mechanism” to assign real value to standing forests, stressing that transformation must come from “institutions, not rules.” With an initial $10 billion goal, the TFFF treats preservation as a financial asset and it has already raised $5.5 billion, with major pledges from Norway and BRICS partners Brazil and Indonesia. Though France made a contribution, German Chancellor Merz failed to commit a figure to the fund.
Starting Monday, COP30 will turn into a battleground of funding and diplomacy, with Brazil counting on its BRICS partners to take the lead in shaping a new global climate-finance agenda. “Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping are not attending COP30 in person, both India and China are sending high-level delegations to Belem. We have been having important discussions with them on the funding issue, and BRICS will take a united stand,” says a Brazilian official, who is part of the official delegation at Belem.
As Mr. Lula, who holds the BRICS presidency for 2025, articulates a unified Global South stance, the group of emerging countries may end up playing a key role in translating that vision into an action plan. “The great new force in multilateralism is the BRICS group. All BRICS countries are committed to working for a fairer and more climate-resilient future. Now, during COP30, we must turn those words into action — these nations represent a major share of the global economy and population,” said Mr. Artaxo, the Brazilian scientist.
The Climate Summit opened with the thematic session “Climate and Nature: Forests and Oceans,” setting the tone for what Mr. Lula has called “the COP of truth.” In his address, he said: “It’s time to turn ambition into action and to restore the balance between growth and sustainability.” Environmental protection and economic growth can coexist, the Brazilian leader said, stressing on the issue which is important for all emerging and developing economies.
As COP30 unfolds, Brazil will be banking on its BRICS partners to keep the momentum alive. With the U.S. absent and Europe largely paying lip service, the future of global climate action could well be written in the language of the Global South at COP30.
Shobhan Saxena is a Sao Paulo-based journalist