Cop30 climate summit kicks off in Brazil, but major polluters sit this one out

The United Nations annual climate summit, known as Cop30, has officially begun in Belem, Brazil, a city situated at the edge of the world’s largest tropical rainforest, the Amazon.

The summit aims to push world leaders toward concrete action and financial commitments to curb global warming, despite the absence of several heads of state from the world’s largest polluting nations.

An ‘implementation Cop’ in the Amazon

Organisers have called this year’s meeting the “Implementation Cop,” hoping to secure crucial funds and firm actions needed to fulfill the climate goals established in previous summits.

The setting itself, however, serves as a reminder of the stakes: while the Amazon is often called the “lungs of the world,” the view from above reveals vast barren plains, with about 17 percent of its forest cover lost over the last five decades due to logging, farming, and mining.

Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal climate advocate, plans to use the conference to rally global powers to fund efforts to halt the destruction of tropical rainforests worldwide.

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He is expected to launch the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, an initiative designed to generate an estimated $4 in private sector funding for every $1 government contribution toward forest preservation in developing nations.

Climate talks without the big polluters

Despite the urgent need for global commitment, the summit is overshadowed by the absence of the heads of state from the world’s three biggest polluters: China, the United States, and India.

Most notably, US President Donald Trump, who withdrew the nation from the Paris climate accords on his first day in office, will not send any senior officials.

China is sending its Deputy Prime Minister, while India’s leader is also absent.

Advocates worry that the lack of US presence—which has previously been key in negotiating climate finance and emissions agreements—could signal a wider global retreat from climate urgency.

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This leaves leaders like the UK Prime Minister, the German Chancellor, and the French President to confront the dual challenges of an intensifying climate crisis and significant political headwinds.

While President Lula has garnered praise for his success in reducing deforestation in the Amazon, his dual role as the leader of a major oil-producing nation presents contradictions.

His decision to grant the state oil firm a licence to explore for oil near the mouth of the Amazon River has drawn significant flak.

Logistically, the summit is testing the limits of the host city.

Belem, which usually has only about 18,000 hotel beds, has had to outfit public schools and military facilities as makeshift hostels. Some delegates even resorted to booking rooms on docked cruise ships or paying high rates for unconventional lodging, including “love motels,” which have drastically raised their prices to capitalise on the surge in demand.