Bombast, strife and competing interests Can the Cop30 summit still deliver?

“I broke my heart.”

- Fiona Harvey

Surangel Whipps, president of the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, was sitting in the front row of the UN's general assembly in New York when Donald Trump made a long and rambling speech, his first to the UN since his reelection, on 23 September.

Trump's rant on the climate crisis - a “green scam”, “the greatest con job ever perpetrated”, “predictions made by stupid people” - was an unprecedented attack on science and global action from a major world leader.

Palau, threatened by rising sea levels, floods and more intense storms, is home to nearly 20,000 people, all likely to be made refugees if global heating surpasses 1.5C for a prolonged period, a likelihood they are desperate to prevent. “Our children need hope, they need to be inspired,” said Whipps. “They need to see us coming together to solve problems.”

Vulnerable countries around the world share Whipps's dismay. Trump's words were just the most extreme expression of a global rightwing trend. Yet polls find an overwhelming majority of people - 89% globally are concerned about the climate crisis and want action. And there have been unexpected victories for pro-climate politicians: Mark Carney in Canada, Anthony Albanese in Australia, and Claudia Sheinbaum - a climate scientist - in Mexico.

This week, those powerful geopolitical forces are gathered in the Amazonian city of Belém. The UN climate summit, Cop30, has a packed schedule - 145 agenda items to be decided by its close on 21 November, ranging from questions of cutting greenhouse gases, financial help for poor countries and the rights of Indigenous peoples to boosting clean energy and preserving the world's forests.