World leaders and the United Nations are significantly increasing their demands for climate action to be taken with urgency and ambition. This new urgency comes after incendiary comments by former U.S. President Donald Trump at a recent UN gathering. Trump dismissed widely accepted climate science and labeled the climate crisis as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated upon the world,” raising concerns among international officials about the future of global climate initiatives.
During his speech, Trump asserted that “countries are on the brink of destruction because of the green energy agenda,” and urged nations to abandon what he referred to as a “green scam.” His rhetoric has generated significant backlash, especially as the international community seeks to maintain momentum toward limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has recently sounded the alarm that this essential goal is on course to “collapse.”
This trend is one that needs to be addressed urgently. Despite all of our excellent work, the world is still headed for well above a 1.5C increase, with estimates that we could be even closer to a 3C increase. Guterres has emphasized the necessity of a credible global response plan at the upcoming COP30 summit, stating, “Your new plans can take us a significant step forward. We are in the dawn of a new energy era; we must seize this moment of opportunity.”
More than 195 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement, with 194 currently active and engaged in climate action. Guterres summoned world leaders to a special climate summit to adopt more ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. To meet climate goals, he implored nations to go “cut far deeper, cut quicker”. To the side, a string of 120 countries and the European Union made new commitments to lower their emissions.
China is making moves to strengthen their ambition on climate. To meet commitments made under president Xi Jinping’s Nationally Determined Contributions, China must install more than six times as much wind and solar capacity as in 2020 by 2035. That’s because China is currently the world’s largest emitter of carbon pollution. It seeks to achieve 7-10% net emission reductions below peak levels by 2035. That’s why this commitment is so important. Last year, international finance in renewables—mainly solar and wind—surpassed $2 trillion—double the investment going to fossil fuels.
Operating under the Trump administration’s more than 100 rollbacks of key climate regulations has been disheartening. It pulled out of the Paris Agreement, which spurred a massive backlash. Al Gore highlighted the implications of U.S. actions, lamenting that “it’s a great tragedy that the United States of America is hobbling itself and allowing [China] to become the global leader in confronting the climate crisis.”
Given these burdens, advocates have recalled hope at the global transition to renewable energy sources. Manish Bapna remarked, “Anyone looking outside their window knows climate change is here and happening,” emphasizing the urgency for action. Rachel Kyte noted that “all of the jobs, all of the opportunity that comes from clean economies is there,” encouraging leaders not to be swayed by distractions.
Climate change plans still not enough Guterres acknowledged that climate change plans are not enough. Nonetheless, he reiterated that the majority of nations are resolutely committed to achieving critical, meaningful progress. He warned that they should be serious and significant pledges, otherwise they risk undermining the global movement. Tina Stege commented on this reality, stating, “Many of them need to be better. There has to be a real honest assessment that they won’t be.”
As world leaders head toward COP30, they are at a make-or-break moment in the global fight against climate change. The result will have lasting impact on whether countries can unite to solve this urgent challenge soon enough.