Antigua and Guyana Urge International Community to Deal With Impact of Climate Change
BELEM, Brazil – Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne Thursday called on the international community to adopt urgent action to address the escalating climate crisis, particularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Prime Minister Gaston Browne at the COP 30Browne speaking at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 30) said SIDS, including his own island wanted honesty, courage, and urgent action to address the climate crisis as they continue to face existential threats.
“For Small Island States, the climate crisis is not past tense or future tense, it is our lived reality,” Prime Minister Browne said, adding “Antigua and Barbuda comes to Belém with one fundamental message: 1.5°C is our lifeline. We cannot and will not surrender 1.5°C.”
His address comes more than a week after Hurricane Melissa, a category 5 storm slammed into Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, with Browne saying the destruction underscored the real-time impacts of global warming on vulnerable nations.
“We must stand as one and fight unrelentingly to stop this ecocide, to restore balance, to build economies that serve humanity, not just profits,” the Prime Minister Browne said, reaffirming Antigua and Barbuda’s commitment to building resilience, advancing adaptation, and championing the principles of Loss and Damage as a critical mechanism for recovery and justice.
“This COP — the COP of Truth — must deliver more than promises. The world has the knowledge, technology, and financial resources to act. What we need now is the political and moral will to match the urgency of this moment.”
In his address, Prime Minister Browne commended Brazil for hosting COP30 in the heart of the Amazon — “the lungs of the Earth” — and for launching the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, describing it as “a bold symbol of global solidarity”.
Browne, who is one of several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders attending the six-day event, said Antigua and Barbuda, he said, stands ready to partner in global efforts to protect the planet “not as a victim, but as a voice of resilience and hope”.
He said climate finance is not charity, “it is climate justice” calling on major polluting nations to lead in repairing the damage their emissions have caused.
In his address, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said it is important for world leaders to turn their grand speeches into meaningful actions.
President Irfaan Ali addressing COP 30
Ali questioned why “extreme” views and empty talks hinder critical climate action, highlighting solutions already presented by Guyana and Barbados.
He said Guyana has long championed the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), a pioneering venture in 2009 between Georgetown and Olso resulting in US$250 million being made available to Guyana in exchange for conserving its vast rainforest.
Ali said more than 15 years later, the strategy is the foundation of Guyana’s developmental efforts- demonstrating the country’s focus on environmental stewardship and sustainable development even as it balances nascent oil and gas production. It has also been expanded, and again, Guyana leads the way with its efforts to earn from standing forests, now extended to the sale of carbon credits.
Ali also told the conference that Guyana now leads global conversations on biodiversity and ecosystem services, acknowledging that none of those efforts were simple.
He said he believes that Guyana is committed to solving the climate crisis in partnership with others.
“Let our words be followed by actions,” President Ali said, outlining three priority areas crucial in the fight against the climate crisis.
He said the first should be that the energy transition must be accelerated as countries continue to work towards becoming energy secure.
Ali said that as the data and artificial intelligence industry chomps down on huge amounts of energy, and as countries seek to embrace the digital revolution, renewable sources of power must be hurriedly embraced. He reiterated Guyana’s call for the removal of fossil fuel subsidies and called for support for carbon pricing ventures, initiatives meant to incentivise transitioning to renewable power sources.
He said the second priority is support for the forest agenda and that Guyana, through its LCDS, has shown how forest conservation can be supported. In addition, with this COP taking place in Brazil’s Amazon, the rich rainforest shared with Guyana, Suriname, and other South American nations, President Ali demanded much more attention on planet Earth’s lungs.
“Forests cannot be an afterthought; they cannot be a negotiated item. The world must now act on all financial options to boost forest conservation,” Ali said calling on all parties to expand funding for climate adaptation so that countries are better able to minimise the impacts of extreme weather events caused by the climate crisis.
Earlier, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell,speaking on the Baku to Belém Roadmap, an initiative between the COP Presidencies of Azerbaijan and Brazil to raise US$1.3 trillion for climate action, said it is building on COP29’s finance milestone agreement, and carrying momentum into COP30.
The former senior Grenada government minister said at its core, the Roadmap is about turning commitments into practical, inclusive climate finance action that’s effective in delivering real-world outcomes that protect lives and strengthen economies.
”For the first time, more than 200 governments, banks, businesses, and communities have joined forces to outline workable solutions for mobilizing climate finance. The Roadmap shows how, by working together, we can scale up climate finance towards US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035, helping developing countries meet their climate goals.
”This can bring tremendous benefits for the global economy – generating jobs, protecting communities, and driving innovation. The task is ambitious, but achievable. The tools exist; what’s been missing is coordination and shared commitment.”
Stiell said that this Roadmap provides a guide to both, aligning public and private finance behind a common direction, and building confidence that 1.3 trillion is within reach.
”Times are tough; many governments have scarce resources and hard choices. But positive tipping points are already taking hold: from dramatic declines in the cost of clean energy, to innovation in sectors of the economy we thought would take decades to decarbonise.
”It’s also high time for a paradigm shift. Treating climate finance purely as cost, or as charity, is misguided and self-defeating, and has held back the progress we need.
”Make no mistake: scaling up climate finance hugely benefits every nation. It’s a vital investment in resilient global supply chains, supporting low-inflation growth, food security, and a stronger, more productive global economy that underpins peace and prosperity,” Stiell added.
He said getting finance flowing means expanding access to catalytic grant finance. It also means unlocking low-interest capital, creating fiscal space, managing debt pressures, and de-risking investment.
“This new era will be about bringing our formal process closer to the real economy, accelerating implementation, and delivering benefits to billions more people. Bigger and better climate finance solutions will be a crucial part of that shift.
”From Baku to Belém, we are moving from agreement to action, focusing on solutions and alignment for people, prosperity, and the planet. ”
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said “every fraction of a degree means more hunger, displacement, and loss – especially for those least responsible. It could push ecosystems past irreversible tipping points, expose billions to unlivable conditions, and amplify threats to peace and security”.
He said failure to contain global heating amounts to “moral failure and deadly negligence” and each year that is warmer “will hammer economies, deepen inequalities and impact developing countries hardest — even though they did least to cause it.
“After decades of denial and delay, science now tells us that a temporary overshoot beyond the 1.5°C limit – starting at the latest in the early 2030s – is inevitable,” Guterres said.
The head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Celeste Saulo, said that greenhouse gas emissions are now at their highest level in 800,000 years.
“From January to August this year, the Earth’s average temperature was about 1.42°C above pre-industrial levels, with oceans also reaching record highs, which is inflicting lasting damage on marine ecosystems and economies,” she said.
