The COP30 climate summit opened in Belém, Brazil, with world leaders sharply criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s environmental record, accusing Washington of backsliding on global climate goals and undermining international efforts to combat the worsening climate crisis.

Hosted on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, this year’s conference — the first to be held in the heart of the world’s largest tropical ecosystem — was intended to showcase progress on climate finance, deforestation, and energy transition. Instead, it quickly became a forum for frustration over the United States’ reversal of climate commitments.

A Summit in the Shadow of Policy Reversals

Trump’s administration has rolled back several landmark climate measures since returning to office, including withdrawal from the Paris Agreement for a second time, suspension of U.S. contributions to the Green Climate Fund, and expansion of oil and gas leases on federal land.

Those moves dominated the opening speeches in Belém.

“The world cannot move forward if one of its biggest emitters moves backward,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose government positioned the summit as a rallying point for renewed global action.

European leaders echoed that sentiment. France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the United States was “turning its back on the planet,” while Germany’s Chancellor Annalena Baerbock warned that “short-term politics cannot outweigh the survival of future generations.”

The U.S. Response

The American delegation, led by Special Climate Envoy John Curtis, avoided direct reference to the criticism but defended the U.S. approach as “energy realism,” arguing that domestic production was necessary to stabilize global markets.

“We are committed to pragmatic solutions that balance economic growth with environmental responsibility,” Curtis said.

Privately, U.S. officials expressed frustration at what they called “political theater,” suggesting other countries had failed to meet their own emissions targets.

A Divided Global Agenda

The Belém summit comes at a pivotal moment. Global temperatures have already risen 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first sustained period on record, and scientists warn that continued fossil fuel expansion could make the Paris goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C “mathematically impossible.”

Yet, the conference itself reflected a growing divide: developing nations demanded more funding to cope with climate-induced disasters, while industrialized economies debated over responsibility and pace.

African and Pacific Island leaders jointly criticized both the U.S. and China for treating climate diplomacy as “a geopolitical chessboard,” calling instead for debt relief, renewable investment, and legal accountability for major polluters.

“Our islands are disappearing, not our patience,” said Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Kausea Natano, drawing a standing ovation.

Brazil’s Amazon Focus

As host, Brazil used the moment to highlight the Amazon’s role as the planet’s largest carbon sink. Lula announced a new Amazon Restoration Fund to attract $20 billion in reforestation investments by 2030.

“Protecting the Amazon is not charity, it is survival,” Lula said, pledging zero illegal deforestation by 2028.

Environmental groups welcomed Brazil’s renewed leadership but warned that deforestation and mining pressures remain severe across the Amazon Basin.

What Comes Next

COP30 will continue over the next week with negotiations on loss-and-damage funding, carbon credit mechanisms, and adaptation finance. However, analysts expect progress to be limited without U.S. participation in collective financing frameworks.

Despite the political tension, several delegations — including the EU, Japan, and Canada — have pledged to increase climate contributions to offset U.S. withdrawals.

Still, the message from Belém was clear: the planet is out of time for excuses.

“History will not judge us by our words in Belém,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his closing address. “It will judge us by whether the world’s largest economies acted before the tipping point became irreversible.”