NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 4 — United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged world leaders to attend the COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil with “concrete and ambitious plans” to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions and deliver climate justice for vulnerable nations hardest hit by global warming.
The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) will take place in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025, marking three decades since the first UN climate talks in Berlin in 1995.
Speaking on Monday at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar, Guterres warned that the world is falling behind on both climate and development goals, emphasizing that the next decade will be “decisive for people and the planet.”
“Governments must arrive at the upcoming COP30 meeting in Brazil with concrete plans to slash their own emissions over the next decade while also delivering climate justice to those on the frontlines of a crisis they did little to cause,” Guterres said.
The UN chief said economic growth and emissions reduction are not mutually exclusive, citing Jamaica’s clean energy transition as an example of sustainable development in action.
However, he cautioned that developing nations still face major barriers, including limited access to finance and green technologies.
Guterres called for a credible global agreement in Brazil to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance by 2035 for developing nations, alongside a doubling of adaptation finance to at least $40 billion this year.
He also urged significant contributions to the Loss and Damage Fund, created to help vulnerable countries recover from climate-related disasters.
“Developing countries are not getting the level of support they need,” he said. “We are not moving fast enough to mitigate the volatility and outright destruction wrought by a warming planet.”
Guterres’s address also tied the climate crisis to broader social and economic inequality, outlining a “people’s plan” anchored on four priorities — eradicating poverty, creating decent jobs, ensuring sustainable financing for development, and advancing environmental sustainability.
“It’s unconscionable that nearly 700 million people still live in extreme poverty, while the richest one percent own nearly half of global wealth,” he said.
“True development is about opportunities for the many, grounded in social justice, full employment, and human dignity.”
The Second World Summit for Social Development comes amid rising concern over global inequality, conflict, and economic instability, with the UN urging member states to renew commitments to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ahead of COP30.
