A worrying political vacuum was on display at the opening of the Belem climate summit, as the leaders of the world’s three largest polluters—China, the United States, and India—were conspicuously absent. These “empty chairs” at the preliminary gathering have revealed deep divisions and undermined the summit’s call for global unity.
The “reduced participation” comes at a critical juncture for the planet. The summit’s host, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva, is attempting to rally the world behind a major new proposal to fund the protection of tropical rainforests, a key tool in absorbing CO2 emissions.
Lula’s “Tropical Forests Forever Facility” is an ambitious plan to pay 74 developing nations to keep their forests standing. It’s a novel financial model, using loans instead of donations, that has already attracted $5.5 billion in pledges, including $3 billion from Norway.
The absences have prompted a furious response from UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He delivered a blistering speech, warning that the 1.5-degree Celsius warming limit is in jeopardy, which would represent a “moral failure and deadly negligence.”
Guterres directly blamed the lack of progress on world powers “remaining captive to the fossil fuel interests.” The success of Lula’s financial proposal now seems to hinge on whether it can gain traction despite the lack of engagement from the world’s superpowers.