Countries around the world have agreed to put more money toward fighting climate change as this year’s COP30 climate summit concludes in Brazil.
A formal decision released over the weekend said the nations will seek to mobilize at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 to help developing countries with the issue.
While climate change is a global matter, some developing nations are expected to be hit the hardest. At the same time, many have fewer resources to combat the issue.
The agreement also “calls for efforts” to triple financing to help countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, which is expected to exacerbate extreme weather, including by making storms more frequent and intense.
Adapting to climate change can entail upgrading buildings and other infrastructure to be stronger or otherwise more resistant to these impacts.
The decision was agreed at the annual climate summit, held this year in Belém, Brazil. The U.S. was absent from the talks. At other environmental summits this year, the Trump administration has sought to undermine efforts to limit climate change and pollution.
President Trump has moved to pull the U.S. out of the global Paris Agreement, under which the world’s countries agreed to try to limit global warming.
In a speech on the conference’s closing, U.N. Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell alluded to the U.S. absence, but celebrated that the remaining nations were able to reach a deal.
“This year there has been a lot of attention on one country stepping back,” Stiell said, according to a copy of his remarks. “But amid the gale-force political headwinds, 194 countries stood firm in solidarity — rock-solid in support of climate cooperation.”
But some said that the agreement did not go far enough.
In a post on X, former Vice President Al Gore criticized the decision for not including an agreement to phase out fossil fuels, which are the main driver of climate change.
“Petrostates and their political allies are doing everything they can to try to stop the world from making progress on solving the climate crisis. They fiercely opposed what would have been the most important step forward at COP30: the development of a roadmap away from fossil fuels, wanting nothing more than for the world to kick the oil can down the road,” Gore wrote.
“Just as we have passed Peak Trump, I believe we have also passed Peak Petrostate,” he added. “They may be able to veto diplomatic language, but they can’t veto real-world action. Countries, companies, cities, and states worldwide are moving forward to adopt the clean energy solutions that will create jobs, grow economies, and prevent the health catastrophes associated with burning fossil fuels.”