Browne Says Political Will Needed to Drive Climate Action at COP30
BELÉM, Brazil (Nov. 6, 2025) — Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda warned that global inertia and a lack of political will threaten to derail the fight against climate change, as he addressed world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.
“What is needed now is the political will to drive action on climate change,” Browne told delegates. “The world has the knowledge, the technology, and the financial resources to accelerate the transition.”
He said COP30—described as the “COP of Truth”—must be remembered as the moment when “honesty met action” and when ambition was transformed into results. “We lack the time to entertain further inertia and inaction,” Browne said, calling for governments to act decisively to avert planetary disaster.
The prime minister warned that the planet has already reached the 1.5°C threshold, the very limit small island states had fought to prevent. “For small island states, the climate crisis is not past tense or future tense. It is our lived reality,” he said, describing the 1.5°C target as “a quintessential priority” and “our lifeline.”
He condemned the actions of major polluters, saying they continue to “deliberately destroy our marine and terrestrial environments with their poisonous fossil fuel gases,” and urged an “economic revolution” to transform global production, consumption, and trade.
Browne cited the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean as a stark example of “loss and damage,” calling it “not theory, but tragedy.” He added that such disasters represent “the bill that nature is now presenting to humanity.”
The Antiguan leader stressed that climate finance must be viewed as an obligation, not charity. “Climate finance is not charity. It is climate justice,” he said. “Those who cause this crisis must lead in fixing it, and the benefits of the green economy must reach those who bear the greatest cost.”
Browne also urged the adoption of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to direct support where it is most needed and called for a global shift “from debt dependency to development justice.”
Commending Brazil for hosting the summit “in the lungs of the Earth,” he welcomed the launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility as “a bold symbol of global solidarity,” adding that Antigua and Barbuda stands ready to partner in the initiative “not as a victim, but as a voice of resilience and hope.”
Browne concluded by urging nations to ensure COP30 is remembered “as the moment when ambition became transformation and when climate justice moved from promise to practice.”
