Antigua and Barbuda’s Climate Change Ambassador, Ruleta Camacho-Thomas, has warned that the final agreement at COP30 falls short of the ambition required to protect the world’s most vulnerable nations, despite negotiators avoiding any major backsliding.
Speaking to BBC News from Belém, Brazil, Camacho-Thomas said progress at the summit had been “limited”, with negotiators failing to significantly advance commitments on mitigation, adaptation or climate finance.
“We’re extremely disappointed by the lack of ambition,” she said. “Not only on mitigation, but also on adaptation finance. We had expected a lot more from our partners.”
The ambassador criticised the omission of fossil fuels from the final text and noted that deforestation received only a single mention.
Still, she stressed that the process remained intact and said negotiators had at least prevented a regression from previous agreements.
“We didn’t backtrack. We are on an even keel,” she added.
Camacho-Thomas acknowledged that language on tripling adaptation finance represented a “hard-fought” outcome, but insisted the pledge remains inadequate.
“That’s not enough,” she said. “It’s not where we started in the negotiations, but it is an outcome we can build on. What matters now is implementation — not just of this COP, but previous COPs as well.”
Asked why the meeting billed as the “implementation COP” produced so few concrete actions, Camacho-Thomas said the talks had exposed a deeper challenge.
“This was the COP of truth,” she said. “There are still countries unwilling to take action. There is still a lot of distrust.”
She expressed cautious confidence that Brazil, which holds the presidency until COP31 in Turkey next year, would push countries to raise ambition in the months ahead. But she emphasised that small island states could not afford to wait.
“We cannot just wait until the next COP to see what happens,” she said. “Small island states will have to be very engaged — on fossil fuel discussions, on adaptation ambition, and with partners who share high ambition.”
Despite frustration with the pace of negotiations, Camacho-Thomas defended the COP process.
“It is very slow, much slower than what we need,” she said. “But without this process, we’d be about two degrees higher than where we are now. It’s the only place where the voices of developing countries and small island states are heard, and where binding decisions can be made.”
With Antigua and Barbuda facing intensifying storms, sea-level rise and mounting climate impacts, the ambassador said her country remains in urgent need of international assistance.
“We have to continue building resilience in our infrastructure to prevent future losses,” she said. “But we cannot do this fast enough to prepare before the next storm. That is why we are pleading for international help — on adaptation, but also on mitigation.”
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