Climate summit hears from countries suffering from harms, destruction linked to global warming

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Officials from countries most vulnerable to global warming offered searing dispatches of life on the front line of a warming planet Friday, as world leaders gathered on the edge of the Amazon rainforest for the annual United Nations climate talks.

Ahead of Monday's official kickoff, officials have sought to build support for initiatives to protect forests and to streamline carbon markets, which seek to reduce the emissions that drive warming. But the meetings also took time to hear impassioned testimony about the harms climate change is dealing around the world.

Haitian diplomat Smith Augustin, whose country was pummeled by Hurricane Melissa, appealed to wealthier countries that produce the greatest share of the world’s emissions to support Haiti in preparing for bigger storms. Developed countries pledged $300 billion to help poor nations cope with climate shocks at last year’s summit, but the money has yet to be distributed.

“The hurricanes and the heavy rain devastated my country,” said Augustin. “Developing countries, and especially the small island states, are the least responsible for climate change."

Kithure Kindiki, Kenya’s vice president, said rescuers in his country are still searching for scores of people missing after a deadly landslide triggered by torrential rain sent muddy water crashing into villages last week.

“A previously once-in-a-century cycle of extreme droughts alternating with devastating floods continues to wipe out lives,” he said. “This has now become common.”

And Kalani Kaneko, the foreign minister of the Pacific Island nation of the Marshall Islands, said his country already is living a nightmare.

“All we have to do is look out our front doors to witness the impact of climate change,” he said. “Now the sea rises, the coral dies and the fish stock leaves our shores for cooler waters.”

Officials warn that it has become almost impossible to keep global warming below the key Paris Agreement benchmark of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).

Last year was the hottest year on record. Scientists say that every fraction of a degree of atmospheric heating unleashes longer droughts, deadlier heat waves and more intense storms.

Hurricane Melissa has made that painfully clear, said Racquel Moses, director of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator, a coalition investing in climate resilience.

“It will be much, much harder to ignore the Caribbean, to talk around the issues that are absolutely real, because we just had this experience,” said Moses, who has family in Jamaica. “The very way that we live is dependent on these negotiations going according to plan."

World leaders who were not in the room on Friday were perhaps as important as those who were.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who calls climate change a hoax and prioritizes fossil fuels, boycotted the summit, leaving a hole that many other world powers sought to fill.

Although China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India also skipped the conference, the officials sent in their place used the podium to revive lagging enthusiasm about the global energy transition and assure the gathering that multilateralism was not dead just because the U.S. wished it so.

Praising his country's massive installations of wind and solar power, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang promised to “accelerate the green transition in all areas.” Although China is by far the world's biggest carbon emitter, Ding made clear it was still a leader in switching to cleaner forms of energy.

“China is a country that honors its commitments,” he said.

Indian diplomat Dinesh Bahata on Friday touted his country’s expansion of renewables to half of all energy capacity, portraying the Global South as bending toward the future of affordable, clean power while political calculations trapped wealthier nations in an outdated addiction to fossil fuels.

“While developing countries take decisive climate action,” he said, “developed countries fall short.”

Others criticized that imbalance, with Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the chairman of the African Union Commission, questioning how developing nations were expected to decarbonize at a time when financial assistance for poor countries is faltering and the U.S., the world's biggest oil producer, is cashing in on heightened demand for hydrocarbons.

“We do not ask for charity, but for climate justice,” he said.

Maina Vakafua Talia, the environmental minister of the island nation of Tuvalu, at one point addressed Trump directly over the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. “Mr. President, this is a shameful disregard for the rest of the world,” he said.

The White House shot back that Trump “will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries.”

Attendees said they made progress on two initiatives over the past two days: Financial incentives to support endangered forests and a shared global carbon market.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was working to win support for a signature new fund that would pay 74 developing countries to better preserve their rainforests.

The fund drew $5.5 billion in pledges on the first day of the U.N. climate summit, as Norway and France joined Brazil and Indonesia in investing. Germany said Friday it would make a “considerable” commitment. The scheme eventually seeks to leverage investments into $125 billion.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb hailed the fund as a model for how to drive climate solutions.

“What we might be seeing now, according to studies, is a turn of the tide on carbon dioxide emissions,” he told The Associated Press. “This is because of financing. This is because of innovation. … That’s why I think (the fund) is a good idea.”

Also on Friday, Brazil and the European Union announced that they were joining forces with China and several other countries to create a coalition aimed at uniting the world's different emission trading systems into a single global carbon market.

A shared carbon pricing framework would motivate countries and companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by allowing those that pollute less than their assigned emission caps to sell credits to counterparts that exceed theirs. It has long been notoriously difficult to get nations on the same page about emission limits and prices.

Brazil has billed this summit in the Amazonian city of Belem as uniquely inclusive of Indigenous leaders who have long been sidelined from decision-making in past climate talks despite feeling the most adverse effects of global warming.

Lula's government, which includes Brazil's first-ever Indigenous Peoples' Ministry, expects over 3,000 Indigenous delegates to participate this month as both members of civil society and negotiators. For comparison, last year's summit in Azerbaijan drew just 170 Indigenous people.

“This time, world leaders are coming Belem, to the heart of the Amazon, closer to our homes, our rivers, our territories," said Olivia Bisa, leader of the Chapra nation in Peru. Although Indigenous people cannot represent tribal nations in the talks, Bisa and others will have a greater role as delegates negotiating on behalf of their nation-states.

“We need to be in the room, not right outside of it," she said.

Their protests have also shined a light on the contradictions of host Brazil promoting itself as a defender of the Amazon rainforest. Lula's recent approval of an oil drilling project at the mouth of the Amazon river has set off demonstrations and outrage.

On Friday, outside Belem in the wider state of Para, hundreds of Indigenous people scaled cargo boats on the strategic Tapajos River to denounce separate plans for a new railway that would slice through their lands.

“This is our message to the leaders of the world,” Marília Sena, a leader of the Tupinamba nation, told reporters. "We want people to see us who have been here for centuries, caring for the forest and the river.”

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Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flashes two thumbs-up during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

People stay inside a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, flooded by rain brought by Hurricane Melissa, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FILE - People gather among debris near a bridge in Black River, Jamaica, Oct. 30, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

A worker rolls chairs in preparation for the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Belem, Brazil. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference at the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

From left, Chile President Gabriel Boric, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Para's Gov. Helder Barbalho and Somalia Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama hold hands during the group photo of the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Top row from left, Cuba Vice Prime Minister Eduardo Martinez Diaz, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago, New Development Bank president Dilma Rousseff and Equatorial Guinea Deputy Prime Minister Gaudencio Mohaba Messu attending the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit pose for a group photo in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gives thumbs-up during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz join hands after meeting during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva looks on as leaders take their places for the group photo at the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Chile President Gabriel Boric, left, United Nation Secretary General Antionio Guterres and Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, talk during the group photo of the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Leaders attending the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit pose for a group photo in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

From left, Chile President Gabriel Boric Font, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Governor of the state of Para Helder Barbalho attending the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit pose for a group photo in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Finland's President Alexander Stubb waves during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva, center, Minister of Climate and the Environment of Norway Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, left, and Brazil's Economy Minister Fernando Haddad arrive to hold a press conference during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, in Belem, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a roundtable with leaders of tropical forest countries and nations committed to investing in the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

An aerial view of fishing boats from the Caju Una community fishing in the Porto stream, Marajo Island, Para state, Brazil, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center, talks to Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and Britain's Prince William during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett launched a campaign Monday for the U.S. Senate in Texas, telling President Donald Trump, “I'm coming for you," and bringing a national profile to what could be a critical race for Democrats’ long-shot hopes of reclaiming a Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections.

Crockett, one of Congress’ most outspoken Democrats, a frequent target of GOP attacks and a Trump target, jumped into the race on the final day of qualifying in Texas. She is seeking the Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn, who is running for reelection in the GOP-dominated state.

“As a candidate who is constantly attacked and seen as a threat, it's because I am,” Crockett told supporters in Dallas. “I'm the only one who has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump, and there's a reason he's always got my name in his mouth.”

Democrats need a net gain of four Senate seats to wrest control from Republicans next November, when most of the seats up for reelection are in states like Texas that President Donald Trump won last year. Democrats have long hoped to make Texas more competitive after decades of Republican dominance. Cornyn, first elected to the Senate since 2002, is facing the toughest GOP primary of his career against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

Crockett’s announcement came hours after former Rep. Colin Allred ended his own campaign for the Democratic nomination in favor of attempting a House comeback bid. She faces a March 3 primary against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, a former teacher with a rising national profile fueled by viral social media posts challenging Republican policies such as private school vouchers and requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

“It’s going to be a sprint from now until the primary, but in Texas you have to think about the voter base overall in November, too,” said Kamau Marshall, a Democratic consultant who has worked for Allred before and worked on other campaigns in Texas. “Who can do the work on the ground? After the primary, who can win in the general?"

Talarico raised almost $6.3 million in the three weeks after he formally organized his primary campaign committee in September and had nearly $5 million in cash on hand at the end of the month, campaign finance reports showed. Crockett raised about $2.7 million for her House campaign fund from July through September and ended September with $4.6 million.

Crockett could test Democratic voters’ appetite for a blunt communicator who is eager to take on Republicans as Democrats pursue their first statewide victory in Texas since 1994.

Republicans were quick Monday to try to turn Crockett's penchant for public clashes with opponents into liabilities. Paxton called her “Crazy Crockett."

Cornyn told reporters at the U.S. Capitol he was eager for the chance to face her.

“I think that would be a lot of fun,” he said. “She just says such inflammatory and crazy things.”

Talarico welcomed Crockett to the Democratic primary but pointed to his fundraising and said he has 10,000 volunteers.

“Our movement is rooted in unity over division,” he said in a statement.

Democrats see their best opportunity to pick up the Texas seat if Paxton wins the Republican nomination because he has been shadowed for much of his career by legal and personal issues. Yet Paxton is popular with Trump’s most ardent supporters.

Hunt, who has served two terms representing a Houston-area district, defied GOP leaders by entering the GOP race.

Crockett told her cheering crowd in Dallas to “tune out” those who say she can’t win in the GOP-dominated state because she is Black, a woman or a Democrat.

Ahead of her 43-minute speech, Crockett's campaign played a video of her with audio of Trump criticizing her playing over it, mocking the idea that she's represents the Democratic Party's future. Trump has called her a “low IQ person.” In response, Crockett said she would agree to take an IQ test against the president.

Crockett addressed the president directly several times.

“You better get to work because I'm coming for you,” she said. “I'm not going away. I'm not giving up.”

Crockett is a civil rights attorney and a former public defender and once the youngest Black Democratic county chair in Texas. She served in the Texas House before winning the first of her two terms in Congress in 2000.

She's built her national profile with a candid style and viral moments on Capitol Hill. Crockett traded insults with Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who announced last month that she would resign in January, and had heated exchanges with Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

She also mocked Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — who uses a wheelchair — as “Gov. Hot Wheels.” She later said she was referring to Abbott’s policy of using “planes, trains and automobiles” to send thousands of immigrants in Texas illegally to Democratic-led cities.

Democrats' best showing in a statewide race in the past three decades was in 2018, when former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke came within 3 points of ousting Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. It was the midterm election of Trump’s first administration, and Democrats believe next year’s race could be similarly favorable to their party.

A former professional football player and civil rights attorney, Allred was among Democrats’ star recruits in 2018.

Allred lost to Cruz by 8.5 points last year. He is running for the House in a Dallas-Fort Worth area district under a new map approved this year by the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature to meet Trump's call for more winnable Republican seats. The district has some areas Allred represented for six years before his run for the Senate in 2024.

An internal party battle, Allred said, “would prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified against the danger posed to our communities and our Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers.”

Marshall said Crockett is a “solid national figure” who has a large social media following and is a frequent presence on cable news. That could be an advantage with Democratic primary voters, Marshall said, but not necessarily afterward.

Talarico, meanwhile, must raise money and build name recognition to make the leap from the Texas House of Representatives to a strong statewide candidacy, Marshall said.

A winning Democratic candidate in Texas, Marshall said, would have to energize Black voters, mainly in metro Houston and Dallas, win the kind of diverse suburbs and exurbs like those Allred once represented in Congress, and get enough rural votes, especially among Latinos in the Rio Grande Valley.

“It’s about building complicated coalitions in a big state," Marshall said.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks to supporters after announcing her run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks to supporters after announcing her run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks to supporters after announcing her run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)