Starmer warns that ‘consensus has disappeared’ on climate change response

President Trump came under attack Thursday as world leaders lined up to criticize his stance on climate change ahead of the COP30 summit.

The US leader, who did not attend the meeting in the Amazon city of Belém, was called a liar who was “against humanity” by rejecting climate science and rolling back key climate policies.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged that political consensus on the issue was weakening. He said climate change was once an issue of unity, but “today, sadly, that consensus is gone.”

Over the next two weeks, countries will try and negotiate a new agreement on climate change, with a particular focus on putting more money into forest protection.

In particular, many leaders of the world’s largest countries, including India, Russia, the United States, and China, did not attend this year’s summit.

President Donald Trump will not be attending the conference in Belém, but his views on climate change are clearly on the minds of other leaders in attendance.

In a speech to the United Nations last September, the U.S. president refuted the use of renewable energy, calling climate change “the greatest hoax perpetrated on the world.”

He said: “The entire globalist concept, which requires successful industrialized countries to inflict suffering on themselves and fundamentally disrupt entire societies, must be completely rejected.”

Without naming the U.S. leader, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned against “extremist forces that fabricate fake news and condemn future generations to live on a planet forever changed by global warming.”

Leaders in Chile and Colombia went further, calling the U.S. president a liar and asking other countries to ignore U.S. efforts to disengage from climate action.

Chile’s Environment Minister Maysa Rojas told the BBC: “The science is very clear. It is very important not to falsify the truth.”

But while criticizing Trump was well-received among audiences, getting agreement on new measures to combat warming has proven much more difficult.

Here in Belém, only a few dozen leaders have gathered, and most countries have failed to submit new plans to reduce carbon emissions, the root cause of rising temperatures.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged that global political support for the climate movement was declining, but told those in attendance: “My message is that Britain is all-in.”

But on Wednesday night, in a blow to host Brazil, Britain decided to withdraw $125 billion (£95 billion) from its flagship fund to support the world’s rainforests.

President Lula had hoped that $25 billion could be raised from public sources, mainly in developed countries such as the United Kingdom, to support governments and communities protecting the world’s rainforests, such as those in the Amazon and the Congo Basin, for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility.

Protecting these ecosystems is critical to combating climate change. The ecosystem covers only 6% of the world’s land, but stores billions of tons of global warming gases and hosts half of Earth’s species.

The UK’s move was surprising as it was deeply involved in the design of the fund and announced a global commitment to halt deforestation by 2030 when it hosted the COP summit in Glasgow in 2021.

Sir Jack Goldsmith, who worked on the issue as a former environment secretary, told the BBC’s PM programme: “It was assumed that the UK would be a leading player, but at the last minute they backed out. It’s really frustrating to put it mildly here in Brazil. The Brazilian government behind it is furious.”

This decision also appears to go against the Prince of Wales’ position. Also speaking to leaders on Thursday, he declared the fund a “visionary step towards valuing nature’s role in climate stability” and shortlisted it for the £1m Earthshot award.

Prince William sought to encourage leaders to overcome their differences and take action.

“I have long believed in the power of urgent optimism,” he said. “The conviction that even in the face of difficult challenges, we have the ingenuity and determination to make a difference, and that we can do so now.”

And he urged us to take action for our children and grandchildren.

“Let us rise to this moment with the clarity that history demands of us. Let us be the generation that turns the tide, not for applause, but for the quiet gratitude of those yet to be born,” he said.

From Monday, countries will spend two weeks negotiating further action on climate change, with important questions about how to finance previously promised measures for people already affected by the worst impacts of climate change.

The past few weeks have seen devastating extreme weather events across the world.

Hurricane Melissa, which struck the Caribbean last week, was one of the strongest the island nation has ever experienced, killing more than 75 people.

A recent analysis by Imperial College found that climate change has led to a 16% increase in extreme rainfall associated with Category 5 hurricanes.

Additional reporting by Ione Wells and Justin Rowlatt.