The world community must adopt innovative initiatives urgently to promote the cause of global cooling with support of enlightened nations, social service organisations & climate activists.
The 30th International Conference (COP30) on Climate Change was held in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025. The Belem summit, held at the mouth of the mighty Amazon River at the gateway to the iconic Amazon rainforests on the tenth year of the Paris Agreement (2015) on climate action, was an appropriate occasion for taking critical decisions on climate change, green energy, and preservation of the dwindling forests on earth.
The summit was held in the backdrop of the alarming rise in average global temperature. In 2024, for the first time, the global average temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. It was a warning signal for immediate global action to prevent calamities due to global warming.
Delegates from nearly 200 countries from across the globe attended the conference. The most powerful economy did not join the climate summit for the first time in three decades. It meant near failure of the ambitious Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21), that promised to limit global warming to well below 2°C (preferably 1.5°C) above pre-industrial levels.
“Drill, baby, drill”
The US policy was decided at the highest level. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, issued a Proclamation on 17 October 2025 re-assessing the liquid gold and minerals under our feet, achieving American energy dominance, and forging a future defined by three simple words: “Drill, baby, drill”.
The USA joined the Paris Agreement in 2016. U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement on November 4, 2020, contending that the agreement would “undermine” the U.S. economy and put the U.S. “at a permanent disadvantage”, costing the United States $3 trillion in lost GDP and 6.5 million jobs.
The USA rejoined the Paris Agreement on February 19, 2021, and withdrew for the second time under President Donald Trump in January 2026. As the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (after China), this departure adversely impacts global climate efforts.
Lobbying by fossil fuel companies Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuel companies have provided the main source of energy. They indulge in campaigns against strict global warming regulations on fossil fuel production.
The fossil fuel lobby has considerably influenced policies in Washington, D.C., the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21), introduced the goal to keep the global temperature increase well below 2°C, with efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. Studies show that the commitments made under the Paris agreement did indeed slow the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Nobel Peace Prize 2007 The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 was shared between the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) cause global warming by trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, intensifying the natural greenhouse effect. The IPCC report (2022) warned that the world is set to reach the 1.5°C level within the next two decades.
China, the United States, India, the EU27, Russia, and Indonesia are the largest contributors, accounting for over 60% of total emissions. They must minimize emissions to fight global warming.
‘Code red for humanity’ UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the IPCC report “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.” He announced that the report was nothing less than a code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable.
The criticality of climate action is crystal clear. Highlighting the inevitable crisis, Alan Jope, Global Chief Executive Officer, Unilever, while speaking at an event organized by FICCI on 20 September 2022 at New Delhi, warned that the estimated disruptions caused by rising temperatures will cost companies US$1.3 trillion by 2026, and result in the loss of 80 million jobs.
Global warming is caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, both natural and man-made like CFCs and other pollutants. GHGs are emitted by sectors of energy, transportation, aviation, industrial production, agriculture, manufacturing processes, and other human activities.
Global climate change results in extreme weather (floods, droughts, wildfires), rising sea levels endangering coastal areas, and severe water and food insecurity, causing massive economic disruption, and health crises amplified by melting polar ice, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem destruction, demanding urgent international action for mitigation and adaptation.
The victims of global warming
Global warming impacts billions in developing nations, indigenous communities, and women and children. From 1995–2024, extreme weather events caused over 832,000 deaths and $4.5 trillion in economic losses.
Ecosystems, such as coral reefs and fragile species, are dying due to ocean acidification and rising temperatures, with one million species at risk of extinction.
Nine countries could disappear due to climate change—namely Kiribati, Maldives, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Nauru, Fiji Islands, and the Marshall Islands.
On behalf of the victim nations, Mia Amor Mottley, the then Prime Minister of Barbados, made an impassioned speech on November 1, 2021, at COP26 summit in Glasgow. To some leaders, she said: “How do we survive and their own? Can they be at peace and prosperity on one third of the world if two thirds are under siege and facing calamitous threats to their wellbeing?”
Conclusion
Global warming has ended up as a confrontation between the haves and have-nots, between the prosperous North and the poor South, with politics and resources causing a rift among the nations threatening world peace. The industrialised countries are not willing to reduce greenhouse gases; the poor countries have neither the resources nor technology for just transition to green economy. It is a losing battle!
The world community must adopt innovative initiatives urgently to promote the cause of global cooling with support of enlightened nations, social service organisations, and climate activists. As the Vishwa Guru, India should play a leadership role for positive climate action.