This United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) is being held in the city of Belem, Brazil, from November 10 to November 21, 2025. This Conference is occurring at a time of serious global concerns and incidents, which are interrelated in that they have environmental consequences, and threaten the peace and security of the global community. The ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Israel; the devasting and murderous conflict in Sudan; the bombing of boats in international waters, and the military buildup in the Caribbean by the United States; the ongoing NATO proxy war in Ukraine, are all taking place simultaneously and shows no immediate sign of deescalating anytime soon. It is worthy of noting that the United States has no high-level representation at this year’s Conference; such action is not only irresponsible but arrogant.

The Idiocy of Climate Change Denial

Any human being in 2025 who denies that there is a climate crisis, is an unadulterated fool. Climatology, Oceanography, Meteorology and Environmental Science, all point with irrefutable data that measurable changes in the earth’s natural phenomena are contributors to the more frequent and intensified occurrences of natural disasters. The earth’s temperatures are rising; glaciers are melting at an unusual rate, which causes sea levels to rise, and the Ozone Layer continues to be impacted by increased carbon emissions. No intelligent human being would ignore and trivialize these events unless you are seriously intellectually deficient.

As we look at the amount of carbon emissions by country up to 2025, none of the countries of the Global South are listed as major contributors; however, they are the ones most affected by this phenomenon and threatens their very existence. It is necessary for humans to act on nature, in order to provide and to satisfy human needs. Only capitalism driven by its ideology of excesses, destroy the Planet to satisfy capitalism’s need for super profits. Capitalism’s obscene gluttony and obsession with accumulation at all costs, threatens the survival of the Planet. Hardest hit are the indigenous peoples of the Global South. It has been reported that the indigenous people of the Amazon region have been noticeably affected by climate change events. In Brazil there is a recorded increase in the outbreaks of dengue fever, as the climate changes contributes to the reproduction of the mosquitoes that transmit the virus.

What is critical and needs urgent attention and more so action at this COP30 Summit, is the impact of militarization on the global environment.

World leaders gather in Belem, Brazil for COP30 - Photo: Lula/X

The Effects of Militarization on The Environment

Environmental activists and other civil society groups have long been advocating for an end to the dependence on fossil fuels, and rightly so. What is missing is the inclusion of countries’ military spending, which is a major consumer of fossil fuels. It is reported that militaries and their attendant industries account for approximately 5% of global emissions; this is more than civilian aviation and shipping combined. The danger of militaries pollution atrocities is that they are not obligated to report the data to the United Nations (UN). Apart from fuel consumption and emissions from war machines, there is the effect of bombings and other explosive munitions on the environment.

The continued genocidal campaign by Israel in Palestine, the twenty-year occupation of Afghanistan by the United States, the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia and the conflict in Sudan are just a few of the military actions, which worsens the fragile environmental crisis we are now facing. The environmental problems caused by bombings are extensive, long-lasting and occurs on many levels. Separate from the destruction of infrastructure, buildings, and ecosystems, bombing releases radioactive particulates into the air that can contaminate soil, air and water, affecting humans, vegetation, and animals. What also goes mainly unnoticed is the effects of unexploded munitions. During the Vietnam war, the United States bombing of Laos and Cambodia have left unexploded bombs, which continues to impact agricultural production to this day.

US Fighter Jets - Photo: Christian Cachola, US DoD

The Importance of a United Front – A Peoples Movement

The imperialist powers and their weapons industry are oblivious to the fact that in armed conflict, there are technically no winners; both sides are left with material and personal losses. In this age of nuclear armaments, the human and material costs are immeasurable. The heat from a nuclear explosion destroys vegetation and livestock; the fallout from radioactive particulates contaminates water sources and waterways, contaminates the soil, and produces long-term effects which can last beyond our lifetime.

The presence of civil society at the COPs has been extremely limited especially in reference to indigenous peoples and in some cases preventing their participation in the Conferences. Environmental justice is a critical component in the struggle against Climate Change disasters. One cannot serve two “masters;” one cannot serve the interests of capital and the interests of the people at the same time. Climate Change Policies must be decisive and deliberate; they cannot be contradictory. Brazilian locals have reported that over 100,000 trees were destroyed and new roads built for the COP30 Summit at the gateway to the Amazon. At the same time that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has reduced deforestation in the Amazon, the government has given approval for oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon River.

As disappointing as these vacillatory actions are especially in the face of this COP30, it is gratifying that indigenous peoples and other environmental activists have converged on Belem to convene a parallel conference, the Peoples’ Summit. This Summit brought together environmental activists, grass roots leaders and other civil society participants from at least 62 countries, to confront and present an alternative to the COP conference. The COP Conferences has become a forum for much talk, extraordinarily little action, and a meeting place for fossil fuel lobbyists. It has been reported that 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists are attending the COP30 Conference with full access.

The rich nations which are the largest polluters and are ultimately responsible for the Climate Change crisis, must begin to seriously put their money where their talk is. The approach taken by the rich countries to the climate emergency is one ranging from denial to apathy, which largely explains why the funding for developing countries has barely scratched the proverbial “bottom surface of the barrel.” This places the developing countries in a precarious position: delay the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy or continue fossil fuel use which continues to negatively impact the environment. Faced with this dilemma, it increases the need for the development of social Movements, to put pressure on the responsible parties to honor their verbal “commitment” to provide funding for Climate Change initiatives.

Increased social activism, the formation of peoples’ Movement are critical components in forcing and influencing social change, short or long-term.