— presents priority areas to progress agenda, calls for rejection of extremism
Georgetown, Guyana (November, 6 2025) – His Excellency President Dr Irfaan Ali charged the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) 30 to shun extremism, promote collaboration, and use bureaucracy to accelerate innovation, which would make the meeting in Belém, Brazil a turning point for progress.
Delivering his address to the conference this morning in the Brazilian city, President Ali acknowledged that many view COP’s process as a rubber stamp because climate change continues to devastate lives and economies. But he stressed that COP remains the only viable forum for global cooperation, and that the machinery must be tweaked for greater effectiveness, not abandoned.
He pointed to the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa across the Caribbean as evidence of the urgency, reminding leaders that COP remains the only forum where all nations sit as equals to shape the planet’s response.
“We are at a hopeful moment, if we choose to grasp the opportunities before us. People everywhere, and in particular the people of the developing world, are offering practical, experience-based solutions. If we commit ourselves to shun extremism and instead promote collaboration, if we make our bureaucracies accelerate innovation, not trap it, if we unleash the financing options that are affordable and available, then, more than 30 years after Rio, Belém will be the turning point when the world moves from promises to progress.”
The President outlined three priority areas to recommit the global process to solving problems: accelerating the energy transition while expanding energy security, making forests a permanent priority, and advancing adaptation finance.
On accelerating the energy transition, President Ali stressed the need to move on two tracks: massive investment to scale renewables, hydrogen, storage, and modern grid systems to decarbonise growth and meet rising demand; and science-based policy to ensure a just transition by powering the remainder of the fossil fuel era with the lowest-carbon, most efficient, least-cost fuels. He said this requires recommitting to global rules, not relying on slogans, and encouraging competition based on carbon science rather than legacy advantage. He added that responsible producers must be included in the search for solutions.
On forests, the President was clear: “Forests must be mainstream and part of every single COP. We must not fight for forests to be on any agenda. If we are serious about climate change, forests must find a permanent place on the agenda of climate change.”
He congratulated Brazilian President, His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for advancing the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), which complements the work of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP), co-chaired by Guyana and the United Kingdom. Together, they have developed the Forest Finance Roadmap, a shared plan to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030.
“The world must now act on all the financing options in the roadmap: expanding jurisdictional REDD+, scaling up the TFFF, strengthening concessional finance, and unlocking private capital.”
President Ali also reiterated Guyana’s support for the Bridgetown Initiative, reminded that Guyana is expanding its protected areas to meet the 30×30 target, and highlighted the launch of the Global Biodiversity Alliance. He challenged countries and institutions to move beyond rhetoric and join initiatives that value nature in its entirety, not just the carbon it stores.
On adaptation, the President stressed that even if mitigation targets are met, millions already live with the consequences of climate change. “For them, adaptation is survival. Investing in resilience protects lives, food systems, and economies. It strengthens stability and peace.”
President Ali also pointed to Guyana’s own record as proof that fair and effective solutions can work. He recalled the launch of the Low Carbon Development Strategy in 2009, which many doubted a small country could achieve. Yet Guyana became the first nation to issue ART TREES jurisdictional carbon credits, the first to engage with the CORSIA compliance market, and the first to complete large-scale carbon sales agreements. Today, Guyana remains a net carbon sink, with forests storing 19.5 gigatons of carbon. Revenues from carbon credits flow directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities, renewable energy, job creation, and the largest adaptation investment in the country’s history.
President Ali also called for unity and pragmatism: to shun extremism, promote collaboration, and make bureaucracies enablers of innovation. He urged leaders to unlock affordable financing and seize the moment to make Belem the turning point when the world finally moves from promises to progress.