Starmer warns that ‘consensus has disappeared’ on the fight against climate change

World leaders have criticized US President Donald Trump for his stance on climate change ahead of the COP30 global summit.

President Trump, who is not attending the meeting in the Amazon city of Belém, has been called a liar by the leaders of Colombia and Chile for his rejection of climate science.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has acknowledged the decline in political support for climate change. He said that it was a matter of international unity and in the United Kingdom, but “today, unfortunately, that consensus no longer exists.”

Over the next two weeks, countries will try to agree a new agreement on climate change, with a particular focus on channeling more money to protect forests.

Many leaders of the world’s largest nations – India, Russia, the US and China – are notably absent from this year’s summit.

And while Trump is not attending this meeting in Belém, his views on climate change are certainly on the minds of many other leaders in attendance.

Speaking at the UN in September, the US president said climate change was “the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the world”.

He said: “The whole globalist concept, which asks successful industrialized nations to inflict pain on themselves and radically disrupt their entire societies, must be completely and utterly rejected.”

Without naming the American leader, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned Thursday of “extremist forces that invent fake news and condemn future generations to life on a planet forever altered by global warming.”

The leaders of Chile and Colombia went further, calling the US president a liar and asking other countries to ignore US efforts to back away from climate action.

Maisa Rojas, Chile’s environment minister, told the BBC: “The science is very clear. It is very important not to falsify the truth.”

But while criticism of Trump has gone down well with audiences, reaching agreement on new steps to combat global warming has proven much more difficult.

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

Despite Starmer admitting that global political support for the climate movement is waning, he told the crowd: “My message is that the UK is all in.”

But on Wednesday night, in a blow to hosts Brazil, the UK decided to opt out of its $125bn (£95bn) flagship fund to support the world’s rainforests.

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

Protecting these ecosystems is key to combating climate change – they cover only 6% of the world’s landmass, yet store billions of tonnes of planet-warming gases and host half of the planet’s species.

The UK’s move came as a surprise as it was heavily involved in the design of the fund and launched a global commitment by countries to halt deforestation by 2030 when it hosted the COP summit in Glasgow in 2021.

Lord Zach Goldsmith, who worked on the issue when he was environment secretary, told the BBC’s PM programme: “The assumption was that the UK would be the lead participant and at the last minute the UK walked away. It’s caused real frustration, to put it mildly, here in Brazil… the Brazilian government behind the scenes is furious.”

The decision also appears to be at odds with the Prince of Wales’ position. Also, addressing leaders on Thursday, he hailed the fund as a “visionary step towards valuing nature’s role in climate stability” and shortlisted it for his £1 million Earthshot prize.

Prince William tried to encourage leaders to overcome their differences and move forward with action.

“I have long believed in the power of urgent optimism: the belief that, even in the face of daunting challenges, we have the ingenuity and determination to make a difference, now,” he said.

And he invited them to do something for the benefit of their children and grandchildren.

“Let us rise to this moment with the clarity that history demands of us. Let us be the generation that turned 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 key questions over how to raise previously pledged funding for those already hit by the worst impacts of climate change.

The last few weeks have witnessed devastating extreme weather events around the world.

Hurricane Melissa, which hit the Caribbean last week, is one of the strongest the island nation has ever experienced – resulting in the deaths of more than 75 people.

Recent analysis by Imperial College found that climate change has increased extreme rainfall events associated with Category 5 hurricanes by 16%.

Additional reporting by Iona Wells and Justin Rowlatt