PM Gaston Browne Urges Urgent Climate Action at COP30 Leaders’ Roundtable

Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda delivered a forceful call for urgent climate action and fair financing during the COP30 Leaders’ Roundtable on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Financing, hosted by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in Belém, Brazil.

Speaking to world leaders, Browne warned that the planet “isn’t waiting for us,” noting that global CO₂ levels rose by a record 3.3 parts per million in 2024. While 64 new NDCs now cover roughly 30 per cent of global emissions, he said current progress remains far short of what is needed to limit warming to 1.5°C,  a threshold he described as “the line between a functioning economy and permanent damage” for small island states.

“For Antigua and Barbuda, 1.5°C isn’t a headline or a hashtag; it’s the line between a functioning economy and permanent damage,” Browne said. “Returning to that pathway is essential to our people’s wellbeing, our prosperity, and our survival.”

The Prime Minister reaffirmed that Antigua and Barbuda’s upcoming NDC will target key sectors including energy, transport, waste management, agriculture, and coastal protection. He stressed that for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), mitigation, adaptation, and resilience are inseparable, forming an integrated survival strategy rather than a theoretical framework.

Citing the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, Browne emphasized that extreme weather events are not warnings but evidence that global action remains inadequate.

On climate finance, he noted that while 75 per cent of updated NDCs include financial needs totaling nearly US$2 trillion, actual support for vulnerable nations remains “grossly insufficient.” Browne warned, “Ambition without finance is just aspiration. GDP per capita hides our reality; it says we’re fine on paper, while a single storm can erase a decade of development.”

He called for a revolution in both energy systems and the financing of climate action, highlighting that adaptation, which alone requires more than US$560 billion globally, must receive equal focus alongside mitigation. For small island states, adaptation represents “the difference between survival and collapse,” necessitating urgent upgrades to homes, schools, hospitals, and utilities to withstand increasingly powerful storms.

Browne also reminded leaders that international law, through advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), affirms every state’s duty to prevent environmental harm and every people’s right to a healthy environment.

“Financing the NDCs of the most vulnerable is not charity; it is fairness and climate justice,” he concluded. “Large polluters have an obligation to act responsibly, to help vulnerable countries adapt and mitigate against the effects of climate change. This is how we turn ambition into action and survival into shared success.”

COP30 continues to convene nearly 200 nations, with small island states like Antigua and Barbuda leading calls for immediate action, accountability, and equitable solutions to the climate crisis.