COP30 Tiptoes “Dangerously Close” to 1.5°C Threshold

When a storm destroys homes, livelihoods, and economies, fancy speeches are not enough. Caribbean nations are at the 30th UN Climate Change Conference, COP30, in Brazil to demand action before there’s no turning point.

The summit, themed “The Forest COP,” focuses on the Amazon and the world’s urgent fight against global warming. Over 150 leaders are gathered to discuss ways to slow climate change and commit once more to the decade-old Paris Agreement.

Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, told News Five that the devastation from Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica demonstrates the urgency for the Caribbean. “As oceans get warmer and global temperatures get higher and we get closer to that one point five degrees, one of the impacts, the devastating impacts are these monster storms, these huge powerful hurricanes,” he said.

Dr. Young warns that small nations cannot simply build their way out of these hurricanes. “Most houses and infrastructure will not stand up… The cost of building structures to withstand that are exorbitant. It brings urgency for the developed world to deliver on their promise of making resources available for our countries to become more adaptive to climate change,” he said.

CARICOM nations are demanding climate finance, early-warning systems, and resilient infrastructure, not just speeches.

Young added that with temperatures already at 1.3°C, “getting dangerously close” to the 1.5-degree limit, the global community must act faster. “We need the global community to do more faster and that is what we call the ambition, the climate ambition,” Young said.