Leaders of world’s ‘most polluting’ countries to skip COP30

The leaders of the world’s three biggest polluters – the United States, China and India – will not attend the annual UN climate summit, COP30, in Brazil, Euronews reports.

As noted, Europe will almost alone try to help developing countries combat climate change.

For Europe, it is a delicate balancing act as it tries to stay engaged and make good on its climate pledges but also faces a fast-changing set of priorities at home as the focus turns to rearming and boosting defense capabilities.

Chinese President Xi Jinping won’t attend COP30, but his Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will represent Beijing while India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi delegated the country’s representation to its Ambassador to Brazil, Dinesh Bhatia.

The United States snubbed COP30 entirely, with no Washington delegates attending the UN climate summit. Washington’s absence was an expected outcome following its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, which marks 10 years since world leaders pledged to limit global warming to 1.5°C relative to 1990 levels.

As noted, China (29.2%), the United States (11.1%) and India (8.2%) account for nearly half of the world’s emissions, compared to the mere 5.9% coming from the EU27, according to 2024 data from the EU’s Joint Research Centre.

The annual UN climate summit starts today in the Brazilian city of Belém and will continue until Nov. 21.