AT the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, President Dr. Irfaan Ali delivered a message that should echo far beyond the conference halls.

His call for collaboration over confrontation, and for action over rhetoric, came at a time when the world can no longer afford the paralysis of indecision.

For too long, global climate summits have been high on speeches but low on delivery.

As President Ali rightly pointed out, “Our challenge is not to dismiss COPs but to fix the machinery of co-operation.” It is a sober truth.

The developing world, often the first to feel the brunt of the climate crisis, continues to bear a disproportionate share of its consequences.

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Melissa, which recently tore through Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and the Bahamas, is a stark reminder that the climate emergency is neither theoretical nor distant.

Dr. Ali’s intervention stood out for its realism. He did not seek to divide the world into villains and victims, nor did he resort to simplistic blame games.

Instead, he advanced a vision of shared responsibility rooted in pragmatism and equity.

His appeal, to accelerate the global energy transition, expand adaptation financing, and anchor forest conservation as a permanent fixture on the global climate agenda, spoke directly to the practical work that must now be done.

President Ali’s insistence on a dual approach, expanding renewable energy while ensuring energy security, reflects the complexity of the global transition.

In a world increasingly powered by artificial intelligence and data systems, energy demand is surging even as the imperative to decarbonise intensifies.

The President’s point that “responsible producers must be included in the source for solutions” underscores a reality that too many policymakers ignore: fossil fuel producers, particularly those pursuing low-carbon pathways, must be partners in the transition, not pariahs.

Equally compelling was Dr. Ali’s demand that forest conservation move from the margins to the mainstream of climate policy.

Forests currently absorb about one-third of global carbon emissions and remain the most cost-effective mitigation tool available.

Yet, year after year, they struggle for attention amid debates dominated by energy transition narratives. Guyana’s own Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 is a model for how countries can leverage forest resources sustainably, balancing economic growth with environmental stewardship.

Perhaps the most urgent aspect of President Ali’s address was his call for greater adaptation financing.

While the world debates net-zero targets decades into the future, millions in vulnerable nations are already living, and dying, with the consequences of climate change.

For them, adaptation is not policy, it is survival. Investing in resilience protects lives, stabilises economies, and prevents displacement and conflict.

Yet, global financing for adaptation remains paltry compared to mitigation spending.

President Ali’s argument is therefore both moral and practical: it is in the world’s collective interest to fortify the most exposed regions against the storms, droughts, and floods that are already inevitable.

In a polarised world where environmental debates often degenerate into ideological battles, Dr. Ali’s closing appeal to “shun extremism and instead promote collaboration” was both timely and profound.

Climate change, he reminded leaders, will not be solved by division — only by co-operation grounded in fairness, science, and shared commitment.

As COP30 continues in Belém, President Ali’s message should resonate as a guiding principle: that the climate crisis demands not new slogans, but new solidarity.

From the rainforests of the Amazon to the coastal plains of the Caribbean, the time has come to turn promises into progress, not next year, not at the next COP, but now.