The global climate summit or COP30 in Belém was meant to be a reaffirmation of collective resolve, a moment to steady the world’s faltering climate ambition. Instead, it has revealed how deeply divided the international response has become. The absence of major emitters and the open discord among attending leaders mark a turning point: climate action is no longer the common cause it once seemed.

The sharpest fault line is political. Populist leaders continue to exploit economic anxieties to discredit climate science, framing it as an elitist project designed to punish industrial success. Such rhetoric resonates with sections of the public weary of inflation, energy crises, and global disruptions. But it also represents a perilous retreat from reality. As the evidence of climate change becomes ever more visible ~ from deadly hurricanes to record droughts ~ the denial of science is no longer a difference of opinion. It is an act of........

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