Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali has cautioned that the tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could undermine the success of the upcoming UN climate summit, COP30, in Brazil.
Speaking on The Rest Is Politics: Leading with Alastair Campbell podcast, on Friday, the President said strained relations between the host nation and a major global player like the United States could “definitely make it harder” to reach a negotiated outcome at COP.
“If there is a strained relationship between the host of COP and the U.S., that definitely dampens the ability to get a compromise… one major partner opting out and the entire process falls,” President Ali added.
And even though he described the tensions between Trump and Lula as a “little hurdle,” President Ali used the opportunity to call on the G7 and the wider international community to step in.
“I think it is a little hurdle, it is recoverable, we can move forward, the participation of the US in COP, when I say participation I am not talking about the attendance, the full participation of the US in COP, is key, it is critical especially in this stage of our global development,” President Ali stated.
President Dr Irfaan Ali (at the podium) speaking on Day Two of the first-ever Global Biodiversity Summit hosted in Guyana in June 2025. Looking on is the former President of Colombia, Ivan Duque and the President of COP30, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago
The Head of State also stressed that COP’s effectiveness depends on full participation from the world’s largest economies, such as the U.S., China, and India.
“The worst thing we want right now is to have a conflict or destabilisation of the COP agenda,” President Ali said.
Tensions between Trump and Lula have been growing over the past few months.
The Financial Times reported last month that Brazil has vowed to defend its supreme court from “unacceptable interference” after Donald Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs and sanctioned a Brazilian judge over the trial of his far-right political ally, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazil, in response, enacted a Trade Reciprocity Law, filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization, and unveiled a $5.5 billion relief package for affected exporters.
With COP30 weeks away in November, President Ali is urging unity and a mechanism to ensure stability.
“It is important, I think, that the international community find a mechanism through which we intervene to ensure that there is stability in all the relationships heading into COP and ensuring that the temperatures are brought down so that we can have an effective COP,” President Ali said.
“For us to sit and pretend that this type of relationship would not have an impact on COP, I think, would be doing an injustice to what we want to achieve at COP,” he added.
Meanwhile, noting that Guyana is a small nation, President Ali said the country is committed to shaping big solutions for global climate challenges.
Ali also challenged the global approach to climate negotiations, pointing out that climate change debates often exclude key stakeholders such as climate change deniers, oil and gas companies, and other major emitters.
“We have not been able to bring all the stakeholders around the table, so we can’t say we want to address these climate issues, but the major emitters or those who are considered to be the major emitters are not part of the conversation,” Dr. Ali said.
The President acknowledged that fossil fuels will remain part of the global energy mix for decades to come, citing ongoing energy poverty and insecurity in many countries. He said scientific data confirms that a fossil-fuel-free world by 2050 is unrealistic, with projections indicating that oil and gas will still account for about 20 per cent of the global energy supply.
“The question is, who will produce that fuel in 2050? If climate is the main factor, it must be the country that can produce it with the least effect on climate, and that would put Guyana at number one,” President Ali stated.
According to him, to ensure a viable future, there must be a balance between maintaining fossil fuel production and transitioning to renewable energy.
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