{"id":358463,"date":"2025-11-05T23:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T23:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/358463\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T23:00:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T23:00:26","slug":"as-cop30-climate-talks-open-in-brazil-poor-people-have-the-most-at-stake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/358463\/","title":{"rendered":"As COP30 climate talks open in Brazil, poor people have the most at stake"},"content":{"rendered":"

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 When summer heat comes to the Arara neighborhood in northern Rio, it lingers, baking the red brick and concrete that make up many of the buildings long after the sun has gone down. Luis Cassiano, who\u2019s lived here more than 30 years, says he\u2019s getting worried as heat waves<\/a> become more frequent and fierce.<\/p>\n

In poor areas such as Arara, those who can afford air conditioning \u2014 Cassiano is one \u2014 can\u2019t always count on it because of frequent power outages on an overloaded system. Conditions were so unbearable for Cassiano that he installed a green roof about a decade ago that can keep his house up to 15 degrees Celsius (about 27 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than his neighbor\u2019s. But the heat still makes him extremely uncomfortable, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sun in the summer nowadays is scary,\u201d Cassiano said. And a lack of green spaces makes the heat worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we don\u2019t have any parks, gardens, green engineers, experts in environmental matters. They go to Rio\u2019s richer parts,\u201d Cassiano said. \u201cIt\u2019s negligence. We respond practically on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

As world leaders come to Brazil for climate talks<\/a>, people like Cassiano are the ones with the most at stake. Poor communities are often more vulnerable<\/a> to hazards like extreme heat and supersized storms and less likely to have the resources to cope than wealthier places.<\/p>\n

Any help from the climate talks depends on countries not just laying out pledges and plans to lower emissions<\/a>. They also need to find the political will to implement them, as well as come up with the billions of dollars needed<\/a> to adapt everything from harvests to houses to better withstand human-caused climate change. <\/p>\n

All of it is sorely needed for the 1.1 billion people around the world who live in acute poverty, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why many have lauded the choice of Belem<\/a>, a relatively poor city, to host these talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased that we will be going to a place like this, because this is where climate meets poverty, meets demand, meets financing needs, and meets the reality of the majority of the population of this world that are impacted by climate change,\u201d said Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme.<\/p>\n

Even in wealthy countries, the poor face climate impacts<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just poor people in poor countries who suffer when poverty and climate change collide. A U.N. Development Programme report found that even in highly developed countries<\/a>, 82% of people living in poverty will be exposed to at least one of four climate hazards: high heat, drought, floods and air pollution.<\/p>\n

People in poverty are more vulnerable to climate change for several reasons, said Carter Brandon, a senior fellow at the World Resources Institute who works on the economics of climate change and the finances of adapting to it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Cows<\/p>\n

Cows stand in floodwaters at a farm in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko, File)<\/p>\n

Cows stand in floodwaters at a farm in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko, File)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

They might not have the money to leave areas like inundated deltas or floodplains, landslide-prone hillsides or farmlands regularly scorched by drought. Nor to rebuild after a disaster hits. And those financial hits can be worsened by other problems like health issues, lack of education or lack of social mobility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just, climate destroys buildings or bridges or property. It destroys the livelihoods of families. And if you don\u2019t have savings, that\u2019s really devastating,\u201d Brandon said.<\/p>\n

Crop yields suffer in many places, but worst in poor countries<\/p>\n

Even relatively developed countries with more ways to adapt will see some farm yields drop significantly, according to a UNDP analysis of global agriculture under different warming scenarios.<\/p>\n

But poorer countries will be more severely affected, said Heriberto Tapia, head of research and strategic partnerships advisor at the UNDP Human Development Report Office.<\/p>\n

Tapia said Africa, with more than 500 million people in poverty, is a big concern. Many depend on crop yields for their livelihoods. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Feluzi<\/p>\n

Feluzi Makono stands on his grandmother\u2019s farm that was destroyed by Cyclone Freddy in Mulanje, southern Malawi, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Thoko Chikondi, File)<\/p>\n

Feluzi Makono stands on his grandmother\u2019s farm that was destroyed by Cyclone Freddy in Mulanje, southern Malawi, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Thoko Chikondi, File)<\/p>\n

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Most of the world\u2019s 550 million small agricultural producers are in low- or middle-income countries, working in marginal environments and more vulnerable to climate hazards, said Ismahane Elouafi, executive managing director of CGIAR, the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research.<\/p>\n

Elouafi thinks technology can help ease the climate pressure on many of those farmers, but also noted that many can\u2019t afford it. She\u2019s not confident that this year\u2019s COP will provide enough money to help with that.<\/p>\n

\u2018A forceful reminder\u2019<\/p>\n

Brazilian officials thought Belem, on the edge of the Amazon and not a rich city, would be a forceful reminder for negotiators of the difficulty that climate change and rising extreme weather are bringing to millions of people every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard there were a lot of negotiators who have been complaining of being put on a bunk bed, or in terms of sharing a room, but this is the reality of most people around the world,\u201d said Nafkote Dabi, climate policy lead at global development organization Oxfam. \u201cSo I think it makes things real.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Soldiers<\/p>\n

Soldiers patrol in City Park, the site of the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, in Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, November 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eraldo Peres)<\/p>\n

Soldiers patrol in City Park, the site of the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, in Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, November 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eraldo Peres)<\/p>\n

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But some experts were skeptical, despite the recent UNDP report saying the need to take action is urgent. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wish that they had said more about what exactly is the rapid action that needs to be taken, because I don\u2019t think rapid action is going to come out of COP,\u201d said Kimberly Marion Suiseeya, an associate professor at Duke University who studies how international policies impact people in rural and forested areas.<\/p>\n

Poverty \u2018not budging\u2019<\/p>\n

Although the public narrative has long been that humankind has generally been making progress on alleviating poverty, numbers show that now there\u2019s a \u201cstagnation,\u201d said Pedro Concei\u00e7\u00e3o, director of\u202fthe\u202fHuman Development Report Office at the UNDP. \u201cThe numbers are high and they are not budging.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a memo ahead of COP30<\/a>, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called for a shift from prioritizing reducing emissions to focus on reducing human suffering. On climate change, \u201cthere\u2019s no apocalyptic story for rich countries,\u201d he said. \u201cThe place where it gets really tough is in these poor countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Concei\u00e7\u00e3o said it\u2019s wrong to think about poverty reduction and climate as a tradeoff. <\/p>\n

The idea that climate is only a future problem, \u201cor it\u2019s about things out there like glaciers melting, needs to be completely thrown out and replaced with the notion that actually the two agendas are one and the same,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Coffee<\/p>\n

Coffee producer Jose Natal da Silva sifts coffee beans on his farm in Porciuncula, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo\/Bruna Prado, File)<\/p>\n

Coffee producer Jose Natal da Silva sifts coffee beans on his farm in Porciuncula, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo\/Bruna Prado, File)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press journalists Jennifer McDermott and Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow Melina Walling on X at @MelinaWalling<\/a> and on Bluesky at @melinawalling.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 When summer heat comes to the Arara neighborhood in northern Rio, it lingers,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":358464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[2906,243,4214,10109,10106,285,746,84299,57,210,3884,174543,1567,174544,174545,14229,174542,5877,34821,159,1206,67,132,68,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-358463","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-agriculture","9":"tag-bill-gates","10":"tag-brazil","11":"tag-climate","12":"tag-climate-and-environment","13":"tag-climate-change","14":"tag-environment","15":"tag-future-of-food","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-heat-waves","19":"tag-heriberto-tapia","20":"tag-india","21":"tag-kimberly-marion-suiseeya","22":"tag-luis-cassiano","23":"tag-microsoft-corp","24":"tag-pedro-conceio","25":"tag-poverty","26":"tag-rio-de-janeiro","27":"tag-science","28":"tag-united-nations","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115499580422424446","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}