Caribbean urges action at COP30 after Hurricane Melissa ^{CEFR B2}

COP30 will take place in Belém, Brazil, from November 10 to 21. The conference aims to continue international talks on the climate crisis while Caribbean countries, many of them small island developing states (SIDS), press for climate justice and a stronger Loss and Damage agenda. Some regional leaders and experts remain cautious about the value of COP meetings after years of limited results.

The COP process started after the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and later led to the 2015 Paris Agreement and its goal “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels” — a target the Caribbean calls “1.5 to stay alive.” Despite that framework, many SIDS face intense and disproportionate impacts while contributing little to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Hurricane Melissa struck several island nations, including Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas and Bermuda. AccuWeather estimates the region could face USD 48 to 52 billion in damage. That estimate covers more than insured losses and includes long-term effects on tourism, business and agriculture, and costs for infrastructure, evacuation and cleanup.

Jamaica has sought protection with financial tools and took out a USD 150 million catastrophe bond, part of what the World Bank called the island’s “well-developed disaster risk financing strategy.” Still, preliminary damage estimates for Jamaica alone are around USD 6-7 billion, according to Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET). Rodriguez-Moodie said Jamaica was “reeling” and that “These storms are becoming the norm, unfortunately, and it is fuelled by the climate crisis.” She urged urgent measures at COP30, calling for radical change, commitments, adaptation financing and Loss and Damage money “now” rather than a pause.

Some large greenhouse gas emitters are not attending COP30; leaders of the United States, China, India and Russia are absent. Rodriguez-Moodie criticised the absence as “not neutrality; it really is cowardice,” adding that “their profits were built on our pain.” She called for accountability rather than charity and said SIDS “are not waiting for permission to survive,” asking big polluters to “pay what they owe” and to help dismantle systems that left vulnerable countries exposed. Regional officials say the Caribbean cannot simply wait for international action and must find creative ways to build resilience and finance recovery for Loss and Damage while continuing to press for stronger global commitments.