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Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Global South can claim climate mantle at COP30
Of all the seismic geopolitical shifts in recent years, perhaps the most striking is the West's rapid decline as a force in global climate governance. Under President Donald Trump's second administration, the US has become both more aggressive and more isolationist. Meanwhile, the EU has grown timid, fragmented, and inward-looking. Will the Global South, especially Brazil, South Africa, India, and China, step up to fill the climate leadership vacuum? In 1972, at the UN's first major environmental conference in Stockholm, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi famously declared: 'Poverty is the worst form of pollution.' To this day, the Global South grapples with the challenge of pursuing sustainable development while promoting environmental responsibility. Many developing countries have long feared that climate policies might reinforce historical inequalities or constrain their growth. But now, the Global South has an opening to ensure that the international agenda reflects its priorities. Many policymakers recognize the need for a change. While global cooperation has produced numerous important climate commitments, such as those made at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and those contained in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, they remain largely unfulfilled. Moreover, financial support from the rich world has been well below what is needed, hindering climate action in developing countries, eroding trust in Western leaders, and lowering global ambitions. The Global South has no shortage of climate visionaries — from Wangari Maathai to Vandana Shiva and Chico Mendes — who have connected environmental protection with community empowerment. But the West has controlled the climate narrative for decades, because it dominates the science that informs the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the multilateral development banks that provide climate financing, and the global media outlets that shape public opinion. That is particularly true for the US. Despite its stumbles, such as when President George W. Bush withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, the rhetorical ambition of other US presidents, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, ensured the West remained a leading voice in shaping the climate agenda, even when not matched by action. Trump's resurgence has brought that era to an end. The EU, weakened by the rise of the far right and preoccupied with bolstering its defenses, lacks the political will and has fallen short of providing the economic means to lead on international climate cooperation and finance. This collapse has shattered the idea of a coherent 'West,' if such a creature ever existed. But it could empower the Global South, which bears the brunt of climate shocks, to lead a more equitable and inclusive clean-energy transition. Despite short-term hurdles, in the long run, reducing fossil-fuel dependence — more feasible now that renewables are more scalable and reliable — can help stabilize economies and improve public health. Many Global South governments have already played key roles in shaping the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement. China has also become the undisputed global leader in green tech, outpacing the West in the shift to renewables. Facing US trade barriers, China's surplus of solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines could be redirected to developing countries, strengthening their energy sovereignty. In today's fragmented world, multilateralism remains essential. Maiara Folly, Jayati Ghosh and Jorg Haas There are signs that Brazil, India, South Africa, and China are building on this foundation to forge a cohesive climate agenda ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, which is focused on collective action. In April, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres brought together 17 heads of state from the global south and the EU for a summit aimed at elevating countries' climate ambitions in the lead-up to COP30. Brazil has also leveraged its BRICS+ presidency to build momentum for COP30, creating a roadmap for expanding cooperation on energy security and establishing the BRICS Laboratory for Trade, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development. In early July, the BRICS+ Summit of presidents and heads of state approved a leaders' framework declaration on climate finance. Whether these initiatives will deliver tangible results remains uncertain, given BRICS+ countries' divergent interests. Meanwhile, South Africa is using its G20 presidency to amplify African voices and push for debt relief, green industrialization, and low-cost finance — in other words, it is attempting to address the structural barriers that prevent vulnerable countries from investing in climate mitigation and adaptation. With the right financial and technological support, the green transition can drive broad-based prosperity in the developing world. The costs of clean tech have plummeted, largely owing to China's industrial capacity, making some of the material conditions for climate leadership in the global south more favorable. Moreover, China could finance decarbonization projects in other countries through renminbi loans, export credits, and debt-for-clean-energy swaps. In today's fragmented world, multilateralism remains essential, and South-South cooperation on agreed climate targets offers a powerful platform to revitalize it. The Global South is also well-positioned to lead plurilateral initiatives that advance climate solutions. These coalitions of the willing are crucial for countering the Trump administration's bullying tactics — namely, the use of trade negotiations to shift other governments' investment priorities and weaken their green policies. Of course, Western countries must be held accountable at COP30 for their historic emissions and unmet climate-finance promises. But the summit represents a vital opportunity for the global south to demonstrate that climate and development goals are not mutually exclusive. To seize it, these countries' leaders must subordinate their differences to their overriding interest in presenting a clear-eyed vision of an energy transition that uplifts their people and protects the planet. • Maiara Folly is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Brazil-based think tank Plataforma CIPO. • Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is a member of the Club of Rome's Transformational Economics Commission and Co-Chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation. • Jorg Haas is Head of the Globalization and Transformation Division at the Heinrich Boll Foundation. ©Project Syndicate
Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
‘Trump can stop the war in Gaza,' says former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert
In this episode of Global News Today, presented by Tom Burges Watson, we bring you the latest on Gaza where Israel has issued new evacuation orders ahead of a planned military offensive. Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing Gaza City as the Israeli army is set to intensify operations, prompting growing international concern over the humanitarian situation on the ground. We examine the unfolding crisis with on-the-ground reporting, satellite imagery, and firsthand accounts from civilians and aid workers caught in the crossfire. As the pressure mounts, the United Nations warns of a worsening catastrophe, with limited access to food, water, and medical care for those unable to flee. We feature an exclusive interview with a former Israeli prime minister who shares insight on Israel's military strategy, the objectives behind the latest planned offensive, and the broader political implications for the region.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Netanyahu's plan to reoccupy Gaza is a deadly delusion
Benjamin Netanyahu is once again playing with fire — only this time it threatens not just Gaza, but Israel itself, the broader region, and what remains of a fragile international order. The Israeli leader's reckless scheme to reoccupy Gaza is not merely shortsighted; it is criminal in intent, catastrophic in consequence, and dripping with the arrogance of a man who believes he can bend history to his will. Let us be clear: The idea of reoccupying Gaza is not about security. It is not about peace. It is about one thing and one thing only: Netanyahu's desperate bid to cling to power, evade accountability for his corruption charges, and present himself to the Israeli public as a strongman at a time when his leadership is defined by chaos, failure, and bloodshed. Gaza, once again, is being used as a pawn in his political survival game. Netanyahu sells the illusion that sending Israeli tanks back into Gaza will somehow bring security to Israel. But history has already written the verdict: Occupation breeds resistance. The decades-long suffocation of Gaza has done nothing but radicalize new generations who see no horizon, no dignity, no life worth living under perpetual siege. Does Netanyahu truly believe that by reoccupying Gaza, by tightening the noose around 2 million people, he will extinguish their will to resist? On the contrary, he will ignite a firestorm of resistance fiercer than ever before. The Israeli military may occupy land, but it cannot occupy hearts. And the more brutal the occupation, the deeper the rage, the stronger the determination, the longer the conflict burns. Security built on the graves of starving children and bombed-out families is not security; it is barbarism masquerading as defense. What makes Netanyahu's plan especially vile is his willingness to weaponize humanitarian suffering. Gaza today is already enduring famine conditions. Children are wasting away as food and medicine are deliberately withheld. Hospitals are reduced to rubble. Entire neighborhoods are flattened. And still, Netanyahu talks of 'managing' Gaza, as though human beings can be managed like cattle. What he proposes is not management; it is subjugation. It is the calculated use of hunger, displacement, and despair to force a population into submission. It is collective punishment on a scale that meets every definition of a war crime. Justice will never emerge from the barrel of an occupying tank. Hani Hazaimeh The Israeli leader dares to cloak his scheme in the language of 'stability.' But whose stability? Certainly not Gaza's. Not the region's. It is only the stability of his grip on power that he seeks. The tragedy is not Netanyahu alone. It is the silence — or, worse, the complicity — of the so-called international community. Washington mumbles about 'restraint,' but continues to bankroll the very bombs raining down on Gaza. Europe, forever haunted by its own guilt, lectures about 'two states,' while rewarding Israel with trade deals and diplomatic cover. A reoccupation of Gaza would be the match that lights this regional powder keg. Israel may think itself powerful, but no army, however advanced, can withstand the cumulative fury of millions pushed to desperation. What Netanyahu offers is not a vision but a nightmare. He would reduce Gaza to an open-air prison policed directly by the Israeli army, stripped of any semblance of autonomy, permanently dependent on Israel's whims for survival. He would condemn generations of Palestinians to lives of humiliation and despair, and in so doing, guarantee that Israelis themselves would never know peace. Because peace is not built on domination. It is built on justice. And justice will never emerge from the barrel of an occupying tank. The world must not allow this scheme to succeed. To reoccupy Gaza would be not only a moral abomination but also a strategic disaster that ensures endless conflict. Those who claim to stand for human rights must prove it now, by cutting the weapons shipments, conditioning aid, holding Israel accountable in international courts, and refusing to normalize relations with a government that tramples every principle of humanity. And for the Israeli people, the question is this: How long will you allow one man's delusions to drag your nation into perpetual war? Netanyahu does not act for your security. He acts for himself. The blood that will be spilled — Palestinian and Israeli alike — will stain his hands, but history will not forget the silence of those who allowed him to carry on. Netanyahu's plan is not just a policy, it is a declaration of perpetual war. It is an attempt to suffocate a people into nonexistence. And it is a gamble that will fail, as every attempt to crush the Palestinian spirit has failed before. But the cost of his failure will not be borne by him alone. It will be borne by the starving children of Gaza, the grieving families of Israel, and the stability of an entire region already teetering on the edge. This is the hour of reckoning. Netanyahu's delusions must be confronted with clarity, courage, and unyielding resistance — political, legal, and moral. The world has a choice: to stand by as Gaza is dragged back into the abyss of occupation, or to draw a line and say, enough. For the sake of justice, peace, and our shared humanity — enough. • Hani Hazaimeh is a senior editor based in Amman. X: @hanihazaimeh
