<br><br>**The Evolution of Climate Summit A Dispatch from Countries on the Front Lines of Global Warming**<br><br>BELEM, Brazil - As world leaders gathered at the United Nations climate talks in Belem, officials from countries most vulnerable to global warming delivered impassioned testimonials about the devastating impacts of climate change.<br><br>Ahead of Monday's official kickoff, diplomats sought to build support for initiatives to protect forests and streamline carbon markets. However, the meetings also provided a platform for nations on the front lines of climate change to share their stories and seek action from wealthier countries.<br><br>Haitian diplomat Smith Augustin appealed to developed countries to support Haiti in preparing for bigger storms, citing the country's experience with Hurricane Melissa. Developed countries pledged $300 billion to help poor nations cope with climate shocks at last year's summit, but the money has yet to be distributed.<br><br>We are not responsible for climate change, said Augustin. Developing countries, especially small island states, are the least responsible.<br><br>Kenya's Vice President Kithure Kindiki spoke of rescuers still searching for scores of people missing after a deadly landslide triggered by torrential rain sent muddy water crashing into villages last week.<br><br>This has become common, he said, referring to extreme droughts alternating with devastating floods that have wiped out lives. We are living in a nightmare.<br><br>The Marshall Islands' Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko echoed these sentiments, stating that his country is already experiencing the impacts of climate change.<br><br>As we look out our front doors, we witness the impact of climate change, he said. Now the sea rises, the coral dies, and the fish stock leaves our shores for cooler waters.<br><br>Time Running Out<br><br>Experts warn that it has become almost impossible to keep global warming below the key Paris Agreement benchmark of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit). Last year was the hottest on record, and scientists say that every fraction of a degree of atmospheric heating unleashes longer droughts, deadlier heat waves, and more intense storms.<br><br>The recent experience with Hurricane Melissa has made it clear that the Caribbean is not immune to these impacts, said Racquel Moses, director of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator. The very way we live is dependent on these negotiations going according to plan.<br><br>Reduced Summit Participation<br><br>World leaders who were absent from the summit include U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax and prioritizes fossil fuels. However, China's leader Xi Jinping and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend in person, but sent representatives to speak on their behalf.<br><br>China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang praised his country's massive installations of wind and solar power, assuring the gathering that multilateralism was not dead despite the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. China is a country that honors its commitments, he said.<br><br>India's diplomat Dinesh Bahata touted his country's expansion of renewables to half of all energy capacity, portraying the Global South as bending toward the future of affordable, clean power while wealthier nations remain trapped in an outdated addiction to fossil fuels.<br><br>Developing countries take decisive climate action, he said. Developed countries fall short.<br><br>African Union Commission Chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf questioned how developing nations were expected to decarbonize at a time when financial assistance for poor countries is faltering and the U.S. is cashing in on heightened demand for hydrocarbons.<br><br>We do not ask for charity, but for climate justice, he said.<br><br>Progress on Forest Protections and Carbon Markets<br><br>Attendees reported progress on two initiatives financial incentives to support endangered forests and a shared global carbon market.<br><br>Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva worked to win support for a signature new fund that would pay 74 developing countries to better preserve their rainforests. The fund drew $5.5 billion in pledges on the first day of the U.N. climate summit, as Norway and France joined Brazil and Indonesia in investing. Germany said it would make a considerable commitment.<br><br>Finland's President Alexander Stubb hailed the fund as a model for driving climate solutions. What we might be seeing now is a turn of the tide on carbon dioxide emissions, he told The Associated Press. This is because of financing. This is because of innovation.<br><br>Brazil and the European Union announced that they were joining forces with China and several other countries to create a coalition aimed at uniting the world's different emission trading systems into a single global carbon market.<br><br>Indigenous People Eye a Spot at the Table<br><br>This year's summit in Belem has been billed as uniquely inclusive of Indigenous leaders who have long been sidelined from decision-making despite feeling the most adverse effects of climate change. The Brazilian government, which includes Brazil's first-ever Indigenous Peoples' Ministry, expects over 3,000 Indigenous delegates to participate this month.<br><br>This time, world leaders are coming Belem, to the heart of the Amazon, closer to our homes, our rivers, our territories, said Olivia Bisa, leader of the Chapra nation in Peru. We need to be in the room, not right outside of it.<br><br>Their protests have also shone a light on the contradictions of host Brazil promoting itself as a defender of the Amazon rainforest. Lula's recent approval of an oil drilling project at the mouth of the Amazon river has set off demonstrations and outrage.<br><br>Outside Belem in the wider state of Para, hundreds of Indigenous people scaled cargo boats on the strategic Tapajos River to denounce separate plans for a new railway that would slice through their lands.<br><br>This is our message to the leaders of the world, said Marília Sena, a leader of the Tupinamba nation. We want people to see us who have been here for centuries, caring for the forest and the river.
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