Watts Up With That?

Essay by  Eric Worrall

“… It is time to impose a new defeat on denialists …”

From pledges to action: Leaders push for faster climate progress at COP30

By Felipe de Carvalho 

10 November 2025  Climate and Environment

COP30 opened in Belém on Monday with a clear message: the era of half-measures is over. Climate change is here, devastating communities and driving up costs, but solutions are within reach. Clean energy is surging, resilience saves lives, and cooperation can still bend the curve further. 

“This is the moment to match opportunity with urgency,” said Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, calling for a decisive defeat of climate denial and faster action to keep the 1.5°C goal alive.

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“Your job here is not to fight one another – your job here is to fight this climate crisis, together,” he said. “This is the growth story of the 21st century – the economic transformation of our age.”

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In his opening address, President Lula warned that “climate change is not a threat to the future – it is a tragedy of the present.”

Citing Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean and a tornado in Paraná, the President declared this “the COP of truth,” warning that denial and delay are no longer options. “We are moving in the right direction – but at the wrong speed,” he said. “Crossing 1.5°C is a risk we cannot take.”

He went on to call strongly for an end to climate denialism, underscoring that: “In the age of disinformation, obscurantists reject not only scientific evidence but also the progress of multilateralism. They control algorithms, sow hatred, spread fear, and attack institutions, science, and universities. It is time to impose a new defeat on denialists. Without the Paris Agreement, the world would be heading toward catastrophic warming of nearly 5°C by the end of the century.”

…Read more: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/11/1166322

Clearly we are not past the age of demonising climate skeptics.

On a positive note climate skeptics are winning, otherwise we wouldn’t occupy so much realestate in the minds of green true believers.

The reference to “control algorithms” is intriguing. I’ve said for a while that I believe Silicon Valley big tech abandoned climate activism and secretly helped President Trump win in 2024, because they desperately need a secure supply of abundant cheap energy to power their AI systems, to keep up with competitors in Asia. Is President Lula’s references to “algorithms” corroboration of this suspicion? If anyone notices green true believers lashing out at big tech in the next few weeks or months, please leave a story tip comment.

If you are interested in why AI needs so much energy, what drove big tech to abandon Democrat climate activism, the following article delves into the relationship between AI and energy.

Artificial Intelligence: A Working Demonstration, and Why Big Tech Ditched Big Green