--- description: The next phase of climate action is economic, and it's happening in the Global South, writes Ani Dasgupta. title: The Global South Is the Climate Future image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6027c7f8ec9c510/6998cb7ae1ba00543e98e17b/brazil-cop30.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [climate](/tag/climate/) ## climate Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Future of Climate Progress Is Being Built in the Global South by [Ani Dasgupta](/author/ani-dasgupta-2/) ## Ani Dasgupta Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ani Dasgupta is President and CEO of World Resources Institute and author of The New Global Possible. Nov 11, 2025 11:00 AM CUT  Tens of thousands of delegates from almost every country in the world are meeting at the COP30 world climate conference in Belém in the Brazilian Amazon to negotiate how to stem the escalating climate crisis. Tens of thousands of delegates from almost every country in the world are meeting at the COP30 world climate conference in Belém in the Brazilian Amazon to negotiate how to stem the escalating climate crisis.Kay Nietfeld—picture alliance via Getty Images by [Ani Dasgupta](/author/ani-dasgupta-2/) ## Ani Dasgupta Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ani Dasgupta is President and CEO of World Resources Institute and author of The New Global Possible. Nov 11, 2025 11:00 AM CUT The headlines are bleak. Record [heatwaves](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165597 "undefined"), unprecedented [wildfires](https://www.wri.org/insights/global-trends-forest-fires "undefined"), [dying coral reefs](https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-stories/2025-10-13-world-reaches-first-climate-tipping-point---widespread-mortality-of-coral-reefs.html "undefined"), a backtracking United States, and millions of lives upended. Now, a [new UN report](https://unfccc.int/documents/650664 "undefined") confirms that countries’ latest climate plans still [fall far short](https://www.wri.org/news/statement-un-report-finds-country-climate-commitments-falling-short "undefined") of limiting temperature rise to [1.5°C above pre-industrial levels](https://time.com/7330905/2025-paris-agreement-climate-goal-cop30/ "undefined"). Yet beneath those headlines, a seismic shift is underway. While Washington backpedals and targets slip, the real action is now in countries like [China, India, Brazil](https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-brics-emerging-economies-now-lead-the-worlds-clean-energy-race/ "undefined"), and around a dozen critical middle-income countries: the new engines of the clean economy. At the 30th UN climate summit in Brazil, the geopolitical center of gravity is shifting. Rich countries still bear the greatest responsibility to act. But middle-income countries, which account for over [60% of global emissions and 40% of GDP](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/07/22/-middle-income-trap-hinders-progress-in-108-developing-countries "undefined"), are now driving progress, from Colombia’s push to[ phase out fossil fuels](https://fossilfueltreaty.org/phase-out-conference "undefined") to Brazil uniting countries around a breakthrough[ financial solution to save forests](https://cop30.br/en/news-about-cop30/over-usd-5-5-billion-announced-for-tropical-forest-forever-facility-as-53-countries-endorse-the-historic-tfff-launch-declaration "undefined"). It’s not the moral imperative driving their transition but the economics. They see climate action as the path to growth, energy security, and global competitiveness. Countries’ new climate plans provide a foundation. Even though some claim the Paris Agreement is failing, it’s not—over [110 countries to date](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ndc-tracker "undefined") have returned with[ stronger climate plans](https://www.wri.org/insights/assessing-2025-ndcs "undefined") this year, from Ethiopia to Ecuador. In 10 years these plans have brought us from a perilous 4 degree future to one closer to 2.3-2.5 degrees. It’s still far from enough. So even as science show [temporary overshoot of the 1.5°C target](https://press.un.org/en/2025/sgsm22899.doc.htm "undefined") is now likely, countries must reaffirm that target as our guiding star. It is not an on-off switch, but rather the benchmark for a healthy, livable future. It’s why at this UN summit, countries need to develop a [roadmap to get us on track](https://www.wri.org/insights/cop30-progress-country-climate-plans "undefined") and move much faster toward this new economy. It can be hard to hold two truths at once: The climate crisis is severe, yet extraordinary progress is underway. Yet that is what we must do. Emerging economies across the Global South will be key to making it happen. ## **Technology is spurring countries’ transitions** Clean energy’s rapidly falling costs are already speeding up this shift[ across the Global South](https://rmi.org/the-global-souths-cleantech-revolution-in-five-charts/ "undefined"). Emerging economies today generate more than [half the world’s solar power](https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-brics-emerging-economies-now-lead-the-worlds-clean-energy-race/ "undefined"). Brazil generates more solar than Germany. Battery prices are [plummeting](https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-battery-industry-has-entered-a-new-phase "undefined"), and electric vehicles surged from roughly [4% of car sales](https://www.iea.org/commentaries/how-global-electric-car-sales-defied-covid-19-in-2020 "undefined") to [more than 20% in four years](https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2025/trends-in-electric-car-markets-2 "undefined"). Even tough industries like [steel and concrete](https://www.theclimategroup.org/sites/default/files/2024-09/The%20Steel%20and%20Concrete%20Transformation%20-%202024%20market%20outlook%20on%20lower%20emission%20steel%20and%20concrete.pdf "undefined") are [innovating](https://www.wri.org/insights/green-procurement-initiatives "undefined") to lower emissions. For countries like [India](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-hits-50-non-fossil-power-milestone-ahead-2030-clean-energy-target-2025-07-14/ "undefined") and [Pakistan](https://www.wri.org/insights/pakistan-solar-energy-boom "undefined"), energy security has driven the switch to renewables. Today [three-quarters of the global population](https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/three-facts-that-show-how-solar-and-wind-strengthen-energy-security/ "undefined") lives in fossil fuel-importing countries, many of which are keen to reduce dependence on volatile imports. Yet technology alone is not enough. Fossil fuels still supply over [81% of our energy](https://www.energyinst.org/exploring-energy/resources/news-centre/media-releases/a-year-of-record-highs-in-an-energy-hungry-world,-reveals-ei-statistical-review "undefined"), and according to Global Forest Watch forests continue to vanish at a rate of [18 soccer fields](https://gfr.wri.org/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends "undefined") every minute, shrinking one of our most vital [carbon sinks](https://www.wri.org/insights/forest-carbon-sink-shrinking-fires-deforestation "undefined"). ## **Moving from climate to economic transitions** That’s why we cannot just focus on the _what_ of targets and technologies, but the _how_. Progress depends on how countries orchestrate the shift across sectors like energy, food, land, and cities. Brazil has made this a prime focus for the COP: catalyzing countries to make climate central to their economic transition. Many countries are already doing this, advancing climate measures because they boost their industries’ competitiveness and create jobs. India’s rollout of [50,000 electric buses](https://www.wri.org/insights/india-electric-bus-expansion-small-cities "undefined") by 2027 will connect millions to jobs and clean the air. Brazil’s “bioeconomy” could create [833,000 new forest-based jobs](https://www.wri.org/research/new-economy-brazil-amazon "undefined"). China’s clean energy surge cut its [emissions 1%](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-record-solar-growth-keeps-chinas-co2-falling-in-first-half-of-2025/ "undefined") in the first half of 2025 and [drove 10% of its GDP](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-clean-energy-contributed-a-record-10-of-chinas-gdp-in-2024/ "undefined") last year. Yet countries’ economies won’t thrive if they can’t withstand floods, droughts, and heatwaves. It’s why countries must rapidly step up[ investments in climate adaptation](https://www.wri.org/insights/cop30-climate-summit-what-to-expect "undefined"), a major focus at COP30\. The good news: Every dollar invested in resilience can yield [tenfold returns](https://www.wri.org/research/climate-adaptation-investment-case "undefined"), and scaling these investments can create over [280 million jobs](https://www.systemiq.earth/the-returns-on-resilience/ "undefined") in developing countries by 2035\. Ethiopia, for instance, is [restoring degraded landscapes](https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-adaptation-investment-case "undefined") to help farmers deal with floods and droughts. ## **Financing the global transition** For the countries now driving the global climate transition, progress hinges on finance. Developing countries need about [$1.3 trillion a year in external finance](https://unfccc.int/news/cop29-un-climate-conference-agrees-to-triple-finance-to-developing-countries-protecting-lives-and "undefined") by 2035, [only around 1% of global GDP](https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-finance-progress-2025 "undefined"). Cuts to [aid in the U.S. and Europe](https://www.cgdev.org/blog/charting-fallout-aid-cuts "undefined") make reaching this target harder, but have also sparked new thinking about reforming the global financial system. We need to move from “climate finance” to aligning the entire financial system behind this transition by uniting public, private, international, and domestic capital. New “[Country Platforms](https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/country-platforms-delivering-green-growth-scale "undefined")” have emerged as a promising tool to do just that. They align these myriad sources of finance behind governments’ climate and development plans and policy reforms—and Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Rwanda, and others are showing how this can work. Brazil is championing this approach at COP30, from a [roadmap to the $1.3 trillion goal](https://www.wri.org/news/statement-baku-belem-roadmap "undefined") to a new hub for capacity building across Global South countries. We now need the G20 and G7 to take this approach forward. This moment may seem gloomy, but underfoot, change is happening. Most countries are undertaking the immense task of transforming our 250-year-old fossil fuel-powered economy to one with climate and people at the center. 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