“It broke my heart.” Surangel Whipps, president of the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, was sitting in the front row of the UN’s general assembly in New York when Donald Trump made a long and rambling speech, his first to the UN since his re-election, on 23 September.

Whipps was prepared for fury and bombast from the US president, but what followed was shocking. Trump’s rant on the climate crisis – a “green scam”, “the greatest con job ever perpetrated”, “predictions made by stupid people” – was an unprecedented attack on science and global action from a major world leader.

Palau, threatened by rising sea levels, floods and more intense storms, is home to nearly 20,000 people, all likely to be made refugees if global heating surpasses 1.5C for a prolonged period, a likelihood they are desperate to prevent. They know they are just the beginning, the frontline. Globally, hundreds of millions of people’s homes and livelihoods will be destroyed by climate breakdown within decades.

“Our children need hope, they need to be inspired,” says Whipps. “They need to see us coming together to solve problems.”

View image in fullscreen Palau is home to nearly 20,000 people. Photograph: Geric Cruz

What they got instead was a tirade, disbelief and discouragement.

The populist tide

Whipps’s dismay is felt by vulnerable countries around the world. After years in which it appeared the world was beginning to act on the climate crisis, a populist tide has swept in, turning back or threatening progress in many democracies.

Trump’s words were just the most extreme expression of a global rightwing trend. In the EU, hard-right political groupings delayed key decisions on emissions targets, and are seeking further abandonment of climate action. The UK’s poll-topping Reform party openly embraces denial. In Argentina, Trump ally Javier Milei has taken his chainsaw to climate policy as well as the economy.

Yet polls find an overwhelming majority of people – 89% globally – are concerned about the climate crisis and want action. And there have been unexpected victories for pro-climate politicians: Mark Carney in Canada, Anthony Albanese in Australia, and Claudi