If anyone still needs proof that humanity is not suffering from a climate crisis but from a leadership crisis in dealing with it, look no further than Busan, South Korea. Just 15 days before the global climate negotiations at COP30, as the world braces for yet another desperate debate over the planet’s future, Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping sat across the table to discuss tariffs and rare-earth metals — without a single mention of climate change or COP30!

And that, despite President Xi’s globally recognized record of climate leadership, which he could have leveraged with conviction in Busan. With the planet literally on fire, two of the world’s most powerful leaders chose to haggle over magnets.

Short-Sighted Diplomacy

The latest UNEP Emissions Gap Report (2024) could not be clearer: global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reached a record 57.1 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent in 2023, a 1.3% increase from 2022 levels. The world is now on track for a temperature rise of 2.6°C to 3.1°C above pre-industrial levels — far beyond the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C.

Adding to the alarm, UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report, released just a day earlier, revealed that developing nations now face a shortfall of hundreds of billions of dollars every year simply to survive climate impacts they did little to cause.

This is not a moment for incrementalism — it is a moment for statesmanship.

But Busan delivered something far smaller: a Rare-Earth Deal.
China loosens export restrictions. The US tones down tariffs. And the rest of the world? It gets life-shattering climate disasters.

Bitter Irony

Here’s the irony. Unlike many of today’s major emitters, China has actually earned the credibility to lead on climate action.

China leads the world in:

• Solar panel manufacturing and installations

• Wind energy capacity

• Electric vehicle production and adoption

• Energy storage and grid-scale technology

• Clean-tech manufacturing, which has driven global prices down

China may have its contradictions, but on the ground it has done more to scale clean energy than any other country. President Xi has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to strengthening the Paris Agreement and supporting global climate cooperation.

Which is precisely why Busan stings — because Xi had the leverage and credibility to make history. But he didn’t.

Deal Xi Could Have Made

China controls the majority of the world’s rare-earth processing capacity. The United States, meanwhile, is heavily dependent on that supply. In reality, President Xi held a powerful bargaining chip — and could have used it to secure not just a tariff concession, but a climate concession for the planet.

He could have said: “If these minerals power the clean-energy future, let’s ensure the United States stays in that future.”

Sounds idealistic? Perhaps. But this is the kind of rare ‘Earth Deal’ the world desperately needs when it is standing on the edge — alongside the U.S. and China.

Xi could have nudged Trump to:

• Reconsider the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

• Strengthen U.S. emission-reduction commitments

• Support adaptation funding for climate-vulnerable nations

• Back a joint climate declaration ahead of COP30

Imagine the transformative wave such a U.S.–China climate truce could have created — reviving faith in multilateralism and reminding the world that while minerals power machines, leadership powers momentum.

Xi also missed a rare opportunity to project his vision of “ecological civilization” — a philosophy that emphasizes harmony between humanity and nature — as a global rallying call. Instead, Busan produced a deal Trump can market domestically as a win, even as the planet loses.

Xi could have reminded Trump that rising dollars do not win markets — lowering degrees does.

Climate Ambition vs. Commercial Bargaining

As COP30 approaches, the world is weary — battered by record heatwaves, floods, and fires. The Global South is pleading for climate finance. Scientists are urging immediate emission cuts. The window for keeping 1.5°C alive is slamming shut.

The world needed the two largest emitters to show courage in Busan — especially when one of them, China, has already shown how ecology and economics can go hand in hand. Instead, they chose commerce over conscience.And the message to developing nations is painfully clear: When climate ambition competes with commercial bargaining — climate loses.

What We Needed 

The world did not need another Rare-Earth deal. It needed a Rare ‘Earth Deal’ — one that could have addressed the existential threat we all face, strengthened climate resilience, and empowered poorer countries.

Humanity is not running out of rare earths. It is running out of rare opportunities to change course.
Busan was certainly one of them.

(The author is a noted environmentalist, former Director of UNEP, Coordinating Lead Author, IPCC 2007 (Nobel Peace Prize laureate), IIT alumnus, and Founder of the Green TERRE Foundation, Pune, India. Views are personal. He can be reached at shende.rajendra@gmail.com.)