Foreign Policy published on 4 December 2025 an article titled "Africa Was the Biggest Loser of China's COP30 Triumph" by Nathaniel Mong'are, speaker of Kenya's Young Parliamentarian Association.
Beijing, in the absence of the United States and wavering of the European Union, asserted leadership at the COP30 summit in Brazil, preserving the status quo for Big Oil, petrostates, and the world's largest emitters. While China, which produces a third of the world's emissions, was the summit's de facto climate champion, it received a positive reputation that it does not deserve. The losers were African countries whose mines and forests are experiencing environmental damage by Chinese extraction companies.
