As world leaders gather in Belém for what Brazil is calling the “COP of Truth,” there’s a group of territories with a powerful story that deserves attention – one of frontline climate impact, remarkable innovation, and a critical finance gap that threatens to undermine global climate goals.

The 25 EU and UK Overseas Territories – from Greenland to Aruba and French Polynesia to Pitcairn – are demonstrating some of the most innovative climate responses globally. Saint Helena is hitting 80% renewable energy by 2028. Turks & Caicos is piloting floating offshore wind. The Cayman Islands just launched the world’s first National Resilience Scorecard.

But their political status (autonomous but not sovereign) excludes them from the climate finance mechanisms designed for developing nations. They’re on the frontline of impacts, leading on solutions, yet systematically unable to access the funding to scale them.

Hurricane Melissa’s recent devastation in Jamaica underscores the urgency. As Aruba’s Prime Minister Mike Eman puts it: “Our destinies are intertwined as islands in one shared sea.”

The EU-funded Green Overseas Programme will be at COP30 next week highlighting this gap and the need for structural change in how international climate finance reaches OCTs.