Signs hanging outside the Paris Conference on Climate Change greeted attendees with strong words. 

The signs said “End Fossil Finance” and “Make Polluters Pay,” promoting the conference, which was held in Paris. Leaders from more than 80 countries attended the meeting, which ended Friday.

Mia Mottey, Barbados’ Prime Minister who cosponsored the conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, told conference attendees that poorer nations need billions of dollars because they did little to cause climate change but face the worst effects. 

Ms. Mottley said poor countries struggle to afford expensive projects like renewable energy and flood defenses.

Germany, China, and the United States have sent officials to the conference. Countries suffering from climate change, including Haiti, Guinea-Bissau, and the Grenadines, were also there.

Ugandan climate campaigner Vanessa Nakate took the podium after Macron and asked the audience, which included oil-rich Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to take a minute of silence for people who are suffering from disasters.

She slammed the fossil fuel industry, saying they promise development for poor communities, but the energy goes elsewhere, and the profits “lie in the pockets of those who are already extremely rich.”