BELEM, Brazil — Officials from countries most vulnerable to global warming offered searing dispatches of life on the front line of a warming planet Friday, as world leaders gathered on the edge of the Amazon rainforest for the annual United Nations climate talks.

Ahead of Monday's official kickoff, officials have sought to build support for initiatives to protect forests and to streamline carbon markets, which seek to reduce the emissions that drive warming. But the meetings also took time to hear impassioned testimony about the harms climate change is dealing around the world.

Haitian diplomat Smith Augustin, whose country was pummeled by Hurricane Melissa, appealed to wealthier countries that produce the greatest share of the world’s emissions to support Haiti in preparing for bigger s

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