Lula: Spending on weapons will bring about “climate apocalypse”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Friday (Nov. 7) that armed conflicts – such as the war in Ukraine, invaded by Russia almost four years ago – have interrupted a period of reduction in polluting gas emissions into the atmosphere and could lead the planet to environmental collapse.
“The conflict in Ukraine has reversed years of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and led to the reopening of coal mines. Spending twice as much on weapons as we do on climate action is paving the way for climate apocalypse. There will be no energy security in a world at war,” he said at the opening of the second session of the Climate Summit in the Amazon city of Belém, Pará state.
The Climate Summit, which ends this Friday, is an event that brings together leaders from different countries ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which will be held from November 10 to 21, also in the capital of Pará. The goal is to update and reinforce multilateral commitments to address the urgency of the climate crisis.
The event will be attended by Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres and European leaders such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Fair energy transition
President Lula noted that, despite advances made in the energy matrix, populations living in poor and developing countries are still far from a fair transition.
“It is essential to combat all forms of energy poverty – 2 billion people do not have access to adequate fuels for cooking, 660 million people depend on oil lamps and diesel generators in the outskirts of large cities and in rural communities in Latin America and Africa. And 200 million children attend schools without access to electricity. With no energy, there is also no digital connection, functioning hospitals, or modern agriculture,” he declared.
In the presence of leaders from different nations, the Brazilian president criticized the financial system that fuels the oil sector.
“Last year, the world’s 65 largest banks committed to lending USD 869 billion to the oil and gas sector. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix has only decreased from 83 to 80 percent,” he said.
Fund on oil profits
The president called for action to address the “injustice of unpayable foreign debts” and requirements that discriminate against developing countries. He also announced that he will create a fund to channel profits from the oil and gas sector into investment in renewable energy.
“A fair, orderly, and equitable process of moving away from fossil fuels requires access to technology and financing for countries in the Global South. There is room to explore innovative mechanisms for exchanging debt for financing climate mitigation and energy transition initiatives,” he stated.
“Directing part of the profits from oil exploration toward energy transition remains a valid path for developing countries. Brazil will establish such a fund to finance climate change mitigation and establish climate justice,” he said.
The president ended his speech by calling for the implementation of the COP28 agreement, held in Dubai, to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency by 2030, in addition to including the elimination of energy poverty in national climate plans and prioritizing the issue of eliminating energy poverty in countries’ national climate goals.
“Scientists have done their part. At this COP, negotiators must seek understanding. And we, the leaders, must decide whether the 21st century will be remembered as the century of climate catastrophe or as the moment of intelligent reconstruction,” he declared.
