Time to take science warnings seriously, Lula says at Climate Summit
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the Climate Summit late Thursday morning (Nov. 6) in Belém, calling on countries to take concrete action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – a target set in the Paris Agreement, signed 10 years ago.
“In a landscape of insecurity and mutual distrust, immediate selfish interests prevail over the long-term common good,” he said.
“The year 2024 was the first in which the Earth’s average temperature exceeded one and a half degrees above pre-industrial levels. Science already indicates that this increase will continue for some time or even decades, but we cannot abandon the goal of the Paris Agreement,” the president told an audience of international representatives, including dozens of heads of state and government attending COP30 in the Amazon city of Belém, Pará state.
The event precedes the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which will be held from November 10 to 21. The goal is to update and reinforce multilateral commitments to address the urgency of the climate crisis.
“The United Nations Environment Program’s emissions report estimates that the planet is on track to be two and a half degrees warmer by 2100. According to the Baku–Belém Roadmap, human and material losses will be drastic. More than 250 thousand people could die each year. Global GDP could shrink by up to 30 percent,” he declared.
“That is why COP30 will be the COP of truth. It is time to take the warnings of science seriously. It is time to face reality and decide whether or not we will have the courage and determination necessary to transform it,” the president added.
Lula was applauded when he advocated accelerating the energy transition and protecting nature as the two most effective ways to curb global warming.
“I am convinced that, despite our difficulties and contradictions, we need roadmaps to fairly and systematically reverse deforestation, overcome our dependence on fossil fuels, and mobilize the resources necessary to achieve these goals,” he argued.
In practice, the Climate Summit seeks to give political weight to the negotiations that will follow over the next two weeks of COP.
Each year, a country hosts the meeting, whose main mission is to seek ways to implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This document was adopted by several countries in 1992, at a conference in Brazil, ECO92. Since then, the overall goal has been to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
In his speech, President Lula recalled this historic process and defended the need to bridge the gap between what happens in diplomatic halls and the real lives of the people.
“People may not understand what emissions or metric tons of carbon are, but they feel the pollution. They may not understand what carbon sinks or climate regulators are, but they appreciate the value of forests and oceans. They may not be well versed in concessional or blended finance, but they know that nothing gets done without resources. They may not grasp the significance of a 1.5 °C increase in global temperature, but they suffer from droughts, floods, and hurricanes. Combating climate change must be at the heart of every government’s, every company’s, and every person’s decisions,” he stated.
Climate justice
President Lula also commented on the disconnect between the current geopolitical context and the climate emergency.
“Strategic rivalries and armed conflicts divert attention and drain resources that should be channeled into tackling global warming. Meanwhile, the window of opportunity we have to act is rapidly closing,” he noted.
He mentioned the need to address climate change while taking into account sustainable and fair development for societies. In his view, it will be impossible to contain climate disasters without overcoming inequalities within and between nations.
“Climate justice is an ally in the fight against hunger and poverty, the fight against racism, gender equality, and the promotion of more representative and inclusive global governance,” he said.
Traditional peoples
The president also thanked the workers involved in organizing COP in Belém for their efforts in overcoming mistrust, and mentioned Yanomami indigenous mythology, according to which attacks on the forest will cause planetary collapse.
“Among the Yanomami indigenous people who inhabit the Amazon, there is a belief that it is up to human beings to hold up the sky so that it does not fall on the Earth. This perspective gives us a measure of our responsibility to the planet, especially to the most vulnerable,” he remarked.
Lula defended the need for countries to embrace a “new model of development that is more just, resilient, and low-carbon.” “I hope this summit will help push the sky upward and broaden our vision beyond what we see today,” he concluded.
Leaders
After opening the plenary session, the president will host world leaders at an official lunch to unveil the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). During lunch, Lula will speak to leaders about the importance of maintaining this fund to assist countries that have tropical forests, such as Brazil and eight others where the Amazon is part of their territory.
In the afternoon, there will be a plenary session on the theme Climate and Nature, Forests, and Oceans. On Friday (7), two more plenary sessions are scheduled. Hundreds of speeches by heads of delegations are scheduled throughout this period, and Lula will hold bilateral meetings with several leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
