President Lula’s speech at the session on energy transition at the Leaders’ Summit of COP30

The decisions we make regarding the energy sector will determine our success or failure in the battle against climate change.

It took 28 Climate COPs for us to commit, in Dubai, to a just, orderly, and equitable energy transition.

The Earth can no longer sustain a development model based on the intensive use of fossil fuels that has prevailed over the past 200 years.

Seventy-five percent of greenhouse gas emissions originate from energy production and consumption, and we can neither ignore nor be intimidated by the magnitude of this figure.

We already know that there is no need to turn off machines and engines or shut down factories around the world overnight.

Science and technology allow us to safely evolve toward a model centered on clean energy, a transformation that is already underway.

The use of renewables has tripled over the past ten years.

In the first half of 2025, renewable energy became the largest single source of electricity generation in the world, surpassing coal.

In many regions, solar and wind power are already cheaper than energy generated from fossil fuels.

Battery prices have fallen by 90%.

Brazil is not afraid to discuss the energy transition.

We have been leaders in this field for decades.

As early as the 1970s, we were the first country to invest on a large scale in renewable alternatives.

Ninety percent of Brazil’s electricity matrix comes from clean sources.

We are also pioneers in developing flexible engines and the world's second largest producer of biofuels.

Our gasoline mix contains 30 percent ethanol, and our diesel carries 15 percent biodiesel.

Ethanol is an effective and immediately available alternative for adoption in the most challenging sectors, such as industry and transportation.

It is lamentable that pressure and threats have led the International Maritime Organization to postpone this step.

The energy transition represents a new paradigm for development and a major opportunity to promote structural transformations in society and the economy.

In 2023, this sector accounted for 10 percent of global GDP growth and employed 35 million people.

We cannot discuss the energy transition without addressing critical minerals, which are essential for the production of batteries, solar panels, and energy systems.

To generate jobs and income and ensure energy security, developing countries must participate in all stages of this global value chain.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Despite the progress achieved, 2024 recorded a new carbon emission record in the energy sector, the highest level since 1957.

Financial incentives often move in the opposite direction of sustainability.

Last year, the world's largest banks committed 869 billion dollars to the oil and gas sector.

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix has fallen only from 83 percent to 80 percent.

The conflict in Ukraine has set back years of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and has even led to the reopening of coal mines.

Spending twice as much on weapons as we do on climate action is paving the way toward a climate apocalypse.

There will be no energy security in a world at war.

Fighting all forms of energy poverty is essential.

Two hundred million children attend schools with no electricity.

Without energy, there is no digital connectivity, no functioning hospitals, and no modern agriculture.

Unless we confront the injustice of unpayable foreign debts and abandon the conditionalities that discriminate against developing countries, we will continue going in circles.

A just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels requires access to technology and financing for the countries of the Global South.

There is room to explore innovative mechanisms to exchange debt for financing climate-mitigation and energy-transition initiatives.

Allocating part of the profits from oil exploration to the energy transition remains a legitimate path for developing countries.

Brazil will establish a fund of this nature to finance efforts to tackle climate change and to promote climate justice.

The world needs a clear roadmap to end its dependence on fossil fuels.

This requires a few core commitments:

The first is implementing the Dubai Agreement and achieving the goal of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.

The second is placing the eradication of energy poverty at the center of the global debate, and including clear targets for clean cooking and universal access to electricity in national climate plans.

The third is joining the Belém Commitment to quadrupling the use of sustainable fuels by 2035 and accelerating the decarbonization of the hardest-to-abate sectors.

Scientists have already done their part.

At this COP, negotiators must seek consensus.

And we, as leaders, must decide whether the 21st century will be remembered as the century of climate catastrophe — or as the moment of intelligent reconstruction.

Thank you very much.