Speech by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the High-Level Segment of the Convention on Migratory Species of the United Nations (COP15)

My dear friend Santiago Peña, President of the Republic of Paraguay, and the delegation of ministers accompanying him.

My dear friend, Fernando Aramayo Carrasco, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia.

My dear friend Eduardo Riedel, Governor of Mato Grosso do Sul, and his wife, Monica Riedel. Adriana Lopes, Mayor of Campo Grande.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the governor and the mayor for the invaluable support they provided to make this event possible here in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

I would like to greet the ministers who accompany me: Alexandre Silveira, Minister of Mines and Energy; Simone Tebet, Minister of Planning and Budget; Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change; and Eloy Terena, Acting Minister of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms. Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Minister Herman Benjamin, President of the Superior Court of Justice. Ambassador Maurício Lyrio, Secretary for Climate, Energy and Environment [of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs].

Rodrigo Agostinho, President of IBAMA; Mauro Pires, President of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation; Enio Verri, Director-General of Itaipu Binacional; and our colleague, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species of the United Nations.

It is a great honor for Brazil to host the fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species.

I welcome all participants.

Organizing this event in Campo Grande, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, is a strategic choice.

We are at the gateway to the Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world.

This region uniquely symbolizes the natural wealth of South America and the interdependence among countries whose fauna and flora cross borders.

The Convention on Migratory Species conveys a simple but powerful message: migration is natural.

By crossing continents and connecting distant ecosystems, these species show that nature does not recognize the limits between States.

The jaguar moves across nearly all preserved territories of the Americas in search of safe areas to hunt and reproduce.

Like it, every year, millions of birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, and even insects cross continents and oceans.

These journeys connect ecosystems, preserve natural cycles, and ensure the balance that makes life possible.

Protecting these animals means protecting life itself on the planet.

The survival of these species depends on collective action.

This Convention was created in 1979, even before the Rio Conference of 1992.

It pioneered the construction of the institutional architecture for the environment and climate within the United Nations.

Its work has enabled the monitoring and mapping of nearly 1,200 species classified as endangered or threatened.

It contributed to the recovery of species such as the humpback whale and the green sea turtle, which were on the verge of disappearing.

Climate change, water pollution, extractive activities, and infrastructure projects without proper planning are growing challenges.

Nearly five decades later, it is natural that the Convention must be updated.

Brazil’s presidency of COP15 has three priorities:

First, to engage with the principles enshrined in the Climate, Desertification, and Biodiversity Conventions, such as common but differentiated responsibilities.

Second, to work to expand and mobilize financial resources, create funds, and develop innovative multilateral mechanisms, especially for developing countries.

Third, to broaden adherence. The Pantanal Declaration, which we are adopting today, calls for more countries to become effectively engaged in protecting species and migratory routes.

My friends,

The theme of this High-Level Segment highlights something essential: there will be no lasting prosperity in Latin America without protecting our biodiversity.

From the Amazon to the Cerrado, from the Pantanal to the Andes, from tropical forests to coastal zones, essential ecological corridors are formed for global climate balance.

It is important that, in addition to adequate financial resources, we also have capacity for coordination and political articulation and shared management.

For nearly 20 years, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay have maintained a Memorandum for the Conservation of Migratory Birds that protects 11 species.

Latin America and the Caribbean are pioneers in the adoption of the Escazú Agreement, on environmental democracy, social justice, and the protection of those who defend the environment.

The Agreement is awaiting approval by the Brazilian Senate and has the full support of my government.

The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization is also essential to strengthen joint action among the eight countries that share the forest.

Within ACTO, we recognize that combating environmental crimes such as deforestation, illegal mining, and wildlife trafficking requires coordinated action beyond our national borders.

With this objective, in 2023, we created the Amazon International Police Cooperation Center, headquartered in Manaus.

We hope that the discussions at this COP15 will contribute positively to the creation of a Whale Sanctuary in the South Atlantic and a Marine Protected Area in Antarctica.

Until recently, Brazil’s international image in environmental matters faced serious challenges, directly affecting our economic and trade relations.

Since 2023, we have chosen a new path, guided by the conviction that conserving and producing sustainably is not only possible but necessary.

We rebuilt the institutional framework and environmental policies that had been dismantled.

In a short time, we have achieved significant results.

Deforestation in the Amazon has been cut in half.

In the Cerrado, it has declined by more than 30 percent.

We have reduced fires in the Pantanal by more than 90 percent.

We have placed Brazil back on the map of multilateral environmental efforts.

We presided over and hosted the Climate COP30.

We launched the Tropical Forests Forever Fund and the Carbon Market Coalition.

As hosts of the G20 and BRICS summits in 2025, we placed fair and sustainable development at the center of discussions.

We engaged in the Ocean Conference in Nice and ratified the High Seas Treaty.

This month, we created the Albardão Marine National Park, in southern Brazil, covering an area of 10,000 square kilometers that serves as a route for dolphins and sea lions.

We submitted the nomination for the Abrolhos region to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We also intend to create protected areas for seamounts in the regions of Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas.

On the occasion of this COP15, we have decided to adopt three new measures:

- We created a new conservation unit, the Córregos dos Vales do Norte de Minas Gerais Reserve, covering an area of 41,000 hectares.

- We expanded the Pantanal National Park by 47,000 hectares, bringing the total protected area to 183,000 hectares.

- We expanded the Taiamã Ecological Station, also here in the neighboring state of Mato Grosso, by 57,000 hectares, bringing the total protected area to 68,000 hectares.

Our goal is to achieve, by 2030, the target of protecting thirty percent of ocean areas, as established by the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This COP15 takes place at a moment of major geopolitical tensions.

Unilateral actions, violations of sovereignty, and summary executions are becoming the norm.

Over its eighty years, the United Nations has played an important role in decolonization processes, in banning chemical and biological weapons, in restoring the ozone layer, in eradicating smallpox, in advancing human rights, and in supporting refugees and migrants.

But the Security Council has been absent in the search for solutions to conflicts.

A world without rules is an unsafe world, where anyone can be the next victim.

The history of humanity is also a history of migration, displacement, bonds, and connections.

Instead of walls and hate speech, we need reception policies and a strong, renewed multilateralism.

Let this COP15 be a space for collective progress in defense of nature and humanity.

Thank you very much.