Speech by President Lula at the Opening of COP30, in Belém (PA)

I wanted to tell you all that it would be very difficult to speak without first honoring the people of Pará.

You who have come from other countries to participate in this convention, please, pay close attention: you are going to participate in an event in a state that has a wonderful people. You will see incredibly happy, very polite men and women who will look after you here in this city like you have never been looked after before.

I want to thank my team from the Office of the Chief of Staff, represented by Rui Costa [Minister], and Governor Helder Barbalho [Pará], for achieving the feat of holding this COP in the heart of the Amazon, in the state of Pará and in the city of Belém.

Make the most of this city; make the most of the joy, the beauty, the charm, the affection, and the love of the men and women who will welcome you. Above all, make the most of the food of Pará.

Here you will eat dishes you have not eaten anywhere else in the world—perhaps the best fish.

And do not forget to eat maniçoba. The interpreter can translate this properly, because we are in a contest between Pará and Bahia to see which maniçoba is better.

And I wanted to tell you that holding the COP here is a challenge as great as the challenge of ending pollution on planet Earth.

It would have been easier to hold the COP in a fully developed city, one without problems, but we resolved to accept the challenge of holding the COP in an Amazonian state to prove that, when there is political will, when there is a desire, and when there is a commitment to the truth, we prove that nothing is impossible for humankind.

The impossible is not having the courage to face challenges.

Therefore, my congratulations to you, delegates and representatives of governments, and to the people of Pará, congratulations for giving all of us this lesson in civility.

This lesson in human greatness, proving that if the men who wage war were at this COP, they would realize that it is far cheaper to dedicate 1.3 trillion dollars to solving a problem than to spend 2 trillion and 7 billion dollars on waging war, as they did last year.

More than 30 years ago, at the Earth Summit, the world's leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro to discuss development and the protection of the environment.

At that moment, multilateralism was at its peak.

The world was entering the decade of conferences, from which emerged the compasses that have guided humankind over the past three decades.

Among them are the concept of sustainable development and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities — living legacies of Rio 92.

Today, the Climate Convention returns to its birthplace.

It makes its way back to rekindle the enthusiasm and engagement that inspired its birth.

For the next two weeks, Belém will be the capital of the world.

Negotiators, governors, mayors, parliamentarians, scientists, and civil society organizations will take part in this great collective effort on behalf of the planet.

Bringing the COP to the heart of the Amazon was an arduous task, but a necessary one.

The Amazon is not an abstract entity.

Those who watch the forest from above do not know what happens beneath its canopy.

The most diverse biome on Earth is home to nearly fifty million people, including four hundred Indigenous peoples, spread across nine developing countries that still face immense social and economic challenges.

Challenges that Brazil strives to overcome with the same determination it has shown in overcoming the logistical hurdles inherent in organizing a conference of this magnitude.

When you leave Belém, the people of this city will get to keep the infrastructure investments that have been made to welcome you.

And the world will finally be able to say that it truly knows the real Amazon.

In the days leading up to this Conference, Heads of State and Government, Ministers, and representatives of international organizations and civil society gathered at the Belém Summit for Climate.

We launched the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, an innovative mechanism that raised 5.5 billion dollars in investment pledges in a single day.

We adopted collective commitments on:

» Integrated fire management

» Land tenure rights for Indigenous and traditional peoples

» Quadrupling of sustainable fuel production

» Establishment of a coalition on carbon markets

» Alignment of climate action with the fight against hunger and poverty

» And the fight against environmental racism.

The Belém Summit marks the culmination of a path that Brazil invited the international community to follow throughout its presidencies of the G20 and BRICS.

The synthesis of the elements gathered along this journey is contained in the Call to Action that we issued after the Summit, as a contribution to the discussions at the COP and beyond.

Climate change is no longer a threat of the future.

It is a tragedy of the present.

Hurricane Melissa, which battered the Caribbean, and the tornado that struck the State of Paraná, in southern Brazil, left fatalities and a trail of destruction.

From droughts and wildfires in Africa and Europe to floods in South America and Southeast Asia, the rise in global temperatures is spreading pain and suffering, especially among the most vulnerable populations.

COP30 will be the COP of truth.

In the era of misinformation, obscurantists reject not only the evidence of science but also the advances of multilateralism.

They manipulate algorithms, sow hatred and spread fear.

They attack institutions, science and universities.

It is time to deliver yet another defeat to denialism.

Without the Paris Agreement, the world would be doomed to a catastrophic warming of nearly five degrees by the end of the century.

We are moving in the right direction, but at the wrong speed.

At the current pace, we are still heading toward a rise in global temperature of more than one and a half degrees.

Crossing that threshold is a risk we cannot afford to take.

Dear friends,

Our Call to Action is divided into three parts.

In the first part, I appeal to countries to honor their commitments.

This means:

» Formulating and implementing ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

» Ensuring financing, technology transfer, and capacity-building for developing countries

» And giving due attention to adaptation to the effects of climate change

In the second part, I call on world leaders to accelerate climate action.

We need roadmaps that will enable humankind, in a fair and planned manner, to overcome its dependence on fossil fuels, halt and reverse deforestation, and mobilize resources to achieve these goals.

Moving forward requires a more robust global governance, capable of ensuring that words are translated into action.

The proposal to create a Climate Council, linked to the United Nations General Assembly, is a way to give this challenge the political stature it deserves.

In the third part, I call on the international community to place people at the center of the climate agenda.

Global warming could push millions of people towards hunger and poverty, setting back decades of progress.

The disproportionate impact of climate change on women, people of African descent, migrants, and vulnerable groups must be taken into account in adaptation policies.

It is essential to recognize the role of Indigenous territories and traditional communities in mitigation efforts.

In Brazil, more than 13 percent of the national territory consists of lands demarcated for Indigenous peoples. Perhaps that is still not enough.

A just transition must help reduce the asymmetries between the Global North and South, forged over centuries of emissions.

The climate emergency is a crisis of inequality.

It exposes and exacerbates what is already unacceptable.

It deepens the perverse logic that determines who is deemed worthy of living and who is left to die.

Choosing to change gives us the chance for a future not dictated by tragedy.

Disillusionment must not extinguish the hopes of youth.

We owe our children and grandchildren the opportunity to live on an Earth where it is still possible to dream.

The Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa says that thought in the city is dark and clouded, obstructed by the roar of cars and the noise of machines.

I hope that the serenity of the forest may inspire in all of us the clarity of thought needed to see what must be done.

A successful COP30 to all.

Thank you very much.