Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva placed his “roadmap” for reducing dependence on fossil fuels back at the forefront of UN climate talks in Belem on Wednesday, despite the failure of an ambitious push to finalise an early deal.
Lula flew into the Amazonian city to bring the weight of the presidency to the summit, in a rare late-stage appearance by a head of state or government at the annual gathering.
COP30 host Brazil released a draft agreement on Tuesday and urged negotiators to work overnight with the aim to get nations to agree on the most disputed points as soon as Wednesday, two days before the conference is scheduled to end.
Lula, who has committed significantly in ensuring the success of what he described as the “COP of truth,” moving between rooms to consult with ministers from different negotiating groups.
Lula arrived late to the evening’s press conference, entering with enthusiasm and praising Belem and the state of Para. “From the beginning, I had no doubt that we were going to organise the best COP of all those held so far.” He said with pride.
He then returned to his “roadmap” away from oil, coal and gas that he first introduced earlier this month, which set the stage for the summit’s ambitious tone.
“We need to show society that we want this without imposing anything on anyone, without setting deadlines for each country to decide what it can do within its own time, within its own possibilities,” he said.
“But we are serious — we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We need to start thinking about how to live without fossil fuels.”
No more money
Marcio Astrini of Brazil’s Climate Observatory told AFP that Lula, “said clearly the roadmap is what he wants to see coming out of the conference.”
“We need to see all this optimism reflected in the final text,” added Greenpeace Brazil.
Still, much work remains to reach consensus, not only on the roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, which faces opposition from oil-producing nations, but also on trade measures and other divisive topics.
Negotiators are divided over pressure from the developing world for developed countries to increase financial support, aimed at helping vulnerable nations adapt to climate change and deploy renewable energy.
Last year’s COP29 summit in Baku ended with developed nations agreeing to provide US$300 billion annually in climate finance, a figure widely criticised by developing countries as far too low to meet their urgent needs.
The EU, where many member countries are facing economic challenges and soaring debt, has led the opposition to demands for more money.
“We’re not looking at any increases in adaptation finance,” Irish climate minister Darragh O’Brien said.
The EU is also resisting efforts led by China and other major developing countries to include wording against its tax on imports of carbon-intensive goods such as steel, aluminum, cement and fertilisers.
Grants, not loans
“There should be at least a mention [of trade measures], because they become a disabler instead of an enabler. So, I think they will be mentioned in some way,” Mexican Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena told AFP.
Aisha Humera Moriani, Pakistan’s head of delegation, told AFP that “it’s extremely important that we find something on the operationalisation of that US$300 billion.”
She emphasised that most of the funding should be used in strengthening climate-vulnerable countries’ resilience to extreme weather, and a larger share needs to come as grants, rather than loans that further burden poor nations with debt.
A new text is expected to be published on Wednesday.
COP30 is due to end on Friday, but climate summits typically go over their planned end dates.
In a sign that Brazil wants to stay on schedule, delegates sleeping on two cruise ships serving as floating hotels have been told to vacate their cabins on Saturday morning.
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by Julien Mivielle and others, AFP
