Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva today called world leaders to draw roadmaps to "overcome dependence on fossil fuels" and reverse deforestation, during a global summit ahead of the UN Cop 30 climate talks.
Lula said during his opening speech at the summit in Belem today that he is "convinced" that countries can come up with these roadmaps "despite our difficulties and contradictions". The Cop 30 talks will officially start on 10 November.
Now is the time to "face reality and decide" whether the world "will have the courage and determination necessary" to accelerate the energy transition and the fight against climate change, he added.
Lula said that to do so, the world must overcome the "disconnect between diplomatic circles and the real world", calling on countries, companies and individual people to put the fight against climate change at the centre of their decisions.
Lula asked leaders to address the "disconnect between the geopolitical context and the climate emergency," saying that "extremist forces fabricate falsehoods [about climate change] to gain electoral advantage" and that armed conflicts take resources that should instead head towards tackling global warming.
Lula called for global leaders to mobilise the resources necessary to achieve the transition away from fossil fuels and reverse deforestation. Finance — public and private — will remain a key focus at Cop 30, after some developing countries disputed a new $300bn/yr finance goal agreed last year in Baku.
The Baku to Belem roadmap released yesterday charted a path towards delivering climate finance flows of $1.3 trillion/yr by 2035 for developing nations.
A range of taxes, including on aviation or maritime transport, luxury goods, financial transactions and corporate and wealth taxes, could help finance that climate action, according to the roadmap.
Walk the walk
Some observers commended Lula for mentioning the phase-out of fossil fuels, but warned that Brazil must also walk the walk when it comes to its crude exploration targets.
"Lula spoke powerfully about justice and cooperation in a divided world, highlighting the need to get rid of fossil fuels and accelerate the energy transition," Andreas Sieber, associate director at environmental NGO 350.org said. "But he cannot be both a champion of climate justice and one of the world's biggest oil expanders".
Brazil produces around 4mn b/d of crude, making it one of the 10 largest producers globally. The country has plans to expand that to 5.3mn b/d by 2030, according to its energy research bureau Epe, hinging on new exploratory frontiers such as the southern Pelotas basin and the environmentally-sensitive equatorial margin.
Environmental watchdog Ibama recently granted state-controlled Petrobras a license to drill a well in the latter.
The granting of the license contradicts Lula's speech, according to Marcio Astrini, the executive secretary of climate umbrella group Observatorio do Clima.
"What we hope, now, that the license is already a reality, is that the the [Brazilian] government will fulfill its promises of putting the proposal [to phase out fossil fuels] on the table [at Cop 30]", he added.
Lula's legacy and Cop 30's credibility will hinge on whether he can actually get the phase out of fossil fuels to the negotiation tables "and follow up on his laudable ambition to accelerate the energy transition in Belem", Sieber said.
