Politics Brazil's president calls on climate summit to be ambitious
Shortly before the planned end of the world climate conference, the Brazilian host calls on the 200 or so countries to make ambitious decisions. If people's expectations are disappointed, politics will lose their trust, said President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Belém. Too little climate protection would jeopardize democratic stability and international credibility. "We are jeopardizing something called democracy."
20.11.2025, 07:37
SDA
In particular, states must show that they take the concerns of the younger generation and women seriously. Addressing the industrialized countries, Lula said: "Caring for the climate means knowing that rich countries must help poor countries."
"Living without fossil fuels"
Lula once again called for countries to work together to find ways to move away from oil, gas and coal as energy sources that are harmful to the climate. They must consider "how we can live without fossil fuels". Although Brazil is a major oil producer, it also has 87 percent clean electricity at home.
Whether the world needs a roadmap to move away from oil, gas and coal is a central point of contention at the World Climate Conference. Germany and a good 80 other countries are urgently promoting this. However, observers believe that rich Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, which continue to earn billions from their oil and gas, are putting on the brakes. They have blocking power, as decisions must be unanimous.
"Putting the real Amazon in the head"
Commenting on the choice of the Amazon metropolis of Belém, which is poor even by Brazilian standards, as the location for COP30, Lula said that this had raised international awareness of the region. "It was very important for us to put the real Amazon in the minds of people around the world." The left-wing politician's aim is to make the world aware of the climate crisis in the Amazon and at the same time the harsh social reality in a metropolis of millions in the Global South.
The two-week UN meeting of around 200 countries is scheduled to end on Friday evening (22:00 CET), but an extension of hours or even days is the rule.
