Brazil’s President Lula calls for defeating climate deniers as UN climate conference opens in Amazon amid US absence and fossil fuel tensions.
BELÉM: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged the world to “inflict a new defeat on the deniers” as the UN climate conference opened Monday in the Amazon.
The COP30 summit began in Belém with pleas to continue fighting global warming despite the United States’ absence as the world’s top oil producer.
Feeble progress on reducing fossil fuel use and cutting emissions has created divisions between countries at the rainforest-hosted summit.
Lula pointedly slammed those who “spread fear, attack institutions, science, and universities” in his opening address.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell acknowledged “tough opponents” but insisted “humanity is still in this fight.”
He highlighted “the brute power of market forces” tipping toward renewables, which recently overtook coal as the world’s top energy source.
The summit opens amid destructive storms in the Caribbean and Asia and growing fears that geopolitical tensions are distracting from climate action.
UN climate scientist Jim Skea reaffirmed that temporarily breaching the 1.5°C Paris Agreement benchmark was now “almost inevitable.”
Logistical problems plagued the conference, with a dire hotel shortage keeping attendance below recent editions at just over 42,000 delegates.
Lula defended hosting in the Amazon to highlight its role in combating climate change driven mainly by burning coal, oil and gas.
Rich and developing nations are expected to clash over climate finance for poorer regions to adapt and shift to low-carbon futures.
“Our 44 countries did not light this fire, but we are bearing its heat,” said Malawian diplomat Evans Njewa of the Least Developed Countries bloc.
Major oil producers like Saudi Arabia traditionally oppose focusing on fossil fuels at climate talks.
Lula floated a fossil fuel “roadmap” at COP30 but the proposal currently lacks details.
Small island nations are pushing to make the 1.5°C threshold an official agenda item, with Tuvalu’s minister warning “that spells our demise.” – AFP
