Brasilia and Belem — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Monday (October 11) during the opening of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém (Pennsylvania) that “if those who make war” were present at the event, they would realize that it is “much cheaper” to conserve the environment than to “fight wars.” It was an indirect criticism of countries like the United States, which did not send representatives to the COP.
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“Congratulations for giving us a lesson in decency and human greatness. If the war-makers were coming to this COP, they would prove that it is much cheaper to spend $1.3 trillion on ending the climate crisis than it is to spend $2.7 trillion on fighting wars, as we did last year,” Lula declared.
The president also said that holding the COP in the Amazon was “brave.”
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Lula and Janja at COP30
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COP 30 President Andre Correa Lago
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COP 30 President Andre Correa Lago, COP 29 President from Azerbaijan
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COP30 opens in Belem
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Fafa de Belem at COP30
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Mr. Simon Stiel, UN Climate Change Chief at COP30
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Indigenous presentations at COP30
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“I would like to thank the team of the Civic House, led by Rui Costa, and Governor Helder Baraballo for the great achievement of holding the COP in the heart of the Amazon, in the state of Pará, in the city of Belém.”
“Holding the COP here is as big a challenge as ending pollution on the planet,” he added.
PT members opened their speeches by pointing to the recent passage of typhoons and hurricanes in Paraná, the Caribbean and the Philippines, and said, “Climate change is the tragedy of our time.”
“Climate change is no longer a threat of the future, but a tragedy of the present. Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean and tornadoes in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná left a trail of death and destruction. From droughts and floods in Africa and Europe to floods in South America and Southeast Asia, rising global temperatures are spreading pain and suffering, especially to the most vulnerable,” Lula stressed.
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