// LEADERS' VIEWS LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT, BRAZIL
Brazil leads global call for climate action T he concrete fact is that at every COP [Conference of the Parties] we attend, many decisions are
transparent and shared governance of biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions… We take pride in being an oceanic nation. Brazil’s maritime territory covers 5.7 million square kilometers – an area comparable in size to the Amazon. That is why we call it the Blue Amazon. The analogy between the forest and the sea goes beyond the natural wealth they both harbor, or the cultural heritage of the peoples who depend on and care for these biomes. Both Amazons are suffering the impacts of climate change. Tropical forests are being pushed toward their tipping point. The ocean is running a fever. In just one year, the average sea temperature rose by nearly as much as it had over the previous four decades combined. Science has proven that the cause of this illness is global warming and the continued use of fossil fuels. Over the past ten years, the world has produced more plastic than in the entire previous century. Plastic waste accounts for 80% of all marine pollution. Saving this biome requires renewed dedication to the implementation of SDG [Sustainable Development Goal] 14 and the Paris Agreement. Brazil will highlight ocean conservation and sustainable use at COP30, as we did in our Nationally Determined Contribution… In addition to ending deforestation by 2030, we will expand our protected marine areas from 26% to 30%, meeting the target of the Global Biodiversity Framework. We will also implement programs dedicated to mangroves and coral reefs, and we are formulating a national strategy to combat plastic pollution in the ocean… We are promoting sustainable fishing and combating illegal activities that threaten this vital sector for the food security of our population… Together with the United Nations, Brazil will launch a “Global Ethical Balance” to mobilize thinkers, artists, intellectuals and religious leaders, youth, women, Indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and people of African descent in the lead-up to COP30. We need to build a great wave to shape a fairer and more sustainable future. Speech at the UN Ocean Conference, Nice, France, 9 June 2025
working to expand funding beyond the 300 billion dollars negotiated at the COP in Baku. In Belém, we will launch the Forever Tropical Forests Fund, an innovative mechanism that will provide compensation to countries that keep their forests standing… It will be time for world leaders to show whether they are truly committed to the future of the planet… We need a new global governance. If the United Nations is the space we created to address the most important issues facing humanity, it is there that climate change must be addressed. whether they truly want to ensure that the climate does not allow warming beyond one and a half degrees. Statement to civil society, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization Summit, 22 August 2025 We cannot speak of sustainable development without including the ocean. Without protecting it, we cannot effectively combat climate change. The survival of three billion people depends directly on marine resources. The ocean is the planet’s main climate regulator, thanks to the entire chain of life it sustains… We will work to establish a Climate Council capable of mobilizing countries to fulfill their commitments… The question is whether these people are willing, at least, to help finance this. So that they can show Preventing the oceans from becoming a stage for geopolitical disputes is an urgent task in our quest for peace. Canals, gulfs, and straits must bring us together – not drive us apart. Curbing a predatory race for seabed minerals requires strong support for the International Seabed Authority… Brazil is committed to ratifying the High Seas Treaty later this year to ensure the
made, but they are not implemented. Few countries work hard to comply with the decisions… Therefore, we must have clarity on how we will conduct ourselves at this COP [in November at Belém]. This COP is set to take place in the Amazon because many people give opinions about the Amazon, but few truly know it. And we want people to get to know the Amazon, to understand
that 50 million people live across these eight countries. We want people to learn the lesson that beneath every tree canopy,
there is an Indigenous person, an extractor, a rubber tapper, an angler, a small-scale rural worker. And these people must survive. And those who believe in the importance of
keeping the forest standing must help
provide the resources so that we can preserve it… Brazil has already submitted its NDCs
[Nationally Determined Contributions]. And we have done so with the expectation that all countries will arrive presenting their own NDCs… If each country does its part, we will manage to get there… We have been working on interesting proposals. We are proposing a fund to keep the forests standing, and I want to see which countries are willing to contribute so that we can maintain them… The most promising path is that of diversifying our energy sources… Decarbonization is not a choice; it is increasingly becoming a necessity. The Brazilian Presidency [of COP] has launched four dialogue circles. The Circle of Presidents from previous COPs is committed to ensuring that the new Nationally Determined Contributions meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Circle of Finance Ministers is
10 // G20 SOUTH AFRICA: THE JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT 2025
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