At COP31, Lula demands that rich countries fulfill commitments to stop global warming

World leaders met this Wednesday (11), in Türkiye, to discuss how to stop global warming. President Lula demanded that rich countries fulfill their commitments. The report is by special envoys Murilo Salviano, Igor Arroyo and Natalie Reinoso.

In the country that bridges the gap between West and East, the world comes together to discuss the climate. Not everyone. The leaders of the five countries that pollute the most were not, among them, the United States and China. Even some Europeans, who were notable at the COP, were absent. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, was categorical:

"The brutal truth is that the climate crisis is advancing faster than we are."

Lula, in his speech, presented points that he considers to be priorities for tackling the climate crisis, such as increasing financing, the transition from fossil fuels to other energy sources, combating deforestation and expanding emissions reduction targets. He stated that Brazil will do its part and demanded more action from rich countries:

"Sabotaging the climate regime is destroying the best of the multilateral system. But the lack of consensus cannot become an obstacle to progress. In times of polarization, diplomacy needs to know how to open windows where doors close."

At COP31, Lula demands that rich countries fulfill commitments to curb global warming — Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction

If the plenary is the big stage where world leaders speak, it is in the corridors, in the smaller rooms, that the COP takes place in earnest. Negotiators from all over the world meet to discuss sensitive issues for their countries and that is where interests clash. A priority for Brazil, for example, is the just transition mechanism, with alternatives for communities that may be directly affected by climate measures.

"If a city or a country is going to close a segment that is very polluting, like coal plants, for example, they have to find another activity for the people who live there to continue working. They have to reconvert the workforce", says Liliam Chagas, Brazil's chief negotiator.

Turkey, the host, has been advocating that this be the COP for implementation. The objective is to get the proposals off paper. Among the projects that still need to be implemented is the fund to raise public and private resources to preserve tropical forests. This idea was launched at the last COP, in Belém, and has already received promises of almost US$8 billion in investments.

Environmentalists at the COP praised Brazil's performance in reducing deforestation, but called for more effective measures in relation to fossil fuels. The coordinator of MapBiomas, responsible for mapping the country's green coverage, recalled that Brazil presented at this COP the so-called Road Map, with global guidelines for transition and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

"Great, we have a lower deforestation rate. So, what we are saying is consistent with the actions. In terms of fossil fuels, it's a little more complicated, because Brazil is still investing heavily in oil as its major product. It's our main export. So, we need to resolve this part of the oil, but it comes strong for having led this process of delivering a proposal on how we could transition away from this large emission of fossil fuels", says Tasso Azevedo, MapBiomas general coordinator.