Sharm El Sheikh – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had his first international appointment as president-elect of Brazil in an Arab country, Egypt, where he said, “Brazil is back in the world.” He spoke at the Legal Amazon Interstate Consortium panel within the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP27) in Sharm El Sheikh this Wednesday morning (16).
Lula received a letter of commitment from the state governors of the Legal Amazon delivered by Pará state’s Helder Barbalho. Barbalho asked Lula, on behalf of the consortium, to ask for the COP30 to be held in the Amazon. The president-elect said he will ask for the 2025 Climate Conference to be held in Brazil. Pictured above, right to left, Mauro Mendes (Mato Grosso governor), Wanderlei Barbosa (Tocantins governor), Helder Barbalho, Lula, Fátima Bezerra (Rio Grande do Norte governor), and Gladson Cameli (Acre governor).
“We will talk to the UN secretary-general, and we will ask the 2025 COP be held in Brazil in the Amazon,” said the president-elect. He stated the region has two states ready to host a global conference, Amazonas and Pará, and left it to the consortium of governors to decide based on which state has more to offer in terms of infrastructure to the thousands of Climate Conference participants.
For Lula, it is important the COP takes place in the Amazon. “I think it’s important those who defend the Amazon and the climate experience firsthand what that region is. It is a way for people to get to know each other and travel so they can discuss the Amazon from a concrete reality,” he said.
He stated the fight against illegal deforestation would be paramount in his government, reaffirming caring for indigenous peoples and creating a Ministry of Native Peoples.
“If the Amazon has the meaning for the planet and the importance scientists say it has, we don’t have to measure any effort to convince people a tree standing is of more use than a tree torn down without any criteria or need,” said the president-elect.
“To put an end to hunger, misery, forest degradation, and the suffering of indigenous peoples, we will have to discuss a lot and work together so Brazil will be a worldwide cause of pride and not despair as it is today,” he concluded.
Later this Wednesday, at 5:00 pm EET (12:00 pm BRT, 3:00 pm GMT), he will make an official address at COP27.
Follow ANBA’s special coverage of COP27
Letter for the Amazon
Barbalho said Lula’s participation elevates Brazil to protagonism in the environmental and climate topics. The governor read the Letter of the Governors for the Amazon, which stated the governors of the nine states of the Legal Amazon, in the face of the strategic importance of the rainforest for national development, reaffirm the commitment and spirit of cooperation in favor of policies towards collaboration and sustainable development in the region.
“In this new political framework, we express our commitment to building a fruitful and effective relationship with the federal government based on respect to democracy, compliance with the constitution, and dialogue with the government powers at the state and federal levels,” said the governor of Pará. He also spoke on resuming constructive dialogue with other countries in the Amazon region.
Lula arrived at the UNFCCC COP27 with his wife, Janja Silva; former minister Fernando Haddad; and Brazilian ambassador to Egypt, Antonio Patriota.
The event also had the participation of former Environment minister and deputy-elect Marina Silva, senators Randolfe Rodrigues, Eliziane Gama, Jean Paul Prates, Kátia Abreu, federal deputies Alessandro Molon, Rodrigo Agostinho, Joênia Wapichana, and deputy-elect Sonia Guajajara, among other authorities, diplomats and civil organization representatives.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
