COP30 is already scheduled: the event will take place between November 10 and 21, 2025, in Belém do Pará. The expectation around the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Brazil is large, mainly due to the country’s potential to offer real solutions to global challenges.
For Wilson Ferreira Júnior, chairman of the Council, COP will be the opportunity to show the world the sustainable ways that Brazil already trail – from the preservation of the forest to the advancement in renewable energy.
During participation in the podcast “From zero to top“, sponsored by MatrixWilson Ferreira pointed out that Brazil has a relevant role in the environmental agenda. “In COP we can show a little of the advances that Brazil has already done,” he said, emphasizing the importance of the event being held in the national territory.
According to him, the Brazilian protagonism in the environmental area is still undervalued, although the country has a significant contribution, especially in carbon capture and reforestation policies. As an example, he cited projects that recover degraded areas with palm planting for biofuels production – such as sustainable aviation fuel, a fundamental alternative to the energy transition of the air sector, one of the major global broadcasters.
These initiatives, in Wilson Ferreira’s view, are practical examples that Brazil can and should share in COP30. He recalled that the country has been a pioneer in biofuels with ethanol and biodiesel and today continues in the forefront with new sustainable alternatives.
Energy transition and forest management
Ferreira Júnior also stressed that Brazil cannot be limited to environmental preservation. He defends an approach that reconciles conservation and development. “We have to show the world our processes of forest management and preservation,” he said. With half of its forest territory, the country has a crucial role in facing the climate crisis – a crisis that, according to him, is no longer a future threat and has become present, with extreme events being increasingly frequent.
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“There is only one world, you can’t change places,” he said, parallel between the planet and a condominium with 200 owners, where everyone needs to collaborate to ensure collective survival. In this logic, he believes that Brazil can be one of the “owners” most admired by the environmental contribution it already delivers – and can still expand.
The executive recalled that the country has already had a global prominence with ECO-92 and that COP30 will be a new opportunity to show its protagonism. “We have already reached a and a half degree of warming in 2025, when the goal was 2050. So the challenge is now. We have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and there is no other way other than replacing fossil fuel burning,” he argued.
In this sense, Brazil has a relevant contribution to its already consolidated energy practices, such as the use of ethanol and hydroelectric plants, and also with the growing adoption of solar and wind sources. “Each of these examples shows that Brazil is an important player,” he said.
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Brazil as a supplier of sustainable solutions
Wilson Ferreira Júnior also highlighted the role of Brazil as a solution supplier, especially in the field of biofuels and hydrogen. “Events like COP are essential for creating goals and agreements. At the time everyone gets excited, but it is in practice that we see the difficulty of achieving what was promised,” he said. For him, hosting COP brings visibility and responsibility, but it is a golden opportunity for Brazil to be seen as an example. “We will have the opportunity to show that most of the paths are already practiced here and can be reproduced,” he said.
With the proximity of the first concrete measurement of the goals set in the Paris Agreement, Wilson Ferreira believes that COP30 will be a moment of evaluation and reorientation. “It will be important to see how we entered the trail again to a 2030 better than 2025, and a 2050 better than 2030. Humanity needs this trajectory – and has a lot from Brazil in it.”
The challenge, according to Wilson Ferreira, is to reconcile population and economic growth with environmental preservation. “We have 8 billion people in the world, and by 2050 it will be 10 billion. These people will eat, transport, work. There will be more demand for energy,” he said. For him, the great dilemma of humanity will be to continue producing and feeding these people, but with less polluting gases.
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This equation can only be resolved with innovation, sustainable public policies and especially global cooperation. Wilson Ferreira Júnior believes that Brazil, with its history and its natural potential, has everything to lead this process. “The challenge is permanent, but the solution goes through us. Brazil has to show that it is a fundamental part of the response to the biggest problem of our time,” he concluded.
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