‘We didn’t want convenience, but challenges’, says Lula about choosing Belém for COP30

This Tuesday (4), in an interview with the international press, the president of Brazil, (PT), explained the choice of the city to hold an event like this. “When we decided to hold the COP here in the state of Pará, we already knew the conditions in the state, we already knew the conditions in the city (…) And we decided to hold it here because we didn’t want amenities, we wanted challenges. And we wanted the world to come and see the Amazon”, he explained, guaranteeing that this will be the best COP of all. “I’m sure we’re going to have the best COP of all the COPs ever held to date. We want to see if it’s possible to inaugurate a new phase of the COP, because it’s the following: enough discussion, now we have to implement what we say”, he said.

Since the announcement of no to host the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, much is said about the lack of structure at the venue to support an event of this size. Accommodation has been a problem among delegations coming to Brazil, in addition to places with exorbitant prices, there is also a lack of space. The arrival of around 50,000 visitors caused chaos in accommodation in Belém, with very high prices that raised concerns about the possible exclusion of poor countries. The city needed to double the number of accommodations, and to be able to accommodate everyone, the federal government hired cruise ships, an operation that is part of Brazil’s official accommodation plan for the conference, with the port infrastructure already delivered on Saturday (1).

COP30 will be held between November 10th and 21st, in the largest tropical forest on the planet, despite all the logistical challenges, however, a summit of heads of state and government will take place beforehand, on Thursday (6) and Friday (7). Among the priorities, Lula highlighted that there is an interest in something new, the TFFF program (Tropical Forests Forever, translated into Portuguese). “It is a fund that will not be a donation, it is an investment fund. And Brazil, when it announced this fund, has already deposited 1 billion dollars [R$ 5,35 bilhões]. It is a fund that will bring profitability to the investor, and part of this profitability will finance the countries that keep their forests standing”, said the president, adding that the idea is to create an Environment Council.

“An organ connected [à ONU]with a little more power, so that, when deciding on a decision here, this council can travel around the world following the results”, he explained, adding that the idea is to propose a road map, because there is a lot of talk about reducing fossil fuels, but it is necessary to have a discussion to know if, in a timeline, “when can we predict that the world is ready to be freed from a reduction”, as it is ‘not an easy thing”, he concluded.