President states that the capital of Pará is now known worldwide and that it was important for Brazil to hold an event in the Amazon
The president (PT) said this Wednesday (19.Nov.2025) that the public can get directly involved in COP30 and enjoy its various cultural manifestations. According to him, popular participation was greater than in other editions, to the point of considering this the first climate conference truly aimed at people from all over the world. The PT member traveled to Belém early in the morning to try to unlock some of the negotiations, especially in relation to climate financing. He returned to Brasília at night.
“Here the people were more people, the people participated more. That’s why the COP is not André’s COP [Corrêa do Lago]who is president [da COP30], or the [António] Guterres, who is the secretary general of the UN, or a COP of Lula who is president of the Republic. This here can be called the 1st COP of the people of the whole world, because here there were people from all over the world making their demonstrations”, said Lula.
The president stated that world events like the COP cannot be “perpetually liturgical, in which only a few people participate and, often, in a place surrounded by police and barbed wire everywhere”.
“Leaders who participate in these protected events know they are not doing the right thing”said Lula.
The president highlighted that, although there were difficulties for the conference to be held in Belém (PA), Brazil demonstrated organizational capacity.
“It was very important for us to put the Amazon as it is, the way it is, in the minds of people around the world. I’m sure that today people know that not only does there exist a city called Belém, which is where Jesus Christ was born, but that there is Belém do Pará, for the Brazilian people“, he declared.
COP30 was marked by several demonstrations by civil society organizations and indigenous people from various regions of Brazil and neighboring countries. On November 11, a group without permission in the Blue Zone, an area restricted to negotiators, diplomats and journalists. There was a disturbance and a security guard suffered minor injuries. On November 14, around 50 indigenous people held a protest at the main entrance to Zona Azul. The act did not completely block participants from entering the venue, but it caused long queues because the security scheme was reinforced.
This is the 1st COP in the last 3 years held in a country where there is no type of restriction on civil society demonstrations. The latest editions were held in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan.
JANJA’S DEFENSE
The president mentioned the work of First Lady Janja Lula da Silva during the statement given to journalists in Belém. She was subject of criticism throughout the year for taking on a coordinating role in the organization of COP 30.
“I don’t know how many times a first lady has worked as hard on a COP as Janja has. And she wasn’t here because she was my wife. She was here because she had a function, she had a representation given by the
presidency of the COP so that she could travel around Brazil and the world talking aboutwomen’s participation“, said the president.
