MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

COP30 starts in Belem with a focus on accelerated global warming

Some 50 presidents and heads of state will participate at the meeting in the coming days

The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change officially kicked off in the city of Belém (Brazil), marking the first time the global climate summit has been held in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The meeting, set to run for two weeks, brings together world leaders from 163 countries to address the urgent crisis of global warming.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva led the official opening, immediately setting a tone of urgency. He dubbed the meeting “the COP of truth,” emphasizing the need to transition from rhetoric to concrete action.

“Humanity cannot continue to deny the obvious: the climate crisis is already here and demands a global response,” Lula underlined. He also called on states to “defeat” climate change deniers, who -he said- use misinformation to hinder multilateral progress. Lula also proposed creating a Climate Council linked to the UN General Assembly to give the climate challenge “the political relevance it deserves” and strengthen global governance.

The choice of Belém, at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, was deliberate. Summit President André Corrêa do Lago stated the venue was selected to make world leaders “face the climate crisis head-on,” as the Amazon is one of the regions most severely threatened by deforestation and rising global temperatures.

Hosting the conference in one of Brazil's poorer cities has strained local capacity, but President Lula argued it was necessary. “Those who only see the forest from above don't know what's happening under its canopy,” he said, stressing that delegates must confront the reality facing indigenous communities losing their habitat.

The opening came after one of the warmest years on record, marked by extreme weather events and unprecedented melting. UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell highlighted that while the 2015 Paris Agreement has slowed greenhouse gas emissions, efforts are moving at the “wrong speed.”

The UN has warned that current greenhouse gas emission trajectories could cause global temperatures to exceed the critical 1.5°C limit above pre-industrial levels in the next decade, leading to more frequent and severe droughts, storms, and floods.

Stiell urged a rapid shift away from fossil fuels, noting that solar and wind power are now the most cost-effective energy sources in 90% of the world. “Hesitating now makes no sense, either economically or politically,” he argued.

The primary focus of COP30 is tackling the central question of how global warming can be contained. The climate protection plans currently submitted by nations are widely considered insufficient to avert catastrophic consequences.

Key negotiation points include establishing clear roadmaps for humanity to overcome its dependence on oil, gas, and coal; and addressing the demands of poor countries for financial aid from industrialized nations to help them adapt to increasingly hostile climate conditions.

Meanwhile, Argentina confirmed it would send a delegation of five mid-level representatives after pulling out just two days into the prior COP in Azerbaijan.