Lula says rich countries have to finance forest protection

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva blamed rich countries for the climate crisis when he addressed a crowd this Thursday afternoon (22nd) in Paris, at the closing of the Power Our Planet event. Participation in the event took place at the invitation of Chris Martin, lead singer of the British band Coldplay.

“It is not the African people who pollute the world, it is not the Latin American people who pollute the world. In fact, those who polluted the planet in the last 200 years were those who made the Industrial Revolution. And for that, they have to pay the historic debt they owe to planet Earth.”

said Lula, who was applauded during his speech.

The Power Our Planet festival is a parallel event to the Summit for the New Global Financial Compact, which seeks to expand efforts to help poor and emerging countries to deal with the problems of climate change. The event was held at Campo de Marte, in front of the Eiffel Tower, and was also attended by leaders from Timor-Leste, Barbados, Ghana and Kenya, as well as the mayor of Paris, Ane Hidalgo.

Lula highlighted the Amazon in numbers, remembering that the largest tropical forest on the planet is located in eight South American countries and is home to more than 400 indigenous peoples and their more than 300 languages.

“The Amazon is the largest tropical forest in the world and accounts for 40% of the planet’s tropical forests. It represents 6% of the surface and has the largest river on Earth”

stressed the president.

One of the most applauded moments was when Lula reaffirmed his commitment to zero deforestation in the forest by 2030.

“When I took office, on January 1st, I assumed the responsibility that, by 2030, we will have zero deforestation in the Amazon. The Amazon is a sovereign territory of Brazil, but at the same time, it belongs to all humanity. And, therefore, we will make every effort to keep the forest standing”.

stated

At the end of his speech, Lula invited the international community to attend the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), in 2025, which will be held in Belém.

schedule in paris

Lula arrived in Paris in the morning. The president is in the French capital to participate in the Summit for the New Global Financing Compact, promoted by President Emmanuel Macron.
The summit is attended by more than 300 public, private or non-governmental entities, including more than 100 heads of state. In it, Lula will defend that the fight against climate change needs to be accompanied by actions against poverty.

In the first appointment of the day, he met with the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa. At the meeting, the two leaders spoke about the summit of the Brics (bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which takes place between the 22nd and 24th of August in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the Presidency, Lula and Ramaphosa also discussed options for a peaceful solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Lula also met with the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and with the former president of Brazil and current president of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff. With the Cuban, Lula discussed the potential for increasing cooperation in areas of interest to both countries and matters related to the world situation. The president also had audiences with the Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, and with the president of COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, Sultan al Jaber.

Lula will still have a bilateral meeting with Macron this Friday (23), after the end of the summit, when the Brazilian president will make his official speech. Lula’s entourage should only return to Brazil over the weekend.

Italy

Before arriving in Paris, Lula spent two days in Rome, Italy. He met with President Sergio Matarella and First Lady Giorgia Meloni.

Lula also visited Pope Francis, at the Vatican, where they discussed topics such as the fight against hunger and the war in Ukraine. Still in Italy, the president visited the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, in return for the Italian’s solidarity when Lula was imprisoned in Curitiba, in 2018 and 2019.

*With information from Agência Brasil

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