COP30 President: COP30 in Brazil must address the challenges and serve as a platform of hope
Bonn, June 23, AZERTAC
The Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC) presents an exclusive interview with André Corrêa do Lago, President of COP30, in which he shared his thoughts on the COP30 preparations, the expected outcomes from the conference, as well as collaboration with Azerbaijan and the opportunities of the COP host country.
-The Brazilian city of Belem will host the COP30 Conference this November. Why Belem? What is the latest state of the COP30 preparations?
-As you know, President Lula chose Belem as the venue for COP30. It is our largest city in the Amazon, but it is not one of the largest cities in Brazil. According to President Lula, the city will represent very much the challenges of developing countries in fighting climate change in the context of tropical forests. We are convinced that the symbolism of hosting COP in the Amazon is extremely important. The infrastructure issues are going to be part of the whole context. The population of Belem will be extremely happy to host the COP in the very special part of the world – the Amazon.
-Looking back in history, we have seen the adoption of such important agreements as the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and the Baku Finance Goal adopted during the COP29, 10 years after the Paris Agreement. What are the expectations from the COP30?
–The COP 30 does not have a mandate that is as clear as the one of Dubai on the Global Stocktake and Baku that had the issue of the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) that we had to reach an agreement. So, the COP 30 in Belem has mostly to convince the world that the Paris Agreement was successful in many ways and that the things that are missing are achievable.
Following the recent meeting of the Scientific Council, we understand that we are very close to a dangerous increase in temperature. Therefore, there are both a strong message of challenge and the opportunity to do the right thing. COP30 in Brazil must address the challenges and serve as a platform of hope.
-Not all the countries are willing to meet the $1.3 trillion climate finance goal. What is the COP30 Presidency’s take on this matter?
– The climate finance is something really very challenging. We have approved a finance goal of $300 billion in Baku, but we have also approved, together with the Azerbaijani Presidency, that we would present a report on how to increase the amount to 1.3 trillion and what kind of instruments we need to achieve that. I am currently working together with COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev in this regard. Taking into account the reality, which was an extreme difficulty to get resources from developed to developing countries, as we have originally agreed, finance is definitely one of the delicate issues of the climate discussions.
-What has changed in Brazil after the country has assumed the COP Presidency?
– The great opportunity of hosting COP is that you also have internal debates about the climate change. That is why we have created an idea using the Brazilian indigenous word “Mutirão”, which means that everybody should do what they can do towards common interest. This is working well in Brazil, people are actively involved. This internal debate in Brazil has been very intense and very positive. What we need, is to have a new development model that incorporates climate issues and the climate challenges into the economy, the politics, the education, and other spheres. This process is advancing in Brazil and I am very happy with it.
–Azerbaijan hosted the COP29 last November. How do you evaluate the country’s role in this process?
–It was a great year. I have made many friends from the Azerbaijani delegation, Azerbaijani government, and business circles. I think that some very objective targets have been reached in Baku. We are now working closely together with Azerbaijan this year since it is still continuing to hold the Presidency.
–In which areas does Azerbaijan support Brazil regarding the organization of the COP?
– Azerbaijan shows an enormous support to Brazil in this process. Brazil, Azerbaijan and the UAE have decided to form a “troika” mechanism, and are implementing many initiatives together, including the $1.3 trillion report, which will be presented by Azerbaijan and Brazil. It is really privilege and pleasure to collaborate with the Azerbaijani colleagues.
– What are the challenges Brazil is facing as a COP hosting country?
– All the countries have different characteristics and different dimensions. The questionings that are raised are completely normal. The most important thing is how we respond to these questionings. We want to do it in Belem, because Brazil is conscious of the challenges and Brazil does not want to hide the fact that it is still a developing country. We have to raise these issues and try to solve them – this is the spirit of COP.
-Brazil has come up with initiative to establish a fund to protect the Amazon forests. We would like to hear your learn your views on this initiative.
–There are many reasons for preserving forests, including the welfare of local communities, the biodiversity, the positive elements that forests bring to combat climate change, but when you talk about finance then advancing this process becomes much more complicated.
Therefore, it is very difficult for developing countries to make sure the can bring the improvement of the life for their populations in education, healthcare and other areas. The developed countries had to take the lead in supporting the developing countries to face their challenges such as the preservation of forests across the entire tropical world.
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