Secretary-General António Guterres and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva collaborated to organize a pivotal climate summit. The event, part of the COP30 conference, took place in November in Belém, located in the Amazonian region.
Leading climate experts Johan Rockström and Katharine Hayhoe launched the summit with a dire analysis of global efforts to honor the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Despite it being ten years since the agreement, there has been a rise in greenhouse gas emissions and the global temperature surpassed the 1.5-degree threshold for the first time last year. Professor Rockström expressed his serious concern, emphasizing that the situation appears to worsen, surpassing the rate of emissions.
However, Rockström and Hayhoe emphasized potential solutions such as transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy and improving food systems to reduce waste. Professor Hayhoe emphasized the critical need for collective action to prevent such an environmental catastrophe.
Secretary-General Guterres acknowledged the progress made through the Paris Agreement in reducing projected global temperature rise from four degrees to less than three. Nonetheless, he called for more ambitious and faster plans for 2035, stressing the importance of accelerating a just transition to clean energy and other decisive actions.
President Lula Da Silva urged countries to come prepared for COP30, emphasizing the transformative potential of the energy transition. Brazil has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors and is committed to ending deforestation by 2030.
China’s President Xi Jinping announced plans to reduce the country’s net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 10 percent from peak levels by 2035, increase the share of non-fossil fuels to over 30 percent, and promote the use of clean energy vehicles.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the progress made in the EU’s clean energy transition and pledged to double down on global partnerships, emphasizing the EU’s commitment to providing climate finance and supporting clean energy worldwide.
Prime Minister Johnny Briceño of Belize highlighted the importance of the 1.5-degree target, framing it as a choice between hope and hardship for small and vulnerable nations. He emphasized the need for increased support, including finance, technology, and genuine partnerships, for these countries to successfully implement their climate plans.
Source: https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2025/09/1165943
