(tthis online editorial team) While world leaders meet in Belem, Brazil, to talk about climate at Cop30, their carnival alter egos are yawning, in their pajamas, nearby. The parade of puppets with the giant heads of Lula and Macron, but also of Trump and Milei, absent from the summitit’s one protest demonstration organized by Oxfam. The message is very clear: on the severity of the climate crisis, those who govern us are still sleeping.
Cop30 kicks off in Brazil, activists protest with giant masks of world leaders
The United Nations Conference on Climate Change on 6 and 7 November is the thirtieth, ten years after the Paris Agreement. Negotiations will officially begin on November 10th. The objective of the summit of world leaders over these two days is to find – very difficult – convergences in the climate battle.
They are expected over 57 heads of state, around forty ministers and various representatives of around 140 countries. There is great anticipation for Prince William and the absences of Donald Trump, Argentine President Javier Milei and Chinese Xi Jinping will weigh heavily. For Italy there will not be Giorgia Meloni but the deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani. His (our) battle is the promotion of biofuels and possible protections for the automotive industry.
What is the Belem Action Mechanism
The signing of the agreement is expected on November 7th Belem Declaration, document that will summarize the commitments made. From sustainable development in the Amazon and around the world to climate finance and new green economies. In addition to the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF) in which 125 billion dollars will flow over time to safeguard forests.
Among the ideas on how to raise 1.3 trillion dollars a year for the climate between now and 2035 are in the news the proposal to tax the rich, for example by taxing highly polluting private jets, but also through capital taxes on luxury goods.
Brazil should then show leadership by leading the launch of the so-called Belem Action Mechanism for a Global Just Transition (BAM). A tool to coordinate global efforts, share good practices and concretely support countries and communities affected by the climate crisis. This, so that the ecological transition goes hand in hand with the protection of rights, work and dignity.
A climate conference in the Amazon
“It’s time for leaders to wake up and address the crisis with the urgency it deserves, especially in protecting critical biomes like the Amazon,” explained Viviana Santiago of Oxfam Brasil. «Our action is a I call on governments to commit ambitiously and secure robust climate finance, moving beyond empty talk».
And it is really particularly interesting that the Brazilian city of Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon River, is hosting Cop30. The Amazon ecosystem is one of the richest and most at risk, threatened as it is by agribusiness. As deforestation advances to grow corn, soy or raise livestock, the local community faces unsustainable pressure from farmers, entrepreneurs and politicians to abandon their forest land to make room for the expansion of industrial agriculture.
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