Guterres, Lula urges unity as COP30 talks comes to an end ‘The world is watching’

By Anjali Sharma

UNITED NATIONS – UN chief António Guterres and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday delivered a united message that the world is watching, and compromise cannot wait as the clock ticking on climate negotiations and the talks closing in Belém, Brazil.

Both leaders urged negotiators to act decisively on phasing out fossil fuels and boosting adaptation finance, insisted that fairness and ambition must guide the final hours of COP30 after the reports of deadlocks on fossil fuels, climate finance and other key issues.

Guterres said that 1.5°C is the ‘non-negotiable red line’

He spoke to reporters, Mr. Guterres urged countries to “follow the science and put people before profit,” called for tripling adaptation finance and credible emissions cuts.

“Ministers and negotiators must show leadership, boldness and good faith,” he said, stressing that 1.5°C remains “the only non-negotiable red line.”

He warned that an agreement must balance concerns over adaptation resources with the need to curb soaring emissions. For millions, he said, adaptation means “the difference between replanting or going hungry, between remaining on ancestral land or losing it forever.”

Mr. Guterres called for a “just, orderly and equitable” transition on fossil fuels, as he agreed at COP28.

“There can be no solution if there is not, at the same time, a just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,” he said, urging an end to “market distortions that favour fossil fuels” and disinformation “designed to sabotage the transition.”

President Lula said ‘We must start thinking about how to live without fossil fuels’

Lula said at a press conference on Wednesday night that any roadmap for the energy transition “must be taken seriously.”

Brazil introduced the idea of a roadmap, he explained, “because we need to show society that we are serious. We do not want to impose anything on anyone, nor set deadlines. Each country must decide what it can do within its own timeframe and capacities.”

He added “If fossil fuels generate [a majority of greenhouse] emissions, we must start thinking about how to live without them – and how to build that path. And I say this very comfortably, as the leader of a country that has oil that extracts five million barrels a day.”

Lula highlighted Brazil’s use of ethanol and biodiesel and called for oil companies, mining firms and the “super-rich” to contribute their share. He urged multilateral banks to stop charging “exorbitant interest rates” to African nations and the poorest countries in Latin America, converting part of those debts into investments.

He praised public engagement at COP30, noted the 15 November ‘Peoples March’ was “exceptionally beautiful and orderly,” and celebrated record participation of 3,500 Indigenous people and “full participation”