Brazilian President Luiz InĂ¡cio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that “The planet is full of climate agreements that are not being fulfilled,” he said at the opening of the debates of the United Nations General Assembly.
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In his speech to the heads of state and government gathered at the UN, Lula stressed the need for pacts that promote financial compensation for the poorest countries that maintain their forests, which have been repeatedly ignored by the most developed nations.
“The planet is tired of carbon reduction targets and aid to the poorest countries that never arrive,” while 2024 “is on track to be the hottest year in modern history,” with “hurricanes in the Caribbean, typhoons in Asia, drought and floods in Africa and torrential rains in Europe,” while the world invests “increasingly in wars,” Lula stressed.
The planet is tired of carbon reduction targets and aid to the poorest countries that never arrive.
He also referred to the impact on Brazil, which suffered severe flooding in the south this year, is now suffering the effects of drought and high temperatures in the Amazon and other biomes.
Nevertheless, the organization renewed its commitment to reduce illegal deforestation, which has fallen by 50% in the last year and a half, and bring it to “zero” by 2030, in ongoing dialogue with indigenous peoples.
“It is no longer acceptable to think about forests without listening to indigenous peoples,” he stressed.
The Lula government, despite its firm commitment to protecting the environment, has been able to do little to control this year’s firesattributed in part to the climate crisis but also to human action, since it has been proven that many of the fires have been caused.
Combating the climate crisis, along with promoting the energy transition, have been included in the agenda currently being discussed by the G20, which brings together the world’s largest economies and which this year is chaired by Brazil.
Latin America should not ‘resort to false patriots’
Lula da Silva also stated this Tuesday before the UN General Assembly that Latin America is going through a “new lost decade” and hopelessness should not lead the region to “resort to false patriots” or “ultra-liberals”.
The Brazilian president stressed that the average growth in the region over the last ten years was “barely 0.9%” and said that this is “half of what was seen in the lost decade of the 1980s,” which he said has “disastrous effects on the political landscape.”
Although he did not say it clearly, he seemed to allude to the growth of the extreme right, which has gained strength in several Latin American countries where, he said, “the vocation for cooperation and understanding is weakening.”
In Lula’s opinion, “in a globalized world we should not resort to false patriots,” but neither should we resort to the “hope” offered by “ultra-liberals who aggravate the difficulties” of the region.
He also renewed His condemnation of the blockade against Cuba and demanded a solution for Haiti, a country in which he said that “restoring order is urgent”.
Lula stressed that “the future of Latin America lies in building sustainable, inclusive states that confront all forms of discrimination” and “are not intimidated by corporations, digital platforms or individuals who believe themselves to be above the law.”
Lula will elaborate on the matter this afternoon, when he will lead a forum on democracy and extremism, which he has promoted together with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro SĂ¡nchez, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Some twenty heads of state and government are expected to attend the forum, including Chilean Gabriel Boric, Frenchman Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
One of the central issues will be the fight against misinformation circulating on social media, which in Brazil has led to a conflict with the X platform, owned by tycoon Elon Musk, whose service has been suspended in the South American country by decision of the Supreme Court since August 31.
Lula considers it ‘unacceptable’ that Latin America and Africa are excluded from the Security Council
The Brazilian president said on Tuesday that it is “unacceptable” that Latin America and Africa do not have a permanent seat on the Security Council of the multilateral organization.
Lula stressed that The “exclusion” of these two regions from the Security Council “is an echo” of practices that refer to the “colonial past”words that received warm applause from the leaders present at the General Assembly.
The Brazilian leader defended the expansion of the Security Council and also a change in the veto policy, which can only be presented by the five permanent members, so that the body is “more effective and representative.”
He also raised the need to undertake a “comprehensive reform” of all UN bodies, an institution that, in his view, is “increasingly hollowed out and paralyzed.”
Specifically, he proposed giving the General Assembly a role in managing peace and security issues and transforming the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) into the main forum for promoting sustainable development.
Lula also criticised the “gender imbalance” at the UN and pointed out that there has “never” been a woman at the head of the General Secretariat in the almost eight decades of the institution’s history.
The reform of international organizations, and in particular the United Nations Security Council, has been a permanent demand on Brazil’s foreign policy agenda for decades.
Lula has even taken his complaint about the delay in reforming global governance to the G20 and has included the issue on the agenda that the group of the world’s largest economies is discussing this year, under Brazil’s rotating presidency.
In part, This lack of representation in international organizations gave rise to the BRICS forum, which Brazil founded together with Russia, India, China and South Africa, and which was joined this year by Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia..
The issues raised by Lula before the General Assembly will be discussed by the BRICS members at the summit to be held between 22 and 24 October in the Russian city of Kazan, to which the Brazilian president has already confirmed his attendance.
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