Lula at the close of the People’s Summit: COP30 is only viable because of social participation

The document containing the President’s message was read by Marina Silva; Lula emphasized the need to rethink our relationship with the planet

By Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment

According to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the People’s Summit, which concluded last Sunday, 11/16, in Belém (state of Pará), was fundamental to the feasibility of COP30. In a letter to the Summit, read by Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva, Lula emphasized the role of social participation and the urgency of reassessing our actions.

“COP30 would not be viable without your participation,” said the President. “Changing our relationship with the planet is an urgent task. In the world we want, devastation gives way to sustainable development. We want a peaceful world, one that is more supportive and less unequal, free from poverty, hunger, and the climate crisis,” said Lula.

The President also stressed that confronting the climate emergency requires the engagement of all of society. “The fight against climate change needs the mobilization and contribution of the entire society, not only governments. Your enthusiasm and engagement are contagious. You carry the strength and legitimacy of those who work for a better world.”

The People’s Summit — an event held in parallel to COP30 at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) — brought together more than 70,000 participants from social movements, environmental organizations, and Indigenous and traditional peoples in search of answers to the challenges posed by the climate crisis.

Minister Marina Silva stressed that this should be “the COP of truth and the COP of implementation.” “What has been done is still not enough, because the climate has already changed. What we are experiencing today is no longer urgent — it is a climate emergency.”

The minister reiterated the advances in the environmental agenda and the federal government’s commitment to zero deforestation by 2030. “We have already reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 50%; fires have been reduced by 88 percent in the Amazon; by 90 percent in the Pantanal; and by 48 percent in the Cerrado savanna.”

Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara noted that democracy is built through the participation of the peoples, based on listening and commitment. “It is with this sense of responsibility that we come here to embrace the letter written by the greatest guardians of life.”

During the ceremony, a final statement from the Summit was read, reiterating socio-environmental agendas. The document, delivered to the president of COP30, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, called on people to organize themselves in pursuit of environmental justice.

Dialogue with civil society strengthens Brazil’s position in the global climate agenda, said Lago. “These statements reinforce Brazil’s position in these negotiations in an incredible way.”

The assessment was shared by the minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Guilherme Boulos, who underscored the importance of popular participation. “For it to be effective, it has to be a COP with social participation — and the People’s Summit represented, with excellence, the participation and voice of the peoples at this COP.”

Considered the largest space for social participation at the conference, the initiative began last Wednesday (November 12). The program featured about 200 activities, including plenary sessions, panels, workshops, and sectoral meetings organized by more than a thousand institutions.

A letter from the “Children’s Summit,” read by the children during the closing ceremony, was also delivered to the authorities.

COP30 CEO, Ana Toni, and the leader of the Kayapó Indigenous people, Chief Raoni, also attended the event.

Read President Lula’s letter in full

It is a great satisfaction to address the participants of the People’s Summit, which closes today in Belém.

COP30 would not be viable without your participation — this extraordinary gathering of people who believe that another world is both possible and necessary. As I have said in every international forum in which I participate, under every tree in the Amazon, there is a woman, a man, a child.

The fight against climate change requires the mobilization and contribution of all of society, not only governments. You carry the strength and legitimacy of those who strive for a better world.

Changing our relationship with the planet is an urgent task. In the world we want, devastation gives way to sustainable development. We want a peaceful world: a world that is more supportive and less unequal, free from poverty, hunger, and the climate crisis.

This is a COP of truth, and the demonstrations of civil society are aligned with science. It is urgent. We cannot postpone the decisions that have been debated for so many years in negotiations, such as Just Transition and Adaptation. We need roadmaps for humanity to overcome dependence on fossil fuels; to stop and reverse deforestation; and to mobilize resources for these purposes in a fair and planned way. We cannot leave Belém without decisions on these issues.

The world leaders who were in Belém came to understand the reality of the Amazon and recognized that the division between humanity and nature makes no sense. During the first week of negotiations, work advanced inclusively and transparently. This week will be fundamental to COP30’s results.

I will return to Belém on November 19 to meet with the UN Secretary-General in a joint effort to strengthen climate governance and multilateralism. I will also participate in meetings with several countries, representatives of civil society, Indigenous peoples, and traditional populations, as well as state governors and city mayors.

I embrace you all. Thank you very much.