Brazil’s environment minister urges heads of state to address fossil fuels at COP30

Brazil’s environment minister Marina Silva said she hopes for heads of state arriving in Belém next week for COP30 to send a clear message on the energy transition in their speeches, and particularly on the transition away from fossil fuels.

“Our heads of state must think of sending a message on topics that are certainly the causes for climate change, which are: can we supply the planet with more renewable energy and can we have a just, planned, gradual and long-term decommissioning of fossil fuels,” said Silva during a press briefing on Friday.

At COP28 in Dubai, countries agreed on a landmark deal to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. But at last year’s COP29, governments failed to address this pledge after oil-producing nations blocked all mentions to fossil fuels.

The minister, a close ally of Brazilian president Lula da Silva, noted that this was the language agreed at COP, adding that “this should be for the ending of fossil fuels and deforestation.” “But,” she added, “this needs investment and planning. Things do not happen with magical thinking.”

Fossil fuel-producing countries – among them Brazil – still plan to produce more than double the amount of oil, gas and coal by 2030 than would be consistent with the 1.5C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, according to a 2025 Production Gap report by a group of think tanks.

The Brazilian COP30 presidency also reported that 57 heads of state are expected to participate in the leaders’ summit, a high-level section where countries send political guidelines for negotiators. This year, the summit will take place on November 6 and 7, days before formal talks begin on November 10.

In total, 143 delegations are expected to send representatives to the summit, according to the Brazilian government. Some delegations like the US and Argentina – both with anti-climate presidents – have not yet confirmed participation at COP30, they added.

Silva added that heads of state joining the Belém Climate Summit should set an early tone for negotiations on gender and climate adaptation, both of which are set to deliver outcomes at this COP. On adaptation, the Brazilian minister said messaging should include finance for developing countries and a key list of indicators to measure resilience to climate impacts known as the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).

“If there is no global support for local responses to the impacts of climate change, the most vulnerable countries will keep paying the biggest costs,” said the Brazilian minister.

New fund set to be launched

On November 6, Brazilian president Lula da Silva is expected to host a launch event for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), a new fund that would leverage public and private investments in financial markets and use the returns to pay tropical countries protecting rainforests.

The World Bank was recently confirmed as the interim host and trustee for the TFFF, which Brazilian officials said transforms the fund “from an idea into a fully operational reality”. Brazilian officials tried to appease concerns from developing coutnries, which have been critical of the bank’s role in the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage.

“The World Bank will not set the priorities (for the fund). It is an operator,” Silva told journalists at the briefing. “The TFFF does not lose any controls from donor and recipient countries because it is being operated by the World Bank. The advantage is that the World Bank operates with AAA titles, which makes the TFFF structure viable.”

So far, Brazil and Indonesia have announced the first contributions to the TFFF, both with a $1 billion investment. The fund’s concept note says that the fund should ideally have a startup capital of $25 billion in public funds and $100 in private investments. Brazilian officials say this figure does not need to be met at COP30, but that the fund must receive political backing.

Donor countries, who are expected to pledge new funds at the leaders’ summit, have posed “tough questions”, a Brazilian TFFF official told a panel hosted by Climate Home News. “It seems Ethiopia may be more willing to commit to this than the UK and France,” he joked.

Mauricio Carvalho Lyrio, secretary for Climate, Energy and Environment at the Brazilian Foreign Relations Ministry, said at the press briefing this Friday that “we have very positive expectations that Brazil will have good company in terms of new announcements.”

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