The international community awaits Lula’s participation in COP27

Published on 11/14/2022 03:55

President-elect Luis Inacio Lula da Silva leaves for Egypt today to participate in the 27th United Nations Climate Conference – COP27. The summit brings together leaders from 190 countries and takes place in a luxury hotel in the seaside resort of Sharm El Sheikh. Lula will have two days of intense agenda, as he will participate in discussions alongside other Brazilian authorities, and make an official statement in the conference area for international leaders.

The president-elect wants to use COP27 to point to the contrast with the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, who even gave up hosting the previous conference in Brazil, in 2019. After his election defeat, the incumbent did not attend the summit in person. But the government will send a delegation. Among the official representatives and civil society, Brazil has one of the largest delegations to the event this year, with more than 500 people.

The Labor Party office released the agenda on Egyptian soil, as of Wednesday. 11:00 a.m. (local time) – 6:00 a.m. Brasilia Time – Participate in the panel discussion “Message from the Amazon – A Common Agenda for Climate Change”, along with Amapá referees Antonio Valdez Joyce da Silva; of Acre, Gladson de Lima Camille; by Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes; from Barra, Helder Barbalo; from Tocantis, Wanderlei Barbossa; And from Rondonia Marcos Rocha, six of the nine states make up the Amazon Legal Federation. Ministers of State will be represented by Wilson Lima (Amazonas), Carlos Brandao (Maranhão) and Antonio Denarium (Roraima).

According to the meeting schedule, the six governors will participate in a committee to discuss the role of international financing to reduce emissions in the Amazon region, which will also include diplomats, specialists and other authorities. Soon, the Governors will give an interview to the accredited international press to cover the conference.

“blue zone”

The president-elect’s agenda is scheduled to be highlighted at 5:15pm (12:15pm in Brasilia). He will deliver an official statement in the blue zone of the event, which is dedicated to the United Nations, where meetings between heads of state and world leaders are also held. Lula should talk about the importance of preserving the environment and about the policies that he intends to adopt at the head of the executive branch from next year, especially with the aim of cooperating with international actors.

On Thursday, at 10 a.m. local time (0 p.m. in Brasilia), he meets with representatives of Brazilian civil society at the Center for Climate Action in Brazil, a venue created in 2019, at COP25, dedicated to the country. At 15:00 (10:00), the President-elect will finally participate in the International Indigenous Peoples Forum for Climate Change. On Friday, Lula heads to Portugal, where he will meet Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

The Workers’ Party was invited to participate in COP27 by the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the day after his election, on October 31. The head of the host country hopes that a “positive and constructive” Brazil will participate in the summit. In addition to the official agenda, Lula has received no fewer than ten invitations to meet with representatives from the United States, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Egypt itself. Talks are also taking place between the president-elect and leaders of international organizations.

On the plane that will take him to Egypt will be his wife Rosângela da Silva – Ganga – and former Minister Fernando Haddad and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim. Other allies are already in Egypt: former Environment Ministers Marina Silva (Rede-SP) and Isabella Teixeira and Senator Randolph Rodriguez (Rede-AP), among others. Senator Simon Tibbett (MDB-MS), who confirmed her participation, ended up withdrawing from the trip to accompany the transitional government.

Behind the scenes, there is talk of the possibility of formalizing Lula’s invitation to hold COP30 in Brazil, in 2025. It may also announce the appointment of a national climate body, in a model adopted by the United States and proposed to PT by Marina Silva. There was also an expectation that the president-elect would announce a minister during the conference. However, Randolph Rodriguez ruled out this possibility for Curio.