Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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November 20, 2025 Climate and environment
Time is running out for the climate negotiations in Belém, Brazil. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in their speeches at the Climate Change Conference (COP30) taking place there, voiced the same message: the entire world is watching, and it is no longer possible to postpone compromises.
Amid reports that the two sides are unable to agree on a number of key issues, both leaders urged delegates to act decisively to phase out fossil fuels and increase funding for climate change adaptation measures.
Guterres: 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold is a 'red line'
Speaking at a press conference, Guterres called on countries to "follow the science and put people before profit." He emphasized the need to triple adaptation funding and ensure real emissions reductions.
"Ministers and negotiators must show leadership, courage and goodwill," he said, noting that the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming threshold set out in the Paris climate agreement remains "the only red line that cannot be renegotiated."
According to him, the final agreement in Belém must address both the lack of resources for adaptation and the critical need to reduce rapidly growing emissions. For millions of people, adaptation is "the difference between planting a crop or going hungry, between preserving ancestral land or losing it forever."
The UN chief reiterated that the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources must be fair and consistent.
Fire at KS-30
A few hours after the Secretary-General's press conference, a fire broke out at the Angar Conference Center, where COP30 is taking place. The tense negotiations were briefly interrupted.
Security services assisted with the evacuation. The fire was quickly brought under control, and there were no injuries. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Lula: "We must start thinking about life without fossil fuels"
Brazilian President Lula said any energy transition plan "must be taken seriously."
"We don't want to impose anything on anyone, and we don't intend to set deadlines. Each country must determine for itself what it can do, within its own time and capabilities," Lula said.
"If fossil fuels become the main source of emissions, we must think about how to live without them—and how to chart that path. And I say this with absolute confidence as the leader of a country that possesses oil and produces five million barrels a day," he added.
Lula emphasized Brazil's active use of ethanol and biodiesel and called on oil and mining companies to contribute to the fight against climate change. He called on multilateral banks to stop charging "exorbitant interest rates" to African states and the poorest countries in Latin America, proposing that some of this debt be redirected toward investment.
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