{"id":125275,"date":"2025-11-08T21:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T21:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125275\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T21:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T21:43:07","slug":"earth-can-no-longer-sustain-intensive-fossil-fuel-use-brazils-president-tells-cop30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125275\/","title":{"rendered":"Earth \u2018can no longer sustain\u2019 intensive fossil fuel use, Brazil\u2019s President tells COP30"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cEarth can no longer sustain the development model based on the intensive use of fossil fuels that has prevailed over the past 200 years,\u201d Lula told world leaders in Belem, where the UN climate talks are taking place.<\/p>\n

Brazil has stressed each country would pursue its own course to \u201ctransition away from fossil fuels\u201d \u2013 a pact made by all nations at a previous COP in Dubai in 2023.<\/p>\n

Lula is presiding over the world\u2019s top climate negotiations weeks after his Government approved new oil drilling in the Amazon region.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week he told AFP and other outlets that \u201cit\u2019s not easy\u201d for countries to reduce fossil fuels, but that the subject could be approached through a \u201croadmap\u201d developed at COP30.<\/p>\n

Rwanda\u2019s Environment Minister Bernadette Arakwiye told delegates they face a stark choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can continue with incremental progress while the planet burns, or we can rise to meet the scale of this crisis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fossil fuel era is drawing to a close. We must now ensure the transition is just, inclusive and equitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Fossil age ending\u2019<\/p>\n

The absence of leaders from the world\u2019s biggest polluters, including the United States, where President Donald Trump has dismissed climate science as a \u201ccon job\u201d, cast a shadow over talks, but also catalysed calls for greater mobilisation.<\/p>\n

\"Spain'sSpain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during the “Belem Climate Summit” as part of COP30 Brazil Amazonia 2025. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the summit his country was moving forward with others to tax premium-class flights and private jets, one major source of heat-trapping emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is only fair that those who have more and pollute more should pay their fair share,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

UN chief Antonio Guterres said global investment in renewable energy reached US$2 trillion ($3.6t) in 2024 \u2013 US$800 million more than polluting forms of energy.<\/p>\n

\"UNUN chief Antonio Guterres predicts the world will fail to keep global warming below 1.5C. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fossil fuel age is ending,\u201d he told an event in Belem, a rainforest city on the edge of the Amazon.<\/p>\n

Guterres warned Friday the world would fail to keep global warming below 1.5C \u2013 the Paris Agreement\u2019s primary target \u2013 but must keep to a minimum any overshoot before returning temperatures below this safer limit.<\/p>\n

Despite this, climate change has slipped down the agenda as nations grapple with economic pressures, trade disputes and wars, as well as the Trump administration aggressively pushing for more fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

Roadmap support<\/p>\n

Lula lamented the \u201cpressure and threats\u201d that led the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to postpone a plan to curb shipping emissions, and also spoke of the need to pursue alternative fuels for transport and industry, including ethanol.<\/p>\n

\"NearlyNearly 200 countries will gather at the gates of the Amazon rainforest for a new round of United Nations-sponsored climate talks in Brazil. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

And the latest round of negotiations to agree a world-first treaty on plastic \u2013 a byproduct of oil and gas manufactured by petrochemical companies \u2013 collapsed in August.<\/p>\n

The idea of phasing out hydrocarbons is gaining traction in Europe. Despite their divisions, EU countries noted they have reduced greenhouse gas emissions for more than three decades and are aiming for a 90% cut by 2040.<\/p>\n

\"Brazil'sBrazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (centre) gives the thumbs up alongside heads of state and representatives in Belem. Photo \/ Mauro Pimentel, AFP<\/p>\n

Lula\u2019s \u201croadmap\u201d presented on day one of the summit \u2013 a pathway to halting deforestation, reducing fossil fuel use and finding the money to achieve those goals \u2013 was applauded from the floor.<\/p>\n

A formal anti-fossil fuel decision in Belem is unlikely, given the requirement for consensus among nearly 200 countries attending the conference.<\/p>\n

Still, COP30 will put a spotlight on countries\u2019 voluntary pledges and their implementation, which could lead to fresh announcements on methane \u2013 a \u201csuper pollutant\u201d and the main component of natural gas, prone to leaking from pipelines and installations.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cEarth can no longer sustain the development model based on the intensive use of fossil fuels that has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[25304,198,87228,4442,42037,26462,71197,3146,273,15124,25078,2678,43007,87229,87225,36175,2250,5836,87224,87226,111,139,7805,69,2572,6045,312,147,87227,87223,6642,1961,6306,1533,1339],"class_list":["post-125275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-brazils","tag-can","tag-cannot","tag-climate","tag-confronting","tag-cop30","tag-dependence","tag-earth","tag-environment","tag-fight","tag-fossil","tag-fuel","tag-fuels","tag-humanitys","tag-inacio","tag-intensive","tag-longer","tag-lost","tag-luiz","tag-lula","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-no","tag-nz","tag-president","tag-reality","tag-says","tag-science","tag-silva","tag-sustain","tag-tells","tag-this","tag-use","tag-will","tag-without"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}