Today was the first of the two-day world leaders’ summit at COP31.
Newly re-elected Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave a blistering speech in the summit’s opening ceremony, telling other world leaders:
“We have started talking more about weapons and tariffs than about the survival of future generations…But the planet cannot be left at the mercy of hegemonic disputes.”
He told leaders that “science and multilateralism remain under attack”, adding:
“It is not by chance that the incorporation of IPCC contributions into the COP negotiation process is in question. Nor is it a coincidence that climate agreements are the favourite targets of reactionary forces at COPs.”
He touted Brazil’s newly released global roadmaps on fossil fuels and deforestation, urging COP31 co-hosts Turkey and Australia to “ensure that the recommendations contained in these documents are disseminated and incorporated into the next global stocktake”.
In one of his final addresses, UN secretary general António Guterres said that the “brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us”, adding:
“Leaders – and in particular those from developed countries – cannot keep expanding fossil-fuel production while claiming to be committed to 1.5C.”
(Read all of the SG’s remarks.)
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used his address to call on developed countries to “take greater responsibility for emission reductions and financing” and to call out “ecocide” in Gaza.
Following the opening ceremony, some 80 heads of state and government have been invited to make national statements (see the full list). These speeches will continue for the rest of today and into tomorrow, when UK prime minister Andy Burnham is due to speak at the summit.