January 11, 2023

16:01

Ívina Garcia – from Amazon Agency

MANAUS – On the eve of the 407th anniversary of the capital of Pará State, Belém, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) announced on Wednesday, 11, the city as representative of Brazil to be chosen to host the Conference of the Parties (COP) to be held in 2025.

In a video posted on social networks, Lula appears next to the state governor, Helder Barbalho (MDB), announcing the formalization of the city’s nomination for the event. “Itamaraty has formalized Belém as a city that is disputing the candidacy to hold COP30“, said Mr. Lula.

The president recalled that during the conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, he had assumed the commitment of making Brazil the host city of the United Nations Climate Conference, and that the event would be held mostly in an Amazon city.

During the passage through the confederation, Helder and Lula were together, and the governor of Pará delivered the letter signed by the Governors of the Legal Amazon about the environmental challenges of the region. “I was happy when our Minister Mauro Vieira formalized to Helder’s Government. I want us to be there to make a beautiful COP”, Lula told Mr. Helder.

See video:

The governor of Pará, who is also president of the Interstate Consortium for the Development of the Legal Amazon (CAL), thanked the choice and stressed the importance of the event. “I want to thank the gesture of the Federal Government, the importance and the dimension that Brazil must bring this discussion that is the biggest climate event on the planet”, he said.

“Belém, in the State of Pará, will have its doors open to discuss the Amazon, to discuss the world’s climate and find solutions, and I thank the federal government for its gesture towards Belém, towards Pará and towards the Amazon”, concluded Helder.

Approximation

Mr. Helder and Mr. Lula are long-time companions and supporters. In 2022, Helder stood for Lula in Pará, where Lula secured 2,509,084 (54.75%) votes in the election. The governor of Pará has gained prominence in the defense of environmental agendas, with the support of his brother Mr. Jader Filho, currently Minister of Cities, and his father, Senator Jader Barbalho.

In the last days, after the attack on the Three Powers, Mr. Helder made the opening speech in the general meeting with the 27 governors of Brazil and defended democracy. “We are here not to defend ideas or thoughts of the left or the right, but above all so that we can defend the democracy of our country, of an absolutely extreme gravity”, he said.

Besides Mr. Helder Barbalho, the following governors of the States of the Amazônia Legal Consortium participated in the meeting with President Lula: Mr. Wilson Lima (Amazonas), Mr. Antônio Denarium (Rondônia), Mr. Wanderlei Barbosa (Tocantins), Mr. Carlos Brandão (Maranhão), Mr. Clécio Luis Vilhena Vieira (Amapá) and Mr. Otaviano Pimenta, acting governor of Mato Grosso, along with representatives of the Acre and Rondônia governors.