Lula chooses Amazon city as candidate for world climate conference Greece’s last king Constantine II is dead

Brazil wants to apply to host the world climate conference together with the Amazon metropolis of Belém. After meeting in Brasília with the governor of the state of Pará, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday: “I brought him the good news that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially recognized Belém as a candidate city for the COP30.” He added: “We hope to host the largest climate event in the world in a city that is part of the Brazilian Amazon.”

Lula had offered his country to the United Nations in Egypt in October to host the 2025 world climate conference. “We will speak to the United Nations Secretary-General and ask that the COP be held in Brazil in 2025 – and in Brazil in the Amazon,” he said. “I think it’s important that the people who defend the Amazon get to know the region and the concrete reality.”

The next climate conference, the COP28 at the end of this year, has been assigned to the United Arab Emirates. It is still unclear where the 2024 conference will take place.

Leftist Lula, who was sworn in for a third time as president of Brazil’s “green giant” on January 1, was not considered Green during his previous term (early 2003 to late 2010), but has now pledged to protect the environment and to bring the climate to the forefront. During a recent visit to the Amazon region, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) also pledged their support for this. (sda/dpa)