This year, Brazil will host the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
We welcome the inspiring words shared by COP30’s president-designate, His Excellency Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, Secretary for Climate, Energy, and Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Federative Republic of Brazil. In a letter circulated to parties and NGO Constituency Focal Points (such as us), His Excellency expressed that “now is the time we leave behind inertia, individualism, and irresponsibility to embrace the best versions of ourselves through creativity, solidarity, and perseverance.”
He also eloquently stated the urgency of addressing climate change and its impacts – which underpins TRI’s mission:
“We have long known the scale and gravity of climate change and its growing impacts.
We have affirmed and reaffirmed global warming as an existential threat to humankind.
We have had scientific knowledge on the issue for over 35 years, consolidated since the first 1990 IPCC assessment report.
Now, not only do we hear about climate risks, but we also live the climate urgency. Climate change is no longer contained in science and international law. It has arrived at our doorsteps, reaching our ecosystems, cities, and daily lives. From Siberia to the Amazon, from Porto Alegre to Los Angeles, it now affects our families, health, cost of living, and routines in education, work, and entertainment. Images of climate disasters and human suffering invade our living rooms on TV and on social media, as we rapidly enter a dangerous zone in which the rich in developed and developing countries isolate themselves behind climate-resilient walls.”
—His Excellency Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, Secretary for Climate, Energy, and Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Federative Republic of Brazil