Expectations Run High as an Exuberant Lula Speaks at Climate Summit
Brazilian President Lula was at it again Saturday ahead of his meeting with President Obama at the UN Climate Conference in New York. The most high energy president since Harry Truman, Lula delivered a speech to the United Nations General Assembly which touched on many topics. We take a look at some of the key points.
“We want a strong and fair deal in Paris and we will fight for it”
While making his case on the need for a strong deal for clean energy in Paris, President Lula told his audience there is “no other way” to meet global objectives and bring down carbon emissions.
This follows the recent agreement by Brazil and Argentina to cut emissions in Brazil by 26% by 2030. That’s more than two countries committed to together by the end of 2015. The United States and China have also reached a deal, while India has said its ambition will be “very ambitious”.
Lula went on to state: “We want a strong and fair deal in Paris. We want a treaty like Kyoto which has been ratified by all the countries of the world and the United Nations, and we will fight for it.”
“We can’t allow an agreement to be reached that does not fulfill the commitments made, like the US-China deal and the US-India deal, which will reduce CO2 emissions by the equivalent of about eight and 12 million cars, in China and India respectively.”
Also a key part of Lula’s speech:
We need to fight for an agreement that puts an end to climate change. We cannot allow a climate agreement not to fulfill the commitments that were made while we were making these commitments.
“The negotiations on climate change will be the first battle of climate change. We have to fight hard to change the minds of people to take steps towards the solution.”
“We need an agreement that will not be delayed for five years like the Obama deal, and will not be renegotiated in five years
