Secretary-General's Press Conference at COP30

Good morning.

I want to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to President Lula for his remarkable leadership – and to the Brazilian Presidency that is sparing no effort to steward the COP to a success.

Over the past days, I have met with world leaders, ministers, negotiators, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, and young people from every region.

One thing is clear:

We are down to the wire, and the world is watching Belém.

Communities on the frontlines are watching too – counting flooded homes, failed harvests, lost livelihoods…

And asking: how much more must we suffer?

They have heard enough excuses.

They demand results.

After decades of denial and delay by many, science tells us that a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees – starting at the latest in the early 2030s – has become inevitable.

We know what that means:

More heat and hunger;

More disasters and displacement;

And a higher risk of crossing climate tipping points – unleashing irreversible damage, including here in the Amazon.

But we can still bend temperatures back below 1.5 degrees before the end of this century:

If we act now to make this overshoot as small, short, and safe as possible. 

That mission begins here, in Belém. 

I strongly appeal to all delegations to show willingness and flexibility to deliver results that protect people and keep 1.5 degrees alive;

A fair outcome – concrete on funding adaptation, credible on emission cuts, bankable on finance.

That demands compromise and common ground.

It demands courage.

No delegation will leave Belém with everything it wants…

But every delegation has a duty to reach a balanced deal.

First, on protecting people.

For millions, adaptation is not an abstract goal.

It is the difference between rebuilding and being swept away;

Between replanting and starving;

Between staying on ancestral land or losing it forever.

Adaptation needs are skyrocketing – and the overshoot will push them even higher.

Yet developed countries’ commitment to double adaptation finance this year is slipping away.

Tripling adaptation finance by 2030 is essential.

The Loss and Damage Fund – open for business but still largely empty – must be capitalized and easier to access.

I urge all funders – bilateral partners, climate funds, and multilateral development banks – to step up and prevent further tragedies.

It is about survival.

It is about justice.

And for Indigenous Peoples, it is also about protecting cultures and homelands that sustain our planet’s vital ecosystems.

Second, emission cuts.

Ten years after the Paris Agreement, we have moved – but nowhere near enough.

The UNEP Emissions Gap Report shows that today’s Nationally Determined Contributions – even if fully implemented – would put us on a path well above 2 degrees of global warming.

That is a death sentence for many.

Those national plans must be a floor, not a ceiling.

We must move much faster – with a drastic cut on emissions.

The renewables revolution makes it possible.

Clean energy has never been cheaper and more abundant;

Powering growth;

And shielding households and economies from volatile fossil fuel markets.

With the right support, it is essential that most countries peak emissions now, slash them in half this decade, hit net-zero by 2050, and go net-negative after.

The principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities applies.

But every country – especially the big emitters – must do more.

And the world must begin a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels – as agreed at COP28 in Dubai.

It is a climate necessity – and a test of economic stability, energy security, and responsible governance.

We must end market distortions that favour fossil fuels.

We must address disinformation aimed at derailing the transition. 

But governments must support workers and communities still relying on coal, oil and gas – with training, protection, and new opportunities.

I welcome calls for a just transition mechanism – and the growing coalition asking for clarity on the transition away from fossil fuels.

And I urge countries to ensure that the Belém outcome operationalizes a just transition that is aligned with a 1.5-degree world.

Moving faster also means investing in infrastructure and meeting new electricity demand with clean power – including the surge driven by Artificial Intelligence.

That is why I have been calling for a new Global Coalition on Grids, Storage, and Electrification – so clean energy reaches everyone, everywhere and becomes a default choice.

We must also cut methane emissions sharply this decade – using proven, affordable measures.

Finally, and extremely important, it is imperative to halt and reversing deforestation by 2030 – so nature remains a shield, not a casualty.

Third, on finance.

None of this can happen without funding that it is predictable, accessible, and guaranteed.

We need a credible path to realizing the Baku Finance Goal:

With developed countries leading to mobilize at least 300 billion US dollars by 2035 each year;

And a clear route to reaching 1.3 trillion US dollars per year by 2035.

Simpler rules must allow vulnerable countries to get support quickly.

Thinking beyond the COP, the cost of capital for developing economies must fall drastically – through concessional finance, debt guarantees, and innovative instruments.

We know that budgets are limited – but the financial system can unlock and multiply the available resources to achieve a much greater impact.

Multilateral Development Banks must play a decisive role.

They need to be bigger, better, and bolder – allowing them to massively increase their lending capacity and to leverage private finance at speed and scale.

What has been failing is the political will to take the necessary decisions.

If the international financial architecture cannot meet this moment, reform becomes a necessity, not an option.

Dear members of the media,

Before I leave for the G20 meeting in South Africa,

Allow me to say a few words directly to ministers and negotiators:

Please engage in good faith to reach an ambitious compromise.

1.5 degrees must be your only red line.

This is the hour for leadership.

Be bold.

Follow the science.

Put people before profit.

And please keep your eyes on the finish line.

Thank you.

*****

Question: Secretary-General, good morning. We are live here on Globo News. Well, with President Lula's arrival here yesterday, he got very involved in the negotiations, but there is still a lot of resistance from countries such as China, India, and Russia to include the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels in the final COP text. Do you think this could undermine the 1.5 mission and harm the legacy of COP30? I'll take advantage of this opportunity –I heard that you went out to dinner yesterday here in Belém. Did you like the city? What do you think of Belém?

Secretary-General: I really like the city of Belém. And I must say that in all negotiations... there is a phase when positions are still divergent. For me, it is clear that an agreement will only be possible if it takes into account the concerns of those who believe that adaptation requires substantial resources. And of those who believe that supporting adaptation will be of little value if emissions continue to grow at an extremely rapid rate, causing increasing devastation around the world. There is, therefore, a balance here between adaptation and mitigation that I think is important to resolve, and I am convinced that the Presidency will do everything to achieve this, and obviously one of the essential problems in relation to the level of emissions we have is the fact that fossil fuels account for 80 per cent of emissions. Therefore, there is no solution to the problems if there is not simultaneously a fair transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energies.

Question: [Tais Gardea, from Climate Home News] Thank you. Following what you mentioned about finance and adaptation, particularly on this COP30, what would you consider to be a truly ambitious outcome on the topics of public finance and adaptation? Thank you.

Secretary-General: I mentioned in my intervention that I consider possible and desirable, to triple adaptation finance until 2030. And I strongly hope that it will be possible to find a compromise in which developed countries accept to engage in this objective, and at the same time, their concerns about mitigation are also met by the COP.

Question: [Justin Rowlatt, BBC] Hello Secretary-General. Secretary-General, what message you want this Conference to send to Donald Trump?

Secretary-General: We are waiting for you.

Question: But you also want to talk about when will he begin to engage in this process? […] I was asking, do you see a possibly of him engaging in this process in a positive way?

Secretary-General: Hope is the last thing that dies.

Question: [Kate Abnett, from Reuters] Thank you. Is a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels vital to the outcome of this COP and if that is not delivered as a deal of all countries here, not just some, sign up to, would you say that COP30 has failed?

Secretary-General: I think this is not the moment to talk about the possible failure of the COP. It is the moment to guarantee that failure doesn’t occur. And so, I am perfectly convinced that a compromise is possible, that take into account, as I mentioned, the legitime concerns of adaptation and the legitimate concerns of mitigation, which of course, includes the necessity of taking into account the question of fossil fuels as it was done in the Dubai’s Summit, COP.

Question: [Julien Mivielle, AFP] Good morning, a significant number of countries, including large emitors, have not publish their NDCs yet, their climate plans, what is your message to them?

Secretary-General: Well, my message is that it is absolutely essential to have NDCs as quick as possible ,but more than that, as looking into today’s NDC’s, they are far from being aligned in general, not everyone, but in general, far from being aligned with 1.5 degrees goal. We need to consider them as a floor, not a ceiling and we need to make an effort in order to guarantee that we have a more drastic cut in emissions in the years to come.

Question: [Jessica Silva, Folha de São Paulo] Hello, good morning. How do you see the resistance of parties, such as the EU and the UK, who are supporting the roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels but do not want to talk about increasing finance, specially in adaptation. What would be your message to these countries?

Secretary-General: I must tell you that I spoke with the overwhelming majority of those countries and they seemed ready to engage with the financing and adaptation, having as a legitimate concern, that it is balanced by progress in the key aspects of mitigation.

Thank you very much. Muito obrigado.