Welcome, welcome. What an incredible crowd. I am Akshat Rati, senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News and your MC for the day. We're delighted to see so many of you here in Rio. I hope you've had a productive couple of days at the local leaders forum and welcome to also those of you who are watching on live stream. In the next 90 minutes, we have a collective set of amazing speakers who I hope will equip you with ideas, inspiration, and solutions to the challenges you face as you contend with climate change in your region. Many of you are local leaders, and we hope you feel energized to keep working on solving climate change and improving the lives of your communities. Let me start by introducing our host Patty Harris. Patty is the CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies where she oversees the full breadth of the organization's effort to create better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. She also looks at the ambitious work that the organization does to protect the climate and to support communities around the world. Before leading Bloomberg Philanthropies, Patty worked at city hall as mayor Mike Bloomberg's first deputy mayor, the highest appointed position in the city government and was the first woman to hold that position. So, she knows firsthand what it's like to be in government and to make the tough decisions that you all face every day. She's a true champion of local leaders everywhere. Please welcome Patty Harris.
Thank you so much, Akshat. On behalf of Mike Bloomberg and the whole team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, I'm so glad to welcome you to the local climate action summit. Over the past two days here at COP 30 Local Leaders Forum, we've had a series of events, each focused on mayors and governors. Today, we're bringing everyone together to find new ways to collaborate and share ideas. It's the culmination of all that has taken place here over the last two days and another important step forward on a road that in many ways started right here in Rio. Back in 2012 when Mike Bloomberg was mayor of New York City, he joined Rio's mayor, Eduardo Paes, to lead a delegation of mayors to the Rio Earth Summit. And let me give a big thanks to Mayor Paes for his amazing leadership. It's so great to be here 13 years later to see the results in person. As Mike has explained, back in 2012, climate change was mostly thought of as a challenge for national governments to tackle from the top down. But mayors and local leaders looked at the problem the other way, from the bottom up. And what they saw was opportunity. Because the same steps to cut emissions also make our communities better, healthier places to live. We saw those benefits in New York City. Under Mike's leadership, we were able to cut emissions by 13% while also expanding life expectancy three years. And we didn't do it alone. We drew so much inspiration from local leaders all around the world who were pioneering bold ways to tackle climate change like everyone here is doing. Since then, our team at Bloomberg Philanthropies has never stopped looking for ways to elevate solutions and help them spread. We've supported networks like C40, Under2, and the Global Covenant of Mayors. We've launched global competitions to find and support great ideas being pioneered at the local level. We've worked with regions replacing coal with clean energy and helping people find new jobs in growing industries. And through the America Is All-In coalition, we've worked with mayors, governors, businesses, and other local leaders to keep the US moving forward. Throughout it all and led by Mike in his role as UN special envoy, we've looked for ways to make sure that the voices of local leaders are heard at COP. As we saw in the video, 10 years ago in Paris, Mike joined the city's incredible mayor, our friend Anne Hidalgo, to bring together mayors on the sideline of the conference. That gathering marked the turning point because it was the moment local leaders truly stepped up into the global climate spotlight. Then at COP 28 in Dubai, we held the first ever local climate action summit. There local leaders launched the Coalition for High Ambition Multilateral Partnership or CHAMP as we love to call it. Since we launched CHAMP, more than 75 countries have committed to working hand in hand with cities and regions to meet their national climate targets. It's an idea that leadership at the UN has always advocated for and that Brazil has fully embraced as the host of COP 30. And a lot of credit goes to our next two speakers, the executive secretary of UN climate change, Simon Stiell, and Brazil's Minister of Cities, Minister Filu. After today, the journey that started in Rio and picked up speed in Paris now continues on to Belém. And wherever the road goes from there, I can promise you that our whole team at Bloomberg Philanthropies will do everything we can to raise the bar. That includes bringing people together like today in Rio because we're big believers in the power of convening to inspire people and of course spread good ideas. So, thank you all so much for what you're doing for a brighter future. Here's to a productive summit. Now, please join me in welcoming someone who is helping to set the stage for success at COP 30. I want to thank him for all his wonderful leadership. Simon Stiell.
I feel like I should do a little dance to that intro. So, is it morning? Yes, it's still morning. Good morning all. So, excellencies, mayors, governors, leaders, it is a privilege to be here. We may be 1500 miles from COP 30 in Belém, but the road to success runs through Rio. Because cities, states, and regions are where the climate fight can be won or lost. Our new NDC synthesis report last week shows humanity is making progress through climate cooperation. It also shows subnational actors playing an increasing role in delivering that progress. More broadly, for the first time, we can see emissions are clearly coming down by 10% by 2035. Although clearly that's not nearly enough. On adaptation, our adaptation report shows progress building resilience, but again much more is needed to unleash its full transformative potential. Our transparency report shows parties starting to implement Paris, but a major acceleration is still needed. Meanwhile, climate disasters ascend in a wrecking ball through communities and through economies as we have just seen brutally with Hurricane Melissa. And I know each of you will have your own experiences of climate impacts. We need to pick up pace. To do so, we need to bring our COP process closer to the real economy and closer to real people and communities. A crucial part of doing this is accelerating actions at the local and regional level to spread more of the vast benefits of climate action to billions more people. So this local leaders forum and events like it are absolutely essential. I commend Mike Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies along with the COP 30 presidencies for bringing us here today. It's vital because cities, states, and regions are where global climate action meets daily life. Where inspiration can be found on every corner and where the great ideas and the big answers take shape. Local climate leadership is central to delivering healthier, wealthier, and safer communities and stronger economies. Together, cities and regions drive nearly half of global GDP and represent billions of people. Through regional and city networks, you're showing that climate cooperation delivers tangible benefits: cleaner air, safer streets, more resilient communities, and new jobs in industries of the future. You're the first responders to storms, floods, heat waves, and wildfires. And your experience is shaping more resilient, more inclusive national policies and plans. National goals rely on local delivery. That is why cooperation between every level of government is mission-critical. The Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships framework launched at COP 28 must now become part of how every country prepares and implements its climate plans, aligning national vision with local execution. When local and national leaders move together, we move faster. But there's a problem you know all too well. National governments commit to big infrastructure projects. And as a local leader, you want to see what you want to see is shovel in the ground. But too often it takes too long. Investment doesn't flow. Commitment wanes. And in the end, plans are not delivered on time, on budget, if at all. In the fight against climate change, it's time for shovels in the ground, to move from pledges to projects. Pledges inspire hope, but projects deliver results. The Global Covenant of Mayors' cities alone could cut 4 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually by 2050 if current plans are financed and implemented. That's the difference between words and action. Governments are submitting their national climate plans, their NDCs now. I urge you to get involved sooner rather than later. Let's work together across government layers and borders to unlock the capital needed for clean power, resilient infrastructure, and green transport. Data and transparency will help us. The contribution your cities make must be visible so we can share success, aggregate progress, and learn from each other. To every one of you, I say thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your leadership and thank you for your action. But I also ask you to dig even deeper because we are at a decisive moment. Cities, states, and regions are part of the foundation on which the Paris Agreement stands and the bridge between ambition and real-world results which improves people's lives. The world is watching. From the street corners to the state house, from the alleyway to the summit, let's show that we are stepping up faster, fairer, and together. I thank you.
Good morning. I ask you to apologize but I will speak in Portuguese. First of all, I'd like to thank Bloomberg Philanthropies, the UNFCCC executive secretary, and all the governors. Ladies and gentlemen, my message on behalf of the Brazilian government for COP 30 is certainly one of the most important steps towards the future of our planet: opportunity. The message is opportunity. In Belém, we will have the huge opportunity to discuss ideas for our planet. We will develop plans that will allow our cities to become more sustainable. This is a great coincidence. The meeting of our ministers takes place on November 11, and sustainable development objective number 11 is exactly discussed. This is an opportunity to achieve our goals. Representatives will commit and then we will decide and implement. There is no time left. The science says it clearly. Well, please mind, remember this. Everything started here in Rio in 1992 with the Earth Summit. And we have to really have our cities, states, and countries do what would allow us to say that we are on the right track towards a sustainable future for our planet. Well, we had Paris and many promises. We should stop making promises and start acting. The planet is for future generations to rely on. We cannot allow global temperature to rise the way they are doing now. And so we have to treat the environment and our cities, the urban areas, where the majority of our populations already live. In 2015, 50% lived in cities. The emissions come from cities, so they should be the ones for solutions. Otherwise, we will have to adapt our cities. Science is clear. We will have new climate events all over, like that we saw in Rio Grande last year. Many people died, infrastructure was destroyed. According to Rio de Janeiro metropolis, the same thing. So the ministerial discussed resilience and finance, funding. But it's why I'm greeting all who organized this. Listen to mayors, local leaders have to say and discuss. They are the ones knowing the right track towards solutions. Yes, for our society, to present our global leaders in both private and public sectors so that we can find a solution. I'm here on behalf of President Lula of Brazil, finding sustainable and resilient solutions. Unless we find out, thank you so much Brazil and I congratulate all of you.
Thank you Patty. Thank you Simon and thank you Minister Filu. From all three of them we heard one common theme which is the critical need for collaboration. Something that this forum enables and something that our next speaker also enables. I want to turn to the co-chair of the Covenant of Mayors and executive vice president of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera, to introduce our first panel that'll dive into looking at what can be achieved with subnational engagement on the global stage. Please join me in welcoming Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera.
Good morning, Rio. Good morning, local leaders on climate action. It's such a big pleasure to be here with you today. A room full of people willing to win the streets. A room full of people willing to deploy committed and fair climate action everywhere. It's been fantastic to witness in these three last days how this forum has been filled with energy, commitment and purpose. That means hope. Hope in a world where we witness irrational moments of backlash, irrational moments of fear. So it's so good to count on you, to count on you 10 years after the Paris agreement. Such a positive mood that allows us to do a lot. Even if we have done a lot, we see that the frequency and severity of climate-related disasters have increased. Even if we have managed to lower the trend of increasing emissions, we have not yet gone below what we needed to achieve in order to get within the 1.5 degrees target. I believe the Paris agreement was a great move, an important landmark, and we still need to fulfill the promises we made. This is one of our major allies behind the very origin of the United Nations 80 years ago speaks bluntly against multilateralist climate action, women's rights and creates some nationalism all over the world. But there are many more people committed to do much more. We in the European Union will continue to work relentlessly in support of multilateralism, cooperative solutions and collective action for global public goods. This very same morning, back in Brussels, the ministers of environment reached a very important deal committing to reduce 90% our emissions by 2040, introducing credits coming from the international market in case they are needed. I think that this is very important. It gives a sense of commitment, a sense of direction because we want to fight against suffering, against tragedies like those in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa last week. It may become increasingly common, increasingly frequent, and we need to avoid that. Cities, regions, and states are acting. You are acting. If we fail to act together, if we fail to act fast, we all stand to lose. You have shown that the green transition is happening local in your cities and regions where it makes most for people. The mobilization for decarbonization, for resilience, for people sends a powerful signal to the world. Local action works and it works fast and your voice has grown internationally and it is very important that it is heard all over the world. Your word, your action matters more than ever. Your efforts are needed as our multilateral institutions may face difficulties but in fact because the reality means involving local players. You are a very important part of the day-to-day life of any citizen all over the world. The good news from these three days in Rio is that the green transition is moving forward on the ground where it matters most for the people. We will not win the fight against climate change nor keep it under control if we do not achieve results locally in our cities and regions both building resilience and reducing emissions, providing services, ensuring high quality of life for anyone in any part of the world while at the same time we remain within the limits of our planet and climate security. This is why local leadership is indispensable to this transition. Local action changes daily lives. It is tangible. It is visible. It builds trust. It empowers us to do more. These local benefits deserve to be highlighted as I said and climate action may help to improve so many relevant needs for any citizen: health, transportation, dignity in housing, facilities to cope with extreme weather events. It builds resilience, prepares communities for climate impact, and reduces the cost of inaction. How to make climate resilience and adaptation a distinct policy priority with a clear set of measures and responsibilities will be critical for any of us. We must amplify the voice of local leaders. You are the doers. It resonates louder than those who try to slow down or even derail the transition. Let's make our voice being heard all over the world. None of these can succeed in isolation. This is why this gathering matters because we want to join efforts. We want to join forces. The European Union has also officially endorsed the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships because we know that this is the way we need to proceed. It is a timely framework to strengthen cooperation across all levels of governance because ambitious climate action requires all hands on deck from local to global. In the very same spirit, I'm pleased to confirm that we will continue to fund the Global Covenant of Mayors, our flagship partnership with local and regional leaders around the world. It shows that local innovation can drive global transformation. It shows that partnerships, friendships are much more positive and deploy much more outcomes than working in isolation. We do this because we know that you local leaders and your action matters and it matters greatly in these difficult times. We know that there is no time to lose. We know that the Brazilian COP presidency is fully supportive of this agenda. We know that in Belém we have an unprecedented opportunity to respond credibly, to strengthen the pivotal role of science and to encourage those engaged in the battle against climate disinformation. We have an unprecedented opportunity to anchor local and regional leadership at the core of the new implementation agenda. Because the emphasis on accelerating action and inclusiveness will make the difference. We have an unprecedented chance to recover the trust among us to progress for the first time in finance commitments, advancing in the transition away from fossil fuels and facilitating the adaptation agenda. We must explore positive avenues and pursue ways to protect the most vulnerable communities, enhance adaptation, finance and support nature-based solutions through innovative sources. Let us seize the momentum, let us act together. Let us make our voice clear and loud stating our commitment, our engagement towards a brighter future. Thanks a lot.
Thanks to all of you. Thank you as well. And it struck me listening to Patty and to Simon, the other speakers over the course of the last few days. This is a real moment to note and celebrate progress since Paris and to perhaps draw a contrast what we saw at events like this before, Copenhagen and others. So I wanted to start with a question that might go to each of you and merit a quick answer and that is how much progress have you seen during your tenures when it comes to the level of participation, the quality of participation you've been able to have as a local leader in these international gatherings. I'll start with you.
Wonderful. As one of the leaders of the United States delegations, I have felt that subnational cities and states have become increasingly important. It's a real point of pride for us that the United States has such a large presence. We have the second largest delegation, I believe, after our host country because local leaders matter and we're delivering results. We're so grateful to Bloomberg Philanthropies for making that possible. And we hope we're sending a message to the world of the fact that two-thirds of the American population and three-quarters of our GDP is still working aggressively on climate action. We appreciate the greater support for local leaders and the fact that we have partnerships all across the world. Also on behalf of the United States, we had a very significant election day yesterday and across our country...
And you told me backstage it was a good election for climate.
It was a very good election for climate. I have the pleasure of representing over 350 US mayors and our climate mayors did very well on the ballot. The US voters care about things like energy affordability and access to clean, affordable water and when climate has been on the ballot by itself it has done extremely well. So we do want to send that message from the United States and that we appreciate the European Union working directly with local leaders. Brazil has embraced us so much. I come from an aerospace city. So the success of Embraer is very important to jobs in my community and we've really felt that local leaders are the ones getting it done. Whether it be climate action or economic diplomacy, there is more opportunity for us. So many of us are ahead of our national governments. If we are going to achieve the ambitions of Paris, local leaders will need to deliver it.
Raquel Lyra, you're a governor now. You were a mayor before that. Feel free to speak in Portuguese. I'm curious of the progress that you've seen in those two jobs.
I appreciate the opportunity. I was the mayor of a city of 9 million inhabitants and we have events. We have droughts, very severe. More than 14... and we have lots of people. And some cities didn't have any water from the... in January 23 they didn't have access, something that they never had, fresh water in their tanks. We have to live with different realities in the whole of Brazil. When we compare cities, the northeast of Brazil and the southeast of Brazil, we can see the challenge we have to face and part of our empowerment and the transformation of our areas. I am a mayor and a governor in the Brazilian northeast area. From 2023, 50% of my population is in poverty and 20% in extreme poverty. Climate change affects these people and we are speaking about these people. They have faces, have women and they live in the rural areas. They don't have houses. They have to change houses. They don't have money to pay their rent and they have to change their children from school to school. This is a social and climate injustice. We have to face an extreme challenge and we have to overcome it. I'm going to speak about an inhabitant from a nearby history. When I was still a candidate for mayor, she didn't have water for 10 years. In one point, she had water and once her source of water was closed and she didn't have water and of course 700,000 reais to put water inside her house. So to work and to face social injustice and climate injustice, we have here Kate, Katherine, David and women. We have to deal with this and we deal with this and we have our world vision, a feminine vision and these women have problems. We have to have a very responsible policy and we have to deal with... we have a real estate policy and we have more than 16,000... we are doing, we're invested in mountains. We are... because the municipalities don't have condition. I was a mayor and I didn't have support. The role of this is the capacity to develop projects. And when we are together here, how to deal with dealing with how to treat water and also treat the noise. Everybody sees to renewable energy and what we are doing. When you look at our economy, if we cannot really do better with the opportunity window, we will still treat energy in a way. So we have to look to Brazil and Brazil has the opportunity to show itself to the world for a new economy, new energy. But our people cannot be behind. We have to fight against inequalities. We have to change our economy and we have to advance as a society. Thank you.
As we move from Recife to Malmö, I wonder how you would chart the progress that we've seen thus far and you're the head of an organization of cities.
Sorry, can you help me again a little? Yeah. Yeah. I'm curious sort of what you as mayor see as the progress made and sort of what you're looking forward to as we move ahead to Belém.
Well, first of all, I'm the mayor of Malmö, but I'm also president of ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability, and we connect more than 2,500 cities globally, all eager to do our work. And in my hometown we have been a frontrunner from very early on and we realized early on that we have to really work hard together with the citizens, the business sector but also our national governments and we're trying to do our best to collaborate but also within the European Union. And ICLEI as an organization has served as the focal point of the LGMA under the UNFCCC since the very beginning of the global climate conference in 1995. And it's actually very nice to be back here in Rio where it all started in 1992 and now 33 years later we can see that very much has happened and we do look forward to write the next chapter in Belém. But just to revisit some milestones that has been very very important for I guess all of us. The COP in Montreal, more than a thousand cities in 2005 committed to implement the Kyoto protocol and that was an important milestone. And in 2007 in Bali, while the European Covenant of Mayors was created, C40, UCLG launched the first global campaign to recognize and empower local and subnational governments in the UNFCCC. And if we go back to Paris in 2015, cities and subnational governments received full recognition in the Paris agreement. So lots of things have happened and since then the European Covenant merged with the Compact of Mayors and the European Commission. The Marrakesh partnership connected us to the UNFCCC climate action agenda. The Race to Zero and Resilient kicked off in Glasgow. And the first urban and climate ministerial started in Sharm el-Sheikh and the CHAMP was improved in Dubai and the COP in Baku helped us to bridge mitigation, adaptation and finance and now we're here and I'm really really looking forward for the next chapter in our shared book and I really hope that the LGMA and our... I really hope that we will have a permanent part of the process in Belém and after and that's a really really important message and I think it's also an important part for all local leaders to make to have the support to be able to deliver what we all need to be delivered. And I think it's important that all local leaders everywhere globally keeps on supporting each other and as president of ICLEI and as mayor of Malmö, I would like to reach out to all fellow mayors to really show support and solidarity with the LGMA constituency so that we can make this progress even further. It's a challenging time, but I know that we together are able to deliver and I'm so looking forward to further collaboration.
Thank you. In the short time we have left, Kate and Raquel, let me ask you each to respond to picking up on what you just said, sort of what you're looking forward to in Belém and sort of what subnational institutions leaders should be pushing for at those talks and beyond. I'll start with you.
So, this year has been an incredibly important year in world energy history. This is the year where we have seen artificial intelligence and its energy demand grow exponentially. AI is becoming more common in local government operations, in finance, in world computing, but it is demanding a huge amount of the world's energy. One of the things that I think will come out of the local leaders forum that will be most important is a strong statement that as artificial intelligence grows, it must be powered sustainably. It must use clean energy. I've been pleased to work with Lord Mayor Ree of Melbourne and with support of our C40 chairs, Mayor Khan and Mayor Aki Sawaya to develop a strong initiative and statement coming out of this convening that we will ask the world's leaders to put sustainable artificial intelligence that benefits local communities at the forefront. This is good news for Brazil where there is a strong supply of clean renewable energy and could put Brazil at the forefront of this amazing technology transition. But for too many communities, we are seeing natural gas and coal as primary fuels. If this local leaders forum can send a strong statement and give the momentum to the COP presidency to deliver an ambitious agenda on artificial intelligence, we all will have made a very important contribution to the energy history of our planet.
COP will start next week. Many of us will be there discussing energy transition. And look, in a country like ours, our country, a future country, we have to significantly not only play football but make goals. And we have part of our challenge in climate change. We have to advance as a nation. We have to work with social justice and investments that come to Brazil. We have to transform quality of life of our population with more education, more jobs, opportunities and not only give energy or food to the population, but give them progress. I'm speaking on behalf of Pernambuco, on behalf of Brazil and communities that they want to have a COP and we have a COP in the Amazon region. We are not speaking from far away, but we will be there. We have to have a sustainable economical development against social injustice and we have to have clear parameters for the next periods. We have to advance as human beings.
Thank you all very much. Thanks to you. Can't just play football. Have to make goals. I will take that away. Well said. Thank you all.
Thank you, Governor Lyra, Mayor Gallego, and Mayor Jammeh. We heard some concrete lessons on the tools of engagement and how to drive climate action on the front line. We also heard in the opening video the idea of a global mutirão, a collective community-driven effort where people come together to accomplish a task for the common good. It's going to be very important at COP 30. So, I'm going to turn to our next panel where they're going to talk about how they embraced multi-level partnership to come up with a concept of climate federalism and what it looks like on the road to Belém. The next panel will be in Portuguese, so please put your headsets on if you need them. And with that, let me welcome COP 30 high-level champion Dan Ioschpe.
Hello everyone, distinguished authorities, mayors, governors, local leaders, and esteemed colleagues. It is my pleasure to join you today. The local climate action summit recognizes the critical role of subnational governments in climate action. With COP 30 in Belém coming up next week, we are reminded that climate negotiations alone will not get us where we need to be. As the high-level champion for COP 30, my role is to bridge global ambition with the real tangible action already underway at local and regional level. Local governments and municipal authorities have long been at the forefront innovating, leading and delivering real results. Here in Rio, we are gathered to showcase this progress and reaffirm how local action continues to shape and advance global climate ambition. The COP 30 presidency has been clear. We are entering a new era of COPs, one defined by implementation and impact. Through the CHAMP coalition, Brazil is embedding subnational leadership directly into national climate commitments. This means that climate action is no longer confined to one level of government. It's a shared responsibility woven into everything from transportation planning to waste management. At COP 30, our goal is to drive a redefined joint action agenda focused on six thematic axes that are anchored on the global stocktake aimed at accelerating change across systems. The action agenda recognizes the need for multi-level governance and Axis 4 builds on Brazil's commitment to climate federalism and the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships which has 77 signatory countries aiming to enhance collaboration between national and subnational governments in climate policy and finance. The goal is not to announce new commitments but rather to focus on accelerating the existing solutions. As part of this agenda, partner initiatives develop the plans to accelerate solutions to drive implementation. Almost one quarter of this focus on subnational governments, making local resilience fundamental for driving solutions. This makes you truly indispensable partners in advancing the action agenda. Now I ask you to carry this amazing momentum forward and join us in Belém. My invitation to all of you is to actively engage with the action agenda. Contribute your expertise and solutions and help us turn ambition into implementation. Let's do this together, not as isolated actors but as a real global mutirão for implementation, shared effort, shared purpose and shared progress. Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all of the awardees of the local leaders awards. My deepest thanks go to Mayor Eduardo Paes for hosting us and to all the organizers especially Bloomberg Philanthropies for inviting me to serve as co-chair and to participate in this great event. Now I have the honor to invite for our next conversation where we will explore how climate action is unfolding in practice: Minister of Environment of Brazil Marina Silva, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes, and the Governor of Pará, Elder Barbosa.
And now we change to Portuguese. So for those who need assistance, please do so now.
Let's start with them. Like you, champion, climate action agenda, having launched resilience strategies, adopting, including climate questions, budgets, etc. How can cities accelerate transition onto implementation and what kind of collaboration at the local and international levels are crucial to accelerate urban solutions. It's a pleasure, the governor of Pará, Elder Barbosa, champion of the Amazon, of whom we are very proud, our minister of the environment, Marina Silva.
Very good. Over the last three days, where local governments have been stressing how the local governments are able to deliver towards the transformation. One important topic has something new for after sign up for change, which is a constant collaboration between levels of government. The great example I can give you in the case of President Lula is the program for accelerating... The government opens a portfolio of projects. States and municipalities have to design their own project in that framework can be funded with federal funding. This is the important debate. How can we transform poetry into financing? Cities can implement policies and this is what we've been trying to do in Rio over the last years with federal funds we are more effective to implement large drainage,unities etc. to have federal funds to do more. But of course, we have a set of measures that we have been implementing here. Clear goals in terms of climate, for instance. Mayorality level, great challenge for COP where we discuss going forward...
Bloomberg announced $80 million in funding so that we can have electric buses to replace our fleet. So I'm certain that with this collaboration, local leaders can implement well. And this is the main message: governors will be the leaders as the local representatives. Minister Marina Silva is very well known. So we will convene a very important message to all world leaders in this sense.
Thank you so much. And now I give the floor to Governor Barbosa. The venue for COP 30 is opening the doors to Amazon to show that global leadership can drive global action. How does a rich state, rich in natural resources, foster carbon markets and use them to foster sustainable development and prosperity?
Good morning to all of you. Minister Marina, Eduardo, thank you for hosting us. This is a very special moment. On the eve of COP 30, now we can coordinate and welcome the world. We are used to road shows all over the world, sharing our ideas and inviting those interested to join us. And this is the other way around. We will show them our ideas, our projects, things we are already doing that need funding to be scaled up. And this is where we need climate financing, meaning concepts that are urgent, as we know we've been discussing. In the Amazon, in order to first of all understand our specificity, we have urban areas like Rio and São Paulo that with their industrial model, due to urban pressure, are linked to fossil fuels. In the case of Pará and other Amazonian states, the pressure on the forest is the main source of emissions. 85% of greenhouse gas emissions come from destroying the forest. And so we are working with the federal government to fight deforestation, to reduce pressure on the forest. And we achieved a lot. On one hand, we have supervised. On the other, we are creating a process of activities we can develop within the forest. So as to what can we do with biodiversity? Every day we discover two new biodiversity. The richness of the forest is building opportunities on a daily basis. Our state established a bioeconomy program and in 2022 we launched the SH. And last month, the Amazon Bioeconomy Park. And we will have bio Amazon vouchers. At the same time, in the Silicon Valley, we will do the equivalent for biodiversity, and that will become global and the common market. On the other hand, when we reduce deforestation, we generate credits. We make all kinds of change: economic matrix, energy transition, urban measures reducing the number of vehicles. All this will not be enough to have a net zero world. We will have a space to neutralize emissions. We will need to buy credits, and these credits will come from this lesser deforestation. And this value is very high. It's integrity due to the effort done by the whole world, based on a hedge law, based on debates, indigenous peoples, the other inhabitants of the forest. Validate efforts in the system in which payment for environmental services and the reduction of the production of pressure on the forest, trying to bring together forest and food production, fostering jobs, and all this together. You should understand our state has a carbon market. Up to 2026, it will be 200 tons of carbon, which means 40 billion real in projects. We're talking about the new economy: forest, which means forest preservation, deforestation reduction, generating funds that will be used for the lives of indigenous people, etc. A small percentage of this will go to the government, which will use these funds to finance this transition. So we reorganized the local economy, working with integrity in the chain, production to be conducted in a way that's not harmful to the environment. Mining, but correct mining. On our forest, we achieve the main goal: forest living in the forest or in the forest. We will show those who... but you should understand we are treating their... million Brazilians living in the Amazon, in the greater Amazon. We are 50 million solutions for the environment, quality of life, because there is no climate justice without social justice.
Minister Marina Silva, the concept of global multi-level action is at the heart of COP 30, the call to collective action included in the new architecture of our agenda. In what role do you expect non-state actors will play? And the main outcomes from COP in terms of adaptation financing, funding, and energy transition? What does this new architecture bring to Brazil and other nations?
It's a pleasure to be here. I greet all of you. It's a great pleasure to be here participating in this crucial moment for the history of humanity. The word 'miriam' comes from an indigenous language and it means bringing people together to do good things together. Andreo was inspired when he chose this name. The goal is to implement what we decided throughout the last 30 years. UNFCCC was born in Rio in '92. It's 33 years old, and this is the number in the 30s. The idea of a global multi-level action in Belém. And we will have the summit of heads of state, which will start tomorrow, and we hope they will deliver a message about how we will face climate change. And this is no longer what we thought in the past. It was 'think global and act local.' By that time, science said that if we did not reduce CO2 emissions, we would go through what we are going through now. It was thinking global and acting locally. Now I have to do both at the same time. Now those who are already affected by climate change, cities, communities, and vulnerable people can no longer solve this problem at the local level, mainly because they do not have technological resources or financial or human resources. As we've seen here, we need support. We need funds. And this is why at COP 30 we will discuss adaptation based on metrics and indicators to determine how much this adaptation is taking place in cities. So multi-level action starts by means for implementation. Commitments should be honored so that we won't lose credibility. Another thing, and this involves governors and mayors: although we no longer solve problems at the local level, we know that climate change happens exactly where we live. 80% of people live in cities. 80% of people affected by climate change are in cities, such as water supply, torrential rains, as we've seen in Rio Grande last year. And so we also need much more action. The federal government has to work together with state-level and local-level governments. In this case, Brazil has three programs. The first one is Adapt Cities by the Ministry of Environment, creating methodologies to teach cities how to adapt, sharing knowledge, giving them capacity. The second program is Green Resilience. We are working so that cities would be trained in terms of infrastructure, housing, and the creation of new procedures, urban plans. Some of them have to be adapted, and the way we build our buildings has also to be adapted. And something else that is crucial: we are living in this framework of climate emergency. So we have to change and create new legal frameworks. In Brazil, we have 142 municipalities that have been mapped and they are vulnerable to extreme climate events. They have to remain in... It creates possibilities: our alert systems, escape routes, etc. Rescue, adaptation, and climate change cannot be seen as a burden, as a problem. They can be seen as a space for synergy. If I manage adequately urban residues, I can generate clean energy. I avoid CO2 and methane. I have to electrify and I have to improve the quality of life of people, public health. We have to face climate change far from being undesirable effects and how we can potentialize the desirable effect, looking forward to a new prosperity cycle. This is a reality in a scale that needs more strength. But with people like the mayor of Belém and also the governor of Pará State, we can turn this key. We have the technical answers. We have to have an ethical commitment to have action capacity. We need financial, public and private financial resources, human resources. And I'd like to wrap up that in 2003, when I was in the Ministry of Environment for the first time, I told President Lula, 'We cannot tell them what we can't. We have to create what we can.' And we had the plan of prevention and control of Amazon deforestation. This plan reduced deforestation by 83% for a decade, and we avoided launching into the atmosphere 5 billion tons. We preserved conservation areas, and this was an action. We reduced the CO2. These policies were dismantled, but when President Lula, in his administration, I'm again for the third time the Minister of Environment. I was 45 years old at that time, now I'm 67 years old. But we've reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 50%, and we could avoid launching into the atmosphere 700 million tons of CO2. This is good for cities, for the planet's balance. But we have to adapt. We have to mitigate, but we have to transform, transform the development model. And then we have the huge opportunity to generate revenue, to improve people's lives, creating synergies to be prosperous, sustainable, and at the same time a diversified world with a diversified economy. There's place for everybody. For a long time, we had a development vision: develop and use nature. But now we have to all be sustainable. We cannot be in denial.
