“Climate change kills more and more. In Spain it has caused the death of over 20,000 people in 5 years.” With this information, the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, wanted to clarify the seriousness of the climate emergency, during his speech at the meeting of the leaders of the climate summit in Brazil. “To those who believe in science: you can count on Spain,” he added.
Sánchez landed last night in Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon, to participate this Thursday in the leaders’ climate summit organized by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a prelude to COP30. Sánchez will be one of the first to speak on this second day. He will do so after the family photo and the first speaker, who is the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Spaniard will be followed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and dozens of leaders or government emissaries, including those from Russia and India.
In addition to the national addresses, the summit hosts two parallel sessions, attended by around 40 leaders and taking place behind closed doors. The first will be dedicated to the energy transition and President Sánchez is expected to speak, who will then hold a press conference.
Spain comes to Belém with the idea of presenting its energy transition model which, it underlines, meets climate objectives while contributing to economic growth and job creation. The Sánchez government would have liked the emissions targets, agreed by the European Union this week after tough negotiations, to be more ambitious. The Twenty-Seven agreed to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040 compared to half a century earlier, but with concessions to the most reluctant countries to seal the deal. This binding target will shape the EU’s environmental and economic policy for 15 years.
After the Amazon summit, President Sánchez will travel to Santa Marta (Colombia) to participate in the summit between the EU and CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) on Saturday, at which Lula will also be present. The Brazilian made his participation conditional on the discussion of the large military deployment of the United States against Venezuela.
