Ambassador André Aranha Corrêa do Lago will be the president of the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), scheduled to take place in November, in Belém (PA).
He is the Secretary of Climate, Energy and Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will have the mission of leading negotiations for a global agreement on the topic.
The national secretary of Climate Change of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), Ana Toni, will be the executive director of COP30.
The announcement was made by the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, and substitute Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maria Laura da Rocha, after a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at the Palácio do Planalto.
“These two positions are fundamental and strategic in terms of content, negotiation and leadership of the entire COP process,” said Marina. Already the logistics and infrastructure issues are under the responsibility of the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic.
President of COP30, André Corrêa do Lago speaks to journalists after meeting with the President of the Republic Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at Palácio do Planalto – José Cruz/Agência Brasil
Corrêa do Lago has experience in environmental issues, sustainable development and climate change and was Brazil’s chief negotiator in international forums on the topic between 2011 and 2013 and in 2023 and 2024.
Ana Toni has a long history of promoting projects and public policies aimed at social justice, the environment and climate change.
The two actively integrated the official Brazilian delegation to COP29held in November 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
In a press interview, the ambassador thanked President Lula for his trust and said that Brazil can have an “incredible role” in this year’s COP, which, according to him, will be built with several actors – government, civil society and business.
Corrêa do Lago guaranteed that the participation of the populations of the Amazon, where the conference will take place, is “absolutely essential”:
“The COP has several dimensions, it will have an immense dimension for Brazil itself, like RIO-92 [Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre o Meio Ambiente e o Desenvolvimento, no Rio de Janeiro, em 1992] It had a huge impact on the way Brazilians perceived climate change, perceived the environment, perceived biodiversity. So it has an extremely important national dimension.”
“During this preparatory period we will have a lot of dialogue with civil society because it is essential that they are involved in the process. Because, as in RIO-92, it is the populations that have to believe in this agenda [de combate à mudanças do clima] and that you have to contribute to making this agenda work”, added the ambassador.
Although the formal presidency of the COP will remain under the responsibility of Azerbaijan until the official opening of the event in November, it will now be up to Brazil, as the designated presidency, to lead the efforts to ensure the success of the negotiations, promoting dialogue between countries and other interested parties.
President Lula together with the minister of the environment Marina Silva and the minister of the Civil House Rui Costa, with the president of the COP, André Correia do Lago, and the executive director of COP30, Ana Toni – José Cruz/Agência Brasil
United States
Corrêa do Lago was asked about the emptying of COP30 with the leaving the United States of the Paris Agreement, an international treaty adopted in 2015 on mitigation, adaptation and financing to combat climate change.
He clarified that the North American country left the agreement but remains a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.
“There are several channels that remain open, but there is no doubt that it is a political announcement with a lot of impact”, he said about the decision of the new president of the United States, Donald Trump.
“The United States is an essential actor, because not only is it the largest economy, but it is also one of the largest emitters [de gases de efeito estufa]one of the countries that have responded to climate change, with technology. The United States has extraordinary companies and also has several American states, American cities that are very involved in this debate”, he explained.
“We are all still analyzing President Trump’s decisions, but there is no doubt that it will have a significant impact on the preparation of the COP and on the way in which we will have to deal with the fact that such an important country is withdrawing from this process.” , he added.
