COP30 in Belém receives unanimous support from governors
15 de August de 2025
By Fabyo Cruz – From Cenarium
BELÉM (PA) – Governors and deputy governors from across the country reaffirmed this Wednesday, 13, their unconditional support for holding the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30) in Belém, capital of the state of Pará. The decision was formalized in a letter approved at the end of the 17th Meeting of the National Governors Forum, which highlighted the sovereignty of the Amazon and Brazil’s strategic role in the global environmental agenda.
The meeting took place at the Center for Creative Economy, in the Parque da Cidade, the venue that will host the conference, and brought together Governor Helder Barbalho (PA), 18 other governors and deputy governors, as well as the Deputy Governor and President of the State Committee for COP30, Hana Ghassan; the President of COP30, André Corrêa do Lago; the President of the Legislative Assembly of Pará (Alepa), deputy Chicão; and the Mayor of Belém, Igor Normando.
Opening the forum, Helder Barbalho argued that COP30 should be treated as a national agenda, going beyond the strictly environmental field. It is important that we understand that COP is not just an environmental event. Today, the environment must be seen in a cross-cutting way, in dialogue with all the planet’s economic and geopolitical agendas, he stated.
Barbalho reported that more than 30 structural works are underway in Belém, generating over five thousand direct jobs. The governor also mentioned a 68% increase in new business registrations in 2025 and the projection that Pará will rank third, for the first time, in GDP growth, with an expected rise of 3.5% this year. It is a fact that hosting COP has placed Belém in a position of prominence, he said.
André Corrêa do Lago presented a historical overview of climate negotiations and emphasized that COPs have become a gathering not only of governments that negotiate, but also of the private sector, science, academia, and civil society.
Demanding action from major emitters
Among the statements during the forum, the Governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, stressed that COP30 should be a showcase for the Amazonian perspective. COP is an important opportunity, a showcase, for us to tell our story from the point of view of those who live in the Amazon, of those who experience the reality of the Amazon. […] The presence of governors here in Belém, here in the Amazon, is important to understand the effort being made so that we can host an event like this, he said.
The Governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes, criticized countries that, according to him, do not meet their climate targets and defended a more forceful demand. We cannot accept them coming here, once again into our home, pointing fingers at us and telling us what we should do with our forests, with our biomes, when they do not fulfill what they agreed with the world and with all of us. Brazil […] represents only 3% of global emissions, he emphasized.
The UN recently released a survey. Seventy-five countries achieved 1% of what they planned, when they should have reached at least 45%. The United States is increasing shale consumption […] China continues to burn coal. We have to do our part, we have to preserve, but we cannot keep up the hypocrisy of thinking that with 3% we will save the planet while much of the world is not doing its part, he added.
What the approved letter says
The group released the Declaration of support from the National Governors Forum for the holding of COP30 in the city of Belém, Pará, dated August 13, 2025. Among the main excerpts, the document states: The Governors […] reaffirm unconditional support for the event and for the Leaders’ Summit in the city of Belém, considering […] the structural measures that are being effectively adopted […] to ensure its success.
The document also highlights Brazil’s role in the climate agenda. The promotion of COP30 […] expresses the commitment of Brazilian subnational states to global climate guidelines and to the necessary leadership of Brazil in facing global environmental challenges, it reads.