In RJ, Helder Barbalho advocates for climate financing for further advances in Amazon protection

The governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, advocated on Wednesday (5) in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) for the expansion of climate financing as an essential condition to accelerate the protection of the Amazon and boost sustainable development. The statement was made during the Local Leaders Forum of COP30, which brought together national and international authorities at the Museum of Modern Art and marked the joint commitment of subnational governments to climate action, leading up to the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which will take place in Belém.

During the panel "Climate Partnership in Practice: The Brazil Model", Helder was alongside the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, and the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, moderated by Dan Ioschpe, High-Level Climate Champion of COP30. In his speech, the governor highlighted the importance of the event as a symbolic milestone in the countdown to COP30.

“We are used to doing roadshows around the world to present our ideas. Now, this will be the only event that will be in the Amazon, in Belém, and it is the moment to show what is already being implemented and what needs support to scale up,” he said.

The governor also advocated for the urgency of climate financing to turn commitments into concrete results. “The climate urgencies precisely highlight this emergency of mobilization. Financing is necessary for ideas to be transformed into reality,” he stated. Helder emphasized Pará's work in reducing deforestation and creating innovative policies that add value to the living forest.

“A living forest needs to be worth more than a dead forest. We created the State Bioeconomy Plan and inaugurated the Amazon Bioeconomy and Innovation Park to transform our biodiversity into a sustainable development asset,” he explained.

Climate financing and social inclusion

When addressing the carbon market, the governor emphasized that Pará is structuring, with its REDD+ Jurisdictional System, a solid and participatory model built with traditional communities, extractivists, indigenous peoples, quilombolas, and family farmers. Helder reinforced that the green transition needs to be accompanied by social inclusion. “The main mission of those who live in the Amazon is to take care of the forest and take care of the people. There is no climate justice without social justice,” he highlighted.

The governor stated that COP30 in Belém will be a unique opportunity for the world to understand the Amazonian reality. “We need to take advantage of the COP in Belém so that everyone who talks about us, but has never set foot in the forest, understands: we are trees, but we are also people. Below the tree canopy live 29 million Brazilians,” he affirmed.

Letter from local leaders

The forum concluded with the panel “From Paris to Belém: A Call to Action,” moderated by Antha Williams (Bloomberg Philanthropies) and featuring Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF), Tony Evers, governor of the state of Wisconsin, USA, and Igor Normando, mayor of Belém. Following this, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, read the final declaration “From Paris to Belém,” a document expressing the commitment of local leaders to climate ambition and international cooperation towards COP30.

“I am very, very happy today because we are heading to Belém with the letter from local leaders. The best of local leaders endorsed this letter. I express here our will, our commitment, our proposal, and also our hope. May the COP in Belém be a success, also from the leadership of President Lula. May this conference translate ambition into concrete actions. May it truly mobilize financing and build new coalitions, ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen, dear mayors, it is time for us to take a new step forward. We invite all present leaders to concretely express this new collective commitment. Ten years after Paris, the world turns its eyes to Belém, full of hope. Today we have the opportunity to write a new page,” stated the mayor.

Helder Barbalho, host of COP 30 and a prominent subnational leader in the climate agenda, reinforced Pará's role as a facilitator of Amazonian solutions for the world. “Brazil has a unique opportunity to lead by example, balancing development and environmental protection. Unlocking climate financing will be essential to turn commitments into real results,” he concluded.