Wars and inflation are pushing climate change off the international political agenda, even though it remains a serious threat worldwide, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said.
Report's correspondent in Antalya reports that Lula told the COP31 leaders' summit that climate change was receiving less attention in international forums.
"At the beginning of this year, climate change disappeared from world leaders' speeches and documents. At meetings of the G7 and G20, forums that bring together the largest greenhouse gas emitters, concern gave way to silence. We began talking more about weapons and tariffs than about the survival of future generations," he said.
Lula said some had come to see the energy transition as an obstacle to national security and prosperity.
"When war and inflation are knocking at the door today, it becomes even harder to think about tomorrow's climate catastrophe. But we cannot leave the planet at the mercy of struggles for supremacy when droughts, floods and rising seas are already a reality for millions of people," he said.
Lula said the veto and the power of money could reshape the political landscape, while multilateralism opened the door to diplomacy. He said finding new solutions to climate challenges would require political will.
"The climate crisis is also a crisis of injustice. Inequality between countries persists, as do gender and racial injustice," he said.
Lula said wealthy countries had developed by drawing on the planet's resources and must now honor their commitments.