Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told world leaders on 11 November 2026 that climate change has disappeared from the global agenda, warning that wars and trade disputes are crowding out the fight against global warming. Speaking at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, he said: "We started talking more about weapons and tariffs than the survival of future generations."

Lula was addressing the COP31 Leaders' Summit on the third day of the United Nations conference, in his first international trip since winning re-election to a fourth term in late October. He said that since the start of this year, climate change had disappeared from the speeches and documents of global leaders, including at meetings of the G7 and the G20, the forums that bring together the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters.

A call for climate finance

Lula called on Turkey and Australia, the countries sharing the negotiating and hosting responsibilities for COP31, to prioritise climate finance, the transition away from fossil fuels and the deforestation targets discussed at last year's summit in Belem, Brazil. He asked developed countries to honour their commitments and mobilise 1,300 billion dollars a year in climate finance, arguing that rich countries grew at the planet's expense.

He also announced that Brazil would develop national roadmaps to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and end deforestation, building on the work of COP30, which Brazil hosted in the Amazon last year. Lula said Brazil had cut deforestation in the Amazon by 71 per cent between 2022 and 2026.

Guterres presses for a climate justice pact

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also addressed the leaders' summit, calling for a new global climate justice agreement and urging governments to tax fossil fuel companies to help countries bearing the brunt of a crisis they did little to cause. He described the moment as make-or-break for climate action.

Negotiators from nearly 200 countries are seeking agreement at COP31 on a proposal from Turkey to increase the share of electricity in global energy use and revive stalled efforts to move away from fossil fuels. Leader speeches continue into 12 November, and the conference is scheduled to run in Antalya until 20 November.

A summit with notable absences

Only one leader from the G7 group of wealthy nations was among those attending, and the administration of United States President Donald Trump, which has left the Paris Agreement, was absent. China, the largest greenhouse gas emitter, sent its vice-president, Han Zheng.

Lula warned that the planet cannot be left at the mercy of hegemonic struggles, and said global momentum had faded since COP30 in Belem, where Indigenous peoples and forest defenders achieved historic popular participation. Whether his appeal restores climate change to the centre of the agenda will become clear as negotiators work towards a final deal in Antalya.

Read the UN News report from COP31 and the report on Lula's warning to leaders.