Latest news with #LuizInácioLuladaSilva
Al Etihad
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Etihad
Brazilian President visits INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, commends vital role it plays under leadership of UAE's Ahmed Al-Raisi
10 June 2025 00:51 LYON (WAM)President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil today underscored Brazil's commitment to combating transnational organised crime during his visit to INTERPOL, the world's largest policing by INTERPOL President Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, the Brazilian President was briefed on INTERPOL's critical work in supporting member countries to protect vulnerable populations, preserve the environment and dismantle organised crime visit represents a strong endorsement of INTERPOL's mission and its leadership role as central to tackling one of the most urgent security challenges of our time.A Letter of Intent between Brazil and INTERPOL was signed during the state visit, which will see an even greater exchange of information, expertise and best practice in the fight against crime, further strengthening Brazil's position as a leader in combating all forms of Lula praised the vital role played by INTERPOL, affirming that it is an indispensable platform for achieving collective security, especially given its history that spans over 100 years and its membership of 196 countries, making it the largest international organisation in terms of expressed his country's commitment to strengthening cooperation with multilateral security agencies, based on Brazil's responsibility as a pivotal power in Latin his part, Major General Al-Raisi welcomed the visit and valued Brazil's position as a key player in efforts to combat organised crime on the reaffirmed INTERPOL's ambition to expand partnerships with countries that possess advanced policing capabilities, in a way that enhances regional and international part of international recognition and appreciation, Major General Al-Raisi awarded the Brazilian President the INTERPOL Medal of the Highest Order, in acknowledgement of his outstanding contributions to crime fighting at the national, regional, and international levels. This visit marks the first by a Brazilian President to INTERPOL headquarters and represents a milestone in the trajectory of international security cooperation. It also reflects Brazil's growing support for the organisation under active Arab leadership, represented by the United Arab Emirates through the presidency of Major General Al-Raisi.
Scoop
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Guterres Calls For An End To Ocean ‘Plunder' As UN Summit Opens In France
'The ocean is the ultimate shared resource,' he told delegates gathered at the port of Nice. 'But we are failing it.' Oceans, he warned, are absorbing 90 per cent of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions and buckling under the strain: overfishing, rising temperatures, plastic pollution, acidification. Coral reefs are dying. Fish stocks are collapsing. Rising seas, he said, could soon 'submerge deltas, destroy crops, and swallow coastlines — threatening many islands' survival.' Call for stewardship More than 50 Heads of State and Government took part in the opening ceremony, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — a show of political force underscoring the summit's weight. In total, over 120 countries are participating in the five-day gathering, known by the shorthand UNOC3, signaling a growing recognition that ocean health is inseparable from climate stability, food security, and global equity. French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is co-hosting the summit alongside Costa Rica, followed with a forceful appeal for science, law, and multilateral resolve. 'The abyss is not for sale, any more than Greenland is for sale, any more than Antarctica or the high seas are for sale,' he declared. 'If the Earth is warming, the ocean is boiling.' He insisted the fate of the seas could not be left to markets or opinion. 'The first response is therefore multilateralism,' Mr. Macron said. 'The climate, like biodiversity, is not a matter of opinion; it is a matter of scientifically established facts.' Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles took the podium next, thanking Mr. Guterres for elevating the ocean on the global agenda, then shifting to a stark warning. 'The ocean is speaking to us — with bleached coral reefs, with storms, with wounded mangroves,' he said. 'There's no time left for rhetoric. Now is the time to act.' Condemning decades of treating the ocean as an 'infinite pantry and global waste dump,' Mr. Chaves urged a shift from exploitation to stewardship. 'Costa Rica is a small country, but this change has started,' he said. 'We are now declaring peace with the ocean.' Most notably, the Costa Rican leader called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining in international waters until science can adequately assess the risks — a position already backed by 33 countries, he noted. A treaty within reach One of the summit's core objectives is to help bring into force the landmark High Seas Treaty — known as the BBNJ accord — adopted in 2023 to safeguard life in international waters. Sixty ratifications are required for the treaty to become binding international law. Emmanuel Macron announced that this milestone is now within reach. 'In addition to the 50 or so ratifications already submitted here in the last few hours, 15 countries have formally committed to joining them,' he said. 'This means that the political agreement has been reached, which allows us to say that this [Treaty] will be properly implemented.' Whether the legal threshold is crossed this week or shortly after, the French President added, 'it's a win.' High-stakes negotiations in the 'Blue Zone' The tone set by the opening speeches made clear that Nice will be the stage for high-stakes negotiations — on finalising a global treaty on plastic pollution, scaling up ocean finance, and navigating conflicting opinions surrounding seabed mining. Hundreds of new pledges are expected to be announced, building on more than 2,000 voluntary commitments made since the first UN Ocean Conference in 2017. The week-long talks will culminate in the adoption of a political declaration and the unveiling of the Nice Ocean Action Plan, a blueprint aligned with the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a 2022 agreement to protect 30 per cent of marine and terrestrial ecosystems by 2030. 'The deep sea cannot become the Wild West,' António Guterres warned. The summit is being held in a purpose-built venue overlooking Port Lympia, Nice's historic marina, now transformed into the secured diplomatic 'Blue Zone.' On Sunday, a symbolic ceremony led by Li Junhua, head of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the conference, saw the French and UN flags raised above the harbor. 'This ceremony marks not only the formal transfer of this historic port into the hands of the United Nations, but also the beginning of a week of shared commitment, responsibility, and hope,' said Mr. Li. Culture, science, and collective memory Before the negotiations began in earnest, Monday's opening turned to ritual and reflection. Polynesian climate activist Ludovic Burns Tuki marked the start of the summit by blowing a pu, a traditional conch shell. 'It's a way to call everyone,' he told UN News after the ceremony. 'I blow with the support of our ancestors.' In Polynesian navigation, the conch is sounded upon arrival at a new island to signal peaceful intent. Mr. Tuki, born in Tahiti to parents from the Tuamotu and Easter Islands, sees the ocean as both boundary and bond. 'We are not only countries,' he said. 'We need to think like a collective system, because this is one ocean, one people, a future for all.' The cultural segment also included a blessing by Tahitian historian Hinano Murphy, a martial arts performance by French taekwondo master Olivier Sicard, a scientific reflection by deep-sea explorer Antje Boetius, and a poetic testimony by Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, accompanied by kora musician Wassa Kouyaté. United Nations News · CLIP: Polynesian climate activist Ludovic Burns Tuki at the UN Ocean Conference What was lost can return The goals of the Conference are ambitious but clear: to advance the '30 by 30' pledge, promote sustainable fisheries, decarbonise maritime transport, and unlock new streams of 'blue finance,' including ocean bonds and debt-for-nature swaps to support vulnerable coastal states. In addition to plenary sessions, Monday will feature two high-level action panels: one on conserving and restoring marine ecosystems — including deep-sea habitats — and another on strengthening scientific cooperation, technology exchange, and education to bridge the gap between science and policy. In his opening statement, António Guterres stressed that Sustainable Development Goal 14 , on 'Life Below Water', remains the least funded of the 17 UN global goals. 'This must change,' he said. 'We need bold models to unlock private capital.' 'What was lost in a generation,' he concluded, 'can return in a generation. The ocean of our ancestors — teeming with life and diversity — can be more than legend. It can be our legacy.'
3 days ago
- Politics
As UN climate talks loom, Brazil's Amazon forest loses in May an area larger than NYC
MANAUS, Brazil -- Brazil's environmental goals suffered a major setback in May as deforestation in the Amazon surged 92% compared to the same month last year, according to official monitoring data released Friday. Forest loss reached 960 square kilometers (371 square miles) during the period, an area slightly larger than New York City. It was the second-highest total for May since the current monitoring system was implemented in 2016. The increase risks reversing the year-over-year decline in forest clearance since 2023, when Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began his third term. During his campaign, the leftist leader had pledged to end deforestation by 2030. Brazil's monitoring system tracks deforestation from Aug. 1 to July 30. Over the past 10 months, deforestation has risen 9.7% compared to the same period a year earlier. The 2025 deforestation rate, tracked by the National Institute for Space Research, is expected to be announced just before the U.N. climate talks, scheduled for November in the Amazonian city of Belém. Brazil is one of the world's top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, contributing about 3% of global emissions, according to the nonprofit Climate Watch. Almost half of those emissions come from deforestation, making efforts to halt it critical to meeting Brazil's commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Amazon, an area almost twice the size of India, contains the world's largest rainforest, about two-thirds of it within Brazil. It stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide, holds about 20% of the world's freshwater and is home to hundreds of Indigenous tribes, some living in isolation, and 16,000 known tree species. ____
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
As U.N. climate talks loom, in May Brazil's Amazon forest loses an area larger than NYC
MANAUS, Brazil — Brazil's environmental goals suffered a major setback in May as deforestation in the Amazon surged 92% compared to the same month last year, according to official monitoring data released Friday. Forest loss reached 371 square miles during the period, an area slightly larger than New York City. It was the second-highest total for May since the current monitoring system was implemented in 2016. The increase risks reversing the year-over-year decline in forest clearance since 2023, when Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began his third term. During his campaign, the leftist leader had pledged to end deforestation by 2030. Brazil's monitoring system tracks deforestation from Aug. 1 to July 30. Over the past 10 months, deforestation has risen 9.7% compared to the same period a year earlier. The 2025 deforestation rate, tracked by the National Institute for Space Research, is expected to be announced just before the U.N. climate talks, scheduled for November in the Amazonian city of Belém. Brazil is one of the world's top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, contributing about 3% of global emissions, according to the nonprofit Climate Watch. Almost half of those emissions come from deforestation, making efforts to halt it critical to meeting Brazil's commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Amazon, an area almost twice the size of India, contains the world's largest rainforest, about two-thirds of it within Brazil. It stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide, holds about 20% of the world's freshwater and is home to hundreds of Indigenous tribes, some living in isolation, and 16,000 known tree species. Maisonnave writes for the Associated Press.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
As UN climate talks loom, Brazil's Amazon forest loses in May an area larger than NYC
MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Brazil's environmental goals suffered a major setback in May as deforestation in the Amazon surged 92% compared to the same month last year, according to official monitoring data released Friday. Forest loss reached 960 square kilometers (371 square miles) during the period, an area slightly larger than New York City. It was the second-highest total for May since the current monitoring system was implemented in 2016. The increase risks reversing the year-over-year decline in forest clearance since 2023, when Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began his third term. During his campaign, the leftist leader had pledged to end deforestation by 2030. Brazil's monitoring system tracks deforestation from Aug. 1 to July 30. Over the past 10 months, deforestation has risen 9.7% compared to the same period a year earlier. The 2025 deforestation rate, tracked by the National Institute for Space Research, is expected to be announced just before the U.N. climate talks, scheduled for November in the Amazonian city of Belém. Brazil is one of the world's top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, contributing about 3% of global emissions, according to the nonprofit Climate Watch. Almost half of those emissions come from deforestation, making efforts to halt it critical to meeting Brazil's commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Amazon, an area almost twice the size of India, contains the world's largest rainforest, about two-thirds of it within Brazil. It stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide, holds about 20% of the world's freshwater and is home to hundreds of Indigenous tribes, some living in isolation, and 16,000 known tree species. ____ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
