The Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his South African and Spanish counterparts, respectively Cyril Ramaphosa and Pedro Sánchez, announced in a joint article made public Thursday (6) that they will bet on multilateralism to fight inequality and global warming.
“We must build on the successes of multilateralism, especially the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement,” says the text signed by the three presidents.
Three events are seen as central to promoting this agenda in 2025: the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain; the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belém, Brazil, and the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“In Seville, we will work to mobilize both public and private capital for sustainable development, recognizing that financial stability and climate action are inseparable. In Johannesburg, the G20 will reaffirm the importance of inclusive economic growth. And in Belem, we will stand together to protect our planet,” the text reads.
The main objective of COP30, to take place in Belém, Pará’s capital, in northern Brazil, will be to ensure that “climate finance commitments translate into concrete action.” The new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets will be presented at the meeting, which is expected to increase funding from all public and private sources for climate action in developing countries to at least US$1.3 trillion per year.
“We need to significantly scale up climate adaptation funding, leverage private sector investment and ensure that Multilateral Development Banks take a greater role in climate financing.”
The G20 meeting in South Africa will prioritize discussions on debt relief initiatives, the promotion of innovative financing mechanisms, and identifying the causes of the high cost of capital most developing countries face.
The Seville conference should complement the efforts of both COP30 and the G20 to “secure commitments for stronger international financial cooperation for sustainable development, including through better taxation of global wealth and negative externalities.”
