Lula: Manaus Summit final document will direct Copenhagen

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday in Manaus, northwestern Brazil, that the final document of the Amazon basin countries and France Summit on climate change will give direction to the discussion at the UN climate change conference (COP15) to be held in Copenhagen in December.

“(The Conference in) Copenhagen will be a historic moment and a moment of much responsibility,” said Lula.

He added that it will take a few decades to repair the mistakes in relation to environment, but COP 15 is the beginning.

“It is like the construction of China’s Great Wall: long and tiring. But someone had to put the first stone,” said the Brazilian president.

Da Silva also emphasized that the environment discussion is no longer technical but political, recalling that COP 15 will probably be the biggest chief of state gathering to talk about the issue.

The Brazilian president highlighted the importance of his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy’s presence in Manaus on Thursday. He also said that sending representatives is a common practice, referring to the absence of presidents from Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela.

“It may not be known, but (Minister of External Relations) Celso Amorim travels a lot to represent me abroad, when I cannot attend a meeting,” Lula said.

Earlier this month, the Brazilian president invited his counterparts of the countries straddling the Amazon basin for this meeting. France was also invited as its overseas department of French Guyana is located in the Amazon region.

Da Silva’s aim was to discuss a common proposal for next month’s UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

The UN climate change conference in Copenhagen will be held on Dec. 7-18, at which world leaders will try to strike a deal on a successor to the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol.