Wider World

Brazil’s Lula Has High Hopes for Japan’s Technology to Help Fight Against Global Warming; Speaks Ahead of Upcoming Visit

Mika Otsuki / The Yomiuri Shimbun
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks to Japanese media outlets on Tuesday in the presidential office in Brasilia.

By Mika Otsuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

14:45 JST, March 19, 2025

BRASILIA — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday that Japan’s science and technology would make great contributions against global warming.

Brazil will host the 30th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) scheduled for November. Lula spoke to The Yomiuri Shimbun and the other Japanese media outlets in Brasilia before his upcoming visit to Japan this month.

Severe drought has hit Brazil’s Amazonian region — the 2025 COP30 venue — causing forest fires. Lula condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement as “extremely serious for the planet Earth” and called for support for forest conservation in developing countries.

The president said he also wanted to expand trade with Japan as it has been “too small” and asked for the opening of the beef market.