A Moral Call for Climate Action

So, ladies and gentleman, we have a very special treat now. This next panel is one that I have very much been looking forward to because one of my heroes is going to join us onstage. Also, one of my daughters She is a professor of earth ethics, but the highlight of this event is the fact that we have one of the great environmental heroes of planet Earth and that is Minister Marina Silva. We're so happy that she is here. And Professor Karenna Gore. Hi. All right. Thank you so much. Marina, it is such a pleasure to be with you again. We have known each other for more than 30 years, and it is always a great privilege to learn from you. And as you can imagine, I'm very proud to be onstage with my daughter, Karenna Gore, who is the founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. And the two of you were in Brasília earlier this week. And so, Karenna had said to me earlier, "This must focus on Marina because she is the real hero," but I'm going to ask questions of both of you. But, Marina, first of all, I want to begin by asking you to share with all of us how you came up with this incredible innovation, the Global Ethical Stocktake. This is COP30. This has been going on for 33 years now. The Earth Summit, here in Rio de Janeiro, started this process, and it took a little time before the first COP. COP1 was--the president was a young environment minister named Angela Merkel, before she was chancellor of Germany. But in none of the previous conferences has there been a focus on ethics. And actually, we had to come back to Brazil before this innovation occurred. And it was your idea. So, please tell us what caused you to come up with this very fresh, innovative, and crucial idea. There we go. Good morning, everyone. Are you hearing the translation? It is a pleasure to be with you all and to see my dear friend again and say that your persistence and contribution to present and future generations are invaluable. Thank you very much. I am very honored to be here with you. And I am very happy to be here with Karenna, because besides being an incredible person, I am learning new languages from her to communicate, as discussed earlier, these issues, which are sometimes so difficult to communicate. And she agreed to co-lead the North American Global Ethical Stocktake. Well, the idea... The idea for the Global Ethical Stocktake came from a double inspiration. Before the Paris Agreement, we had a meeting that was convened by the COP leadership with moral leaders. But it was a meeting with about 70 people involving different segments. And before the Dubai Conference, we had, within the framework of the Paris Agreement

the general balance, a technical assessment provided for in the dynamics of the Convention itself, as we know here. And, thinking about that, I said, “Why don't we think about doing a general assessment now, guided by ethics? ” Because when technique is not guided by ethics, it sometimes does not provide the answers that the world needs at this very difficult time. All techniques must be guided by ethics. All actions values. And President Lula refined the idea together with the Secretary General. And within the four COP mobilization circles, the People's Circle, led by Minister Sônia Guajajara, the Finance Fernando Haddad, which would mobilize 1. 3 trillion to help with this challenge, the Circle of the Former COP President to help us lead these complex negotiations in such a challenging geopolitical context, as you know. And the Circle of the Global Ethical Stocktake, led by President Lula, Guterres, with executive coordination from the Ministry of the Environment and Foreign Affairs. And on each continent, we have a co-leader. In North America, Karenna; in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, President Michelle Bachelet; in Asia, Nobel Prize winner Kailash, who does excellent work with children; he is Indian. In Oceania, Anote Tong; and in Africa, dear Wanjira Mathai, daughter of our beloved Wangari Matai. So, these co-leaders are doing an incredible job. It consists of invited people... And in Europe. And in Europe, did you mention... In Europe, Mary Robinson, former prime minister who did the first edition of the Global Ethical Stocktake. Karenna was there. Wanjira was there. It was the first. They were pioneers. And it was an incredible discussion. Who are the people who are invited from each continent? People who have a relevant contribution to make and who are not part of governments, with very few exceptions. So, they are philosophers, scientists, women, black people, LGBTQIA+ people, indigenous people, young people, in short, we are working with specialized groups and UNICEF to see how we can enable children to also contribute in an appropriate methodology for their emotional maturity. We are working on this aspect as well. So, the Global Ethical Stocktake has this official part and a part that is self-managed. Because the demand is very high. So, if you want, you can bring together 20 to 30 people with the same methodology, the same questions, and make an ethical balance that will then go to a platform. The ethical balance will be delivered on the sidelines of the General Assembly. The partial report from each continent to President Lula and Secretary Guterres will then be integrated and delivered at the pre-COP. Why? To deliver it to heads of state, negotiators, and leaders, so that they understand the urgency that this COP can no longer be a COP just for debate and discussion. In short, it has to be the COP of implementation. We have been debating for 33 years. We have made progress. We have made gains. But now we are already experiencing a climate emergency. Now there is no other way but to implement the decisions we have already made. If I could follow up with you, the respect we all have for you, Marina, is just limitless. And I know that many people here would want to ask you

what advice would you have for us? We have time remaining before COP30 begins. And the focus on ethics is so important. What would you advise people here to do in order to have a positive impact on ensuring the success of COP30, hosted by Brazil? If you could give advice to us, what would you urge people to do? Your question is very difficult, but at the same time very thought-provoking. It is interesting that in 1992, the three major conventions and the Earth Charter were born here. And now it returns here in a very difficult context. Difficult in geopolitical terms, difficult in terms of the worsening climate change. And I think the advice we could give to each of us is that this time we should look to our leaders and decision-makers, and I include myself among them, because, after all, I am part of the government and I am the Minister of the Environment, to do what the scientists did. The scientists did not give up on 1. 5 degrees. All the difficulties presented to avoid exceeding 1. 5 degrees in an attempt to justify that it was not possible, science remained firm -- I don't know if it's possible to translate this to you. Science persisted. It is 1. 5 degrees, not a bit more. If you don't want to do it, the problem lies with those who don't want to do it. And also, a contribution from economists, from our Nicholas Stern, a very interesting group, said that climate financing is 1. 3 trillion per year for the next ten years, and there is no discussion. “Oh, there's no money. It can't be done. ” There is no other alternative. And everyone is saying that if we don't limit the Earth's temperature to 1. 5, don't exceed that -- hence the 1. 5 mission in Dubai -- we won't be able to reverse the process. We may reach the point of no return. I think that now society has to tell all of us, decision-makers, governments, companies, and everyone else, that we have no choice but to implement the agreements that have already been signed. And this is not a decision that will be made now. It has already been made in Dubai. At the heart of oil exploration, the decision was made not to exceed 1. 5°C on Earth, to enable means of implementation, to enable resources for loss and damage, to triple renewables, to double energy efficiency, and to make the transition to eliminating fossil fuels and deforestation. The strategic decisions to solve the problem have been made, but they need to be implemented. And now we are faced with a problem that is a big decision, which is like when we go to a party and get a little more excited during the party and the next day, we don't want to remember how excited we were at the party. That's how I feel. But we can't escape it. And when people ask me, "“But how are we going to achieve this? "” The question is not how we are going to achieve it. The question is: What will happen if we don't? That's where we have to focus. Because Brazil is a vulnerable country. The United States. We are all vulnerable. But can you imagine what it's like when a river with a 17-meter water level is reduced to 17 cm, with devastating fish mortality, as is the case with the mighty rivers of the Amazon? Can anyone imagine the most flooded area, the most flooded plain in the world, catching fire, as happened in the Pantanal last year?

Fortunately, so far this year, there has been a 90% reduction in fires compared to last year. But we are entering the hot season. And a 76% reduction in deforestation in the Pantanal. But all these efforts will not be enough if we do not reduce the burning of coal, oil, and gas. We can eliminate deforestation, and the Pantanal, the Amazon, and the forests will perish anyway. So, I think it is now up to society to set the terms of reference. As the poet and singer Gilberto Gil says, "“The people know what they want, but they also want what they don't know. "” And what the people want and don't know they want, it is up to governments, companies, and the financial sector to deliver. Because otherwise, we will not be forgiven. But I feel that there is a chance, and perhaps this COP30 should be a milestone. Ten years after the Paris Agreement, where we have certainly made significant progress, but not enough. After four developing countries in the Global South have led the COP, what legacy are we going to leave? And I think the legacy is to remember this lively party that no one wants to remember and to map out the path to make 1. 3 trillion possible. Establish a group mandated to map the way to end the use of fossil fuels. Because the worst thing is not planning for change. When we don't plan for change, we are changed. Brazil is the only country that has a goal of zero deforestation by 2030. Do you know why this was possible? Because in 2003, we created the Amazon Deforestation Prevention and Control Plan, and in the two years since it was resumed, deforestation has already been reduced by 46%. And now we have a problem. For the first time in history, deforestation by fire has exceeded deforestation by logging. The forest is losing moisture. It is threatened to the point of no return. So, our advice, to myself and to all of us, is to implement what has already been decided. Make a plan, a fair and planned transition to end deforestation, to end fossil fuels. Why fair? Because it has to be fair to everyone. those who only have forests, oil. Fair to everyone. Now, everyone will have to do their homework, even if we triple renewable energy, double energy efficiency, if we don't reduce both production and consumption of coal, oil, and gas, we will still destroy the planet's balance. Thank you. Karenna, I have learned from you about the difference in the academy and the difference for all of us between law and ethics. You teach earth ethics. What is--how do we understand the respective roles of law and ethics? Well, first, let me say, I'm deeply honored to be here, and I'm here with these two human beings who are so extraordinary. They're not only my elders, but, also, teachers and guides, and I'm so grateful. I do work in the field of ethics, and I was trained earlier in law, and I want to say that ethics is not an exact science. It is, essentially, the discernment between right and wrong and the implications for our behavior as individuals and as collectives. And, of course, that undergirds many aspects of our society, laws and social norms, but it is most powerful when a deeply felt and a more and more widely shared sense of right and wrong

is out of step with both laws and social norms. And that was the case in other times in human history. For example, with the abolition of slavery. For women becoming equal citizens with the right to vote. In my country, I grew up right after the civil rights movement and really felt how powerful it was in that movement. And it's true today for climate. Much of what is causing the ecological destruction around the world is perfectly legal and even socially encouraged. And so, we must draw deeply from wells of wisdom, from conscience in order to make that change. And if I may say one other thing, I think the Global Ethical Stocktake is a brilliant and timely idea to allow for us to do that. We have to think about this crisis in a very simple way of cause and effect. And a lot of the talk, sometimes, is around just effect and how do we put Band-Aids on the effect? How do we spin the effect? Whose fault is the effect? But if we want to really solve a problem, as we all know from our individual lives, we have to look deeper at the level of cause. And so, on the material plane, we have identified that fossil fuels and deforestation are the cause. We know that. But one of the central questions of the Global Ethical Stocktake is, if we know all of this, if we have the solutions, why are we not doing it? And there you have to look at the deeper level of cause which really is this illusion, a persistent illusion that human beings have that we are separate from nature. Many people have been taught a way of thinking, a mindset that we are separate and superior, that we can take and take. And it is not true. It is not the truth, and so, what we can do in the Global Ethical Stocktake is we can go at what is that human perception and behavior component of this? And, sometimes, it is voiced not only by those voices that have been left out, the most impacted, so the people who live in poverty or marginalization or subsistence lifestyles, also all future generations and all nonhuman life, the natural world, but it's also true that there are voices from culture. We all know that when we hear from a poet, or we hear music, or we see that wonderful dance, the cultural dance, the intelligence in that dance that opened this session here at Climate Reality yesterday, that there's another level of communication. And so, bringing culture into the Global Ethical Stocktake is another very powerful piece. And finally, I just want to say that you were talking about AI in the previous session, and Minister Silva and I were listening backstage. It is very fascinating, and I feel, yes, there are different kinds of AI, and my preferred type of intelligence is authentic intelligence, and this woman, Minister Marina Silva, has the authenticity, the wisdom, the depth, someone who has learned from the land, from the forest, from the movement building that she's done. And I just feel that she's absolutely the leader that we need at this moment, and I'm honored to stand behind her for the Global Ethical Stocktake. I know you began your career working with Chico Mendes and others who organized the rubber tappers in the forest, which was a way of earning livelihoods from the forest without destroying the forest. And in 1988, he was assassinated by, I don't know who, maybe they've been brought to justice, but we know that many environmentalists, including in Brazil, have been the victims of violence because of greed. What have you learned in your life's journey that goes all the way back to your work in the forest in Acre? There is something I always repeat to myself: Life is only life because it is persistent. To live is to persist.

Culture is persistence. Everything we have is because there was persistence. And life is perhaps the most persistent thing in this universe. And for a long time, from the age of 18 to 28, I saw six people I knew personally murdered because of this struggle. And sometimes, when these things happen, it's not that we're not afraid. We are afraid. It's not that sometimes we don't think about giving up. But commitment makes us persist. And everything good and great that we have on this planet is because someone persisted. If Luther King hadn't insisted that black people had equal rights, we wouldn't have the first black president of the United States. If Mandela hadn't persisted, we might not have seen the end of apartheid. If Gandhi autonomy of the Indian people. If Chico Mendes hadn't persisted, we might not have so many people in Brazil today committed to the forests and the Amazon. So that's what I learned. And I think we are dealing with young people, as you said a moment ago. It's very good because we are mixed here, us, a second and third generation. And this insistence is fundamental. It is what renovates us. Because we have to be willing to do everything again in a new way. It's not repetition. It's doing And we do everything again in a new way in each generation that comes with different perspectives, with different strategies. But it's us doing everything again, while giving new meaning to this experience. The other thing is that we have to believe. But it's not an empty belief. It can't be a naive belief. It's a committed belief. It is an invested belief. And then, as used to say my Argentine mentor, a great educational psychologist who has since passed away, we have to put our ability to "believe by creating" into play. "Believe by creating. " If we hadn't made the plan to prevent and control deforestation, which didn't exist, we wouldn't have the technology today that can reduce deforestation. And now we have to put our ability to believe by creating into play in terms of how we are going to reduce emissions, because that is more difficult. So that is a little bit of what I have learned. The forest is persistent. It is a mixture of calm and power. It is a dream and it is also rooted in reality. People say that I am a bit of a Pollyanna here in Brazil. Because I believe very much in dreams. But dreams are the most concrete raw material I've ever had in my life. And... Without dreams, for sure, if I had been a pragmatic person, doing the math, "Look, I'm 16 years old, I'm still illiterate. I saw so many people murdered when I was 18 and 28. " Or, "My parents lived in a regime of semi-slavery. " If I were to put that on paper and think pragmatically, I would leave the forest, go to the city, and study. And one day I would be at a table with so many wonderful people and the former vice president of the United States

one of the leaders who inspires me with his persistence. The second generation also inspires me with the new languages it creates. If I were a pragmatic person, I would have given up, because these calculations would not fit into pragmatism. But they fit into the dream that we can have a better world, a fairer world, a more supportive world, and not a world that wages war against each other, whether military or tariff wars.