Brazil’s president Lula highlights dangers of climate change in speech to UN General Assembly

Addressing the United Nations on Tuesday, Brazil’s president Lula voiced his concerns about the impact of climate change in Brazil and beyond. He called on the world to do more to tackle climate change, arguing that a better management of resources could help to address the issue.

Lula insisted ,’These resources (invested in wars) could have been used to fight hunger and tackle climate change, and what we see is an increase in war capabilities, the use of force without following international law is becoming the norm.’

The Brazilian president also highlighted a series of recent extreme weather events during his speech. ‘Hurricanes in the Caribbean, typhoons in Asia, drought and floods in Africa and torrential rains in Europe are leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake’, he lamented.

His remarks come after this year’s summer was the hottest on record globally. Scientists have warned that human-caused climate change is worsening droughts, wildfires, floods and heatwaves.

In his speech, Lula also drew attention to the growing tensions in the Middle East, as fears mount of a wider regional war amid escalating cross border exhanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.