- 'Planet will survive, as it has survived many times before, but maybe humanity won't be there to see'

ISTANBUL

Carlos Silva Filho, a member of the UN Zero Waste Advisory Board, said that his expectation from the COP30, which will start on Nov. 10 in Belem, Brazil, is to strengthen cooperation among countries.

“We need to protect ourselves from the triple planetary crisis, the crisis of pollution, the crisis of biodiversity loss and the crisis of climate change," Filho told Anadolu while attending the Global Zero Waste Forum in Istanbul.

This year's summit will emphasize the importance of protecting the Amazon in combating climate change and biodiversity loss by holding the event in Belem, known as the gateway to the Amazon Rainforest.

Brazil, which hosted the G20 Summit last year and the BRICS Summit in July this year, aims to continue its role of bringing together participants from different countries within the context of the climate change agenda by hosting COP30 in Belem.

Filho, who is also president of the Brazil-based International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), noted differing expectations regarding the shape of the climate negotiations.

He also underlined the influence of current geopolitical debates on this situation.

Filho emphasized the importance of the Amazon forests in South America, in addition to their impact on the climate.

"So it's really something that symbolizes all the benefits and protected items that we must take care of. So, it's really emblematic and symbolic to organize COP in the Amazon because then the world will be able to see what is there. It's not like a desert, it's not like only a coastal city,” said Filho.

'Countries must work together'

Filho stressed that all countries "must work together" on the collaboration needed to protect the world.

"How to gather the necessary resources, what the plans will be in this area, and how to raise the necessary money can be likened to the elephant in the room because the resources necessary to make all these changes are still insufficient," said Filho.

He noted that COP30 plays a role in strengthening international cooperation and underlined that no country can tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution alone.

“We need to establish South-South collaboration, North-South collaboration, and we need to strengthen the multilateral organizations. So we need to strengthen G20, we need to strengthen BRICS, we need to really reshape the way we look at things,” said Filho.

Filho also said that economic concerns should be secondary to the realization of these cooperations.

“I would say, more lateral topics, like competition, commercial competition, and trade, out of the room. Because if we don't have a planet, we won't have trade. If we don't have a planet, we won't have natural resources to produce more ... The planet will survive, as it has survived many times before, but maybe humanity won't be there to see. So it's our role now to bring this mindset to COP30 and hopefully to COP31 in Türkiye,” noted Filho.

Filho emphasized that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), where countries announce their climate targets, will be another important agenda item at the summit. He also reminded everyone that NDCs play a critical role in reducing global emissions.

“We must include waste management as a priority,” said Filho.

He emphasized that methane emissions must be reduced to achieve climate targets.

He underlined that waste is one of the largest sources of methane emissions and that proper waste management can quickly address this issue.

Filho noted that various efforts are underway to ensure that countries place this issue on their agendas.