Belém, hope or duty?

A comment by forum partner Bertrand Piccard from COP30 in Brazil

The Amazon. Belém. I have just arrived: at the end of the world and at the heart of the climate issue – not only for Brazil but for the whole world, since this is where COP30 is being held.

Thirty climate conferences already. A generation of summits, negotiations and disappointments. Unlike the COPs of the past, which I attended with hope, this time I am coming to Belém out of duty. And I hope that as many of us as possible will be there.

Why? Because the stakes here are nothing less than saving environmental cooperation from the collapse of multilateralism, at a time when the 1.5°C limit set at COP 21 in Paris is in danger of being shattered. If there was one summit not to be missed, it would be this one. To send a signal that we have not given up.

For the world has already set itself in motion, but it is holding back its own momentum.

It would take so little for the climate transition to move from a concept that faces fierce resistance to a triumphant, efficient and profitable march forward. Renewables already provide the most competitive energy in the world. Energy efficiency, recycled materials and clean mobility are advancing everywhere, despite the denigration of the status quo.

From villages in the Sahel to the great metropolises of Europe, from the Andes to the Pacific, many are already seeing the benefits.

But progress remains too slow, too timid, and its detractors are trying to shoot it down in its tracks. More and more countries are lowering the ambitions of their climate plans (NDCs), which are no longer aligned with the +1.5°C trajectory, nor deployed on the necessary scale. Yet so many solutions exist, even as droughts, rising sea levels, food insecurity and forced migration intensify. But we reassure ourselves by thinking that this mainly affects countries in the South, even though they are the least responsible.

As if the fight against climate change were already lost, there will be much talk in Belém about adaptation issues: strengthening infrastructure, reinventing agriculture in the face of new climate realities, and securing access to water.

To restore hope, we must prove that these efforts, in both the North and the South, are not simply about spending more; they are about doing better with less, making full use of existing resources. Less loss, less waste – for greater resilience, profits, quality of life and sovereignty. Efficiency must become the operating system of our societies.

At the Solar Impulse Foundation, we see what this means in concrete terms: every day, we certify innovations that combine efficiency and profitability, proving that it is possible to turn constraints into opportunities and reconcile ecology and economy.

The real question is therefore no longer what to do, but how quickly we can do it. Will we be able to deploy these solutions faster than climate impacts are progressing? That is the race we are engaged in.

Once again, the COP presidency wants to focus on ‘action rather than promises’. What is despairing is that we say this every time. Will we reach the turning point that echoes our conviction: to take concrete action, to turn the possible into reality? That is why we must be present in Belém.

So yes, COPs are imperfect. But they remain the only place where humanity can decide together not to give up. In a world where the temptation to withdraw is everywhere, these meetings are bulwarks against fragmentation, places where we relearn the language of a shared future.

And that makes the journey essential.

Bertrand Piccard © Solar Impulse Foundation

Dr. Bertrand Piccard, born in 1958, comes from the famous Piccard dynasty of explorers. In 1999, he and Brian Jones became the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. Their book, Around the World with the Wind, became an international bestseller. Today, the trained psychiatrist gives lectures worldwide on communication psychology, crisis management and stress coping. He always emphasises how important it is to be willing to take risks in order to achieve one's goals in life. In 2015–2016, Piccard and André Borschberg succeeded in circumnavigating the globe in a solar-powered aircraft – a milestone in energy technology.

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Weitere Artikel von Bertrand Piccard:

Meine COP: Warum Stillstand keine Option mehr ist

Bertrand Piccard rechnet mit Belém ab – und zeichnet eine Konferenz, die wirklich Veränderung bringt
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Wer rettet Paraná – und uns?
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Paraná war einst eine Kinderbuchfigur – heute steht er sinnbildlich für einen Wald, der brennt, und für ein System, das Lösungen kennt, aber nicht nutzt. Auf der COP30 wird klar: Der Kampf um den Amazonas ist längst ein Kampf um unsere eigenen Werte. Zwischen zerstörten Landschaften, überhörten Stimmen und neuen Initiativen wie der Tropical Forest Forever Facility zeigt sich, dass Hoffnung möglich ist – aber nur, wenn wir endlich den Schritt vom Mitgefühl zum Handeln gehen. Der aktuelle Kommentar von Bertrand Piccard.

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