Sharjah24 - AFP: The COP30 round of international climate negotiations will be held in 2025 in Belem, a city on the border of the Brazilian Amazon, according to a Friday announcement by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"I am convinced that it will be a great event... the world will love the people of the state of Para" of which Belem is the capital, the president said in a video posted on social media.

"I already participated in this conference (Conference of the Parties or COP) in Egypt, in France, and everyone was talking about the Amazon. So I said: 'Why not hold the conference there, so you know where the Amazon is?'" Lula said about his offer to host the annual talks.

Brazil had been chosen to host the COP in 2019, but withdrew its offer shortly after the election of Lula's far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro -- a climate change skeptic accused of dismantling environmental protections during his term.

Lula, who assumed his third term as head of Brazil in January, has promised to eradicate illegal deforestation in the Amazon by 2030.