Brazil’s government said on Friday the United Nations has confirmed the Amazonian city of Belem as the host of the COP30 climate change summit in November 2025.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made the announcement in a video alongside his foreign relations minister and the governor of Para state, where Belem is located.

“I’m convinced it is going to be a great event,” said Lula, who had previously pledged to try to bring the U.N. climate talks to a city in the world’s largest rainforest.

The leftist leader last year attended the COP27 in Egypt as president-elect, pledging to recommit the rainforest nation to tackling the climate crisis. This year’s talks are scheduled to take place in Dubai.

“I’ve attended COPs in Egypt, Paris, Copenhagen and all people talk about is the Amazon, so I asked: why not host it in an Amazonian state, so you can know what the Amazon really is?” the leftist leader said. “That is very important.”

Belem is the second most populous city in Brazil’s Amazon after Manaus, which hosted games of the 2014 World Cup.

-Reuters