Cutting Down the Amazon Rainforest and Other Ironies on the Road to COP30
Ahead of COP30, Brazil is clearing parts of the very Amazon the summit aims to protect.
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In a twist that would seem too ironic even for satire, the Brazilian state of Pará has cleared nearly 13 kilometres of protected Amazon rainforest to build a new highway—Avenida Liberdade.
This road now cuts through a key environmental protection area that sits at the gateway to the world's largest tropical rainforest, all to facilitate the logistics of hosting a climate summit intended to safeguard that very forest.
The irony does not end there.
Belém lacks the capacity to host an event of this scale.
The city is pouring approximately $256 million into rushed infrastructure upgrades, raising questions as to whether capital is even flowing into the right places.
As reported by the BBC, local communities dependent on açaí groves have seen their crops destroyed, and their incomes vanish overnight.
However, conservation scientists and biologists have warned that even with mitigation features, the road has intervened into critical ecosystems that are accelerating deforestation and further contributing to CO2 released into the atmosphere.
This contradiction between ecological rhetoric and pumping capex spending reflects a misplaced stand for climate action.
The Ironies on the Road to Belém
Brazil is positioning COP30 as a landmark moment for the Global South.
For the first time, the world's major climate summit will take place in the Amazon rather than merely discuss it.
Brazil's leadership, especially Ana Toni and Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, have stressed the symbolic power of this location. But does the Amazon need to be felled to be protected?
As the summit draws near, the Amazon itself is approaching a climate tipping point. The biome has lost more than 17 percent of its cover.
The long-term global consequences of this shift would be catastrophic, disrupting rainfall patterns across South America and weakening one of the world's most important carbon sinks.
Against this backdrop, Brazil's proposed Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which is a $125 billion fund aimed at rewarding nations that preserve their forests, is due to launch at COP30. While the proposal has promise, its success depends entirely on political buy-in and rigorous enforcement.
However, with Brazil's internal contradictions, such as paving roads through protected areas while promoting forest finance abroad, dilute this initiative before it even begins.
Adding to this is another looming contradiction of the country’s own thirst for oil exploration.
The auction to be led by the country’s oil regulator, ANP, is already being dubbed the “doomsday auction” by environmental groups.
Equally troubling is the continued dominance of fossil-aligned interests at climate negotiations.
Fossil fuel lobbies are expected to be present at COP30, as they have in previous summits.
Their presence does not necessarily invalidate the conference, but it does demand far stricter rules on lobbying, transparency, and influence.
Despite All Its Shortfalls, Why COP30 Still Matters
2024 was the hottest year on record, and the 1.5-degree threshold was breached. This year and the years to follow, climate impacts will only get worse – unless addressed.
The Global South is bearing the worst of the impacts, while contributing the least CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
COP30, hosted by Brazil, a key player and champion of the Global South, is well placed to voice the region’s concerns.
Hence, all eyes are on Belém this year.
COP29, held in Baku, was disappointing and failed to deliver concrete outcomes on climate finance or global implementation frameworks.
For decades, wealthier nations have delayed serious financing obligations, relying instead on complex loans, credit systems, or voluntary contributions.
Less than 5 percent of global climate finance is directed towards sustainable agriculture, even though unsustainable agricultural practices account for up to 90 percent of deforestation in the tropics.
Despite this, finance proposals continue to prioritise market-driven offsets and carbon credits, which Brazil's ministers have warned against overrelying on.
Even the Bonn climate negotiations, which concluded this June, had to extend by two extra days due to a deadlock while developing the agenda, specifically around climate finance.
Multilateral development banks, who are expected to anchor this global transition, are showing weakening and sluggish support.
Meanwhile, only 21 countries out of the 195 parties to the UN Paris Agreement have submitted updated national climate action plans or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Brazil, in its role as COP30 president, has urged all nations to submit their revisions by September. However, climate leadership appears to be waning.
Key players like China and the European Union have also yet to comply with the NDC revision timeline, raising concerns about the level of ambition heading into COP30.
The most pressing gap remains climate finance. At COP29, developed nations agreed to a notional target of $300 billion annually by 2035 in support of developing countries.
This figure is part of a broader, more ambitious goal of $1.3 trillion per year in total global climate funding.
The Baku-to-Belém Roadmap, which is due to be released this October, would be key in understanding how these finance goals are mobilised and implemented. With Brazil at the helm, hopes ring high for the Global South.
Moving Away From Performative Multilateralism
The Amazon cannot be both theatre and sacrifice. COP30 presents Brazil with the opportunity to demonstrate genuine leadership, not just symbolic hosting rights.
Most importantly, climate finance must be redefined.
Moreover, transparency and accountability must be built into the delivery of NDCs. Simply submitting updated targets is not enough.
Countries must be held accountable for meeting them, with regular reviews and reporting requirements.
Furthermore, indigenous communities must be given more than a seat at the table. For decades, they have protected more of the Amazon than any state or corporation. Yet, they remain underrepresented in climate negotiations and continue to face violence and displacement.
Without structural reforms and political courage, COP30 will become another exercise in performative multilateralism.
As the heavy metal band Gojira reminds us in their song Amazonia, “The greatest miracle is burning to the ground.” COP30 must not let the fire spread.
(Sharon Sarah Thawaney works in the Office of the Vice President (Development Studies) at ORF. She writes on gender, climate change, and development with a focus on the Global South. Views expressed in this article are personal.)