As debate over the location of climate conference razes on, will COP fail this time too?

The author with an Amazon climate rights activist at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

 Asaduzzaman Shamrat

The 30th World Climate Conference or Conference of Parties (COP-30) is being organised in the Amazon city of Brazil to prevent global warming. As the two previous venues of fossil fuel producers were disliked, debate is going on worldwide also about such a huge event planned in this city of the Amazon, known as the lungs of the world.

Despite the demands of environmentalists, the United Nations and Brazilian President Lula de Silva are standing firm to hold COP30 there. 

Of the previous two conferences, COP-28 was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and COP-29 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Both are fossil fuel producing countries.

While there was a call to reduce the use of fossil fuels to prevent global warming, there was controversy over the organization of the climate conference, as well as doubts about its success in the two previous venues. And after two previous conferences without any tangible progress, climate activists are finding it hard to accept that the Amazon rainforest will be destroyed for COP30. The choice of the climate conference venue is at odds with the spirit of taking effective action to curb global warming.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva has long been interested in hosting a global climate conference in a city in the Brazilian Amazon. Brazil was chosen to host COP-30 in 2019, but the offer was withdrawn after Lula's far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, was elected. Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic, has been accused of dismantling environmental protections during his term.

Lula da Silva was sworn in as Brazil's president for a third term in January 2023. He promised to eliminate illegal deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. He once again stirred controversy by clearing 10 acres of protected Amazon forest to build a road to host COP-30.

This time, the COP-30 conference will be held in Belem do Pará, in the Amazon. Belem do Pará is a city in northern Brazil. It is located on the edge of the Amazon. It is the capital of the state of Pará, located on the coast of the Amazon River estuary. A very small city does not have the infrastructure to accommodate such a large number of foreign guests. Organizing a 12-day conference, including the reserved 2 days, will have a huge impact on the Amazon ecosystem.

In addition, the participation of foreign government and private representatives, civil society and media participating in this conference will be very troublesome and expensive. Not only will they not have a hotel to stay in, but they will also not have the opportunity to travel from any nearby city. However, the Brazilian authorities are planning to anchor 200 ships with a capacity of 2,000 passengers there so that foreign delegates can stay.

Most recently, the BBC reported in a news report that 10,000 acres of forest in the Amazon rainforest reserved for the COP-30 climate conference are being cut down to build a new four-lane highway. The highway is intended to ease traffic congestion in the city, allowing more than 50,000 people, including world leaders, to travel freely to the climate summit.

While the state government has touted the project as “sustainable,” locals and environmentalists have expressed outrage over the environmental impact. They say the road is at odds with the main goal of the climate summit, as the Amazon plays a crucial role in carbon absorption and biodiversity around the world.

The partially built road is still lined with dense green forests, a testament to the once vast jungle. The forest has been cut down and left in piles of tree trunks.

The road, more than 13 kilometers long, cuts through the rainforest towards the city of Belém. Bulldozers and heavy machinery are being used to pave the road through the wetlands of the protected area.

Claudio Verrequet lives just 200 meters from the road. He used to make a living selling the asafoetida berries that grow on the trees here. “It’s all over,” he says, pointing to the empty space. “All our fruit trees have been cut down. Our only source of livelihood is gone.”

Claudio says he has not yet received any compensation from the state government. He is living on his savings. But his biggest worry is about the future. He worries that the road will lead to more deforestation in the future. Because the road will make the land more accessible to traders.

Claudio said, “Those who live next to this highway will not benefit. Trucks will pass through this road, so they will benefit. If someone gets sick and needs to go to the hospital in Belém, we will not be able to use this road!”

This road will divide the protected forest area into two parts. Scientists fear that this will hinder the movement of wildlife and the entire ecosystem may collapse. There is an animal hospital next to this highway. A group of people heal wild animals and release them into the wild, but this road will make their work more difficult.

According to them, once the forest is destroyed, it is impossible to bring it back. They will lose a large area where these animals can be released into the wild; that area is the natural environment of these species. In addition, land animals will not be able to move from one side to the other because of the road. Their range will be reduced, and reproduction will also be hindered.

However, Brazilian President Lula da Silva is not listening to this. The Minister of Environment has also joined him. They claim that COP30 will be a historic conference because it is being held “not about the Amazon, but inside the Amazon.” The conference will show the world the importance of the Amazon and the federal government’s efforts to protect the forest.

The state government of Pará planned to build the Avenida Liberdade highway in 2012. But it was repeatedly canceled due to environmental concerns. But now, many infrastructure projects have been restarted or newly approved to prepare the city for COP30.

The highway is one of 30 projects to modernize and develop the city, said Adler Silveira, the state’s infrastructure secretary. According to him, the road will “benefit the people of the city and is essential for hosting COP30.”

He said that the road will have wildlife crossings, bicycle lanes and solar-powered lighting. In addition, new hotels are being built and the port is being renovated to accommodate guests on floating cruise ships.

In addition, the Brazilian central government is investing $81 million to double the capacity of Belém Airport. Currently, 7 million passengers can travel there, but 14 million passengers are being transported there. A new park of 500,000 square meters called Parque da Cidade is under construction. It will have green areas, restaurants, sports complexes and facilities. Amidst all this development, no one is listening to the indigenous people living in the Amazon. Development and conferences that lose their lives and livelihoods will not be of any use to them.

Despite all this controversy, the world wants to be optimistic about this conference in the heart of the Amazon. This conference is being held at a time when the Paris Agreement is completing a decade. There are challenges following the US's second withdrawal from the agreement.

André Correa do Lago, a veteran climate diplomat appointed as the president of the COP-30 conference, admitted that the world is facing "extraordinary" challenges today. Geopolitical tensions and scientific data such as record high temperatures are proof of that crisis.

In his second letter to the nearly 200 countries attending the conference, Do Lago called on the international community to come together to address the “climate emergency.” He believes the conference could be a turning point in our history—one that will bridge the gap and usher us into a new era of sustainable and inclusive prosperity.

·Asaduzzaman Shamrat, Executive President, South Asian Climate Change Journalist`s Forum.