Belem, a furnace of a city that lost trees to host COP30

"With his blend of bully diplomacy, flip-flopping, and climate denial, U.S. President Donald Trump knows how to strike where it hurts. They ripped the hell out of the Rainforest of Brazil to build a four-lane highway for environmentalists to travel. It's become a big scandal, he posted on Truth Social, just hours before the official opening of COP30, the year's most important gathering for setting global climate policy, which was held in Belem, Brazil."

"Trump, who declined a personal invitation from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and didn't even send a delegation to Belem, focused on the unfinished works for the Avenida Liberdade to discredit the summit. The highway is an old project that local authorities revived and included among new infrastructure efforts aimed at easing traffic during the event, which drew up to 50,000 visitors to this city at the mouth of the Amazon River."

"Ercila do Socorro Coelho, 59, a retired cook, is certain that if tree clearing continues, temperatures in Belem the capital of Para, a state long at the top of deforestation lists will become even more unbearable. Deforestation rates in Para, which is larger than France, have dropped sharply thanks to political will and more resources. Coelho doesn't understand much of the acronym-laden jargon used by climate negotiators, but her life has been a masterclass in the devastation caused by floods and heat."

Donald Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing highway works in Belem hours before COP30's official opening and declined a personal invitation from Brazilian President Lula, sending no delegation. Local authorities revived an old Avenida Liberdade project and added it to infrastructure plans to ease event traffic, prompting controversy because the route crosses a natural reserve, required tree clearing, and remains unfinished. Excavators continued clearing trees; some residents argue the road mainly serves a high-end mall with existing access. In Para, deforestation rates have dropped sharply thanks to political will and resources, but residents fear continued clearing will worsen heat and floods.

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