Latin Analysis: The Highway to Belém
cop30
The Brazilian city of Belém will host the next COP30 climate summit in November, bringing together more than 50,000 people from all over the world in the name of fighting the climate crisis. However, this news has not been the main story making the headlines. Rather, the new four-lane highway- Avenida Liberdade- which is being constructed across tens of thousands of acres of Amazon rainforest to facilitate travel to the conference and ease congestion, has been a point of debate for both domestic and international actors. Some see this move as ironic, given the importance of deforestation in conversations concerning the climate, while others hail this new road as a much-needed improvement in road infrastructure in the region. One thing is for certain, despite the Brazilian government calling the highway a ‘sustainable’ project, piles of logs across 13 km of cleared rainforest is a worrying sign for the future of our planet, and the so-called ‘lungs of the earth’.
This project is not a new proposal. The state government of Pará has been looking for an opportunity to start constructing this road since 2012 but has suffered from several setbacks due to environmental concerns. Now, with the arrival of the COP30 in November, the government has been given the green light to make the Avenida Liberdade- the Liberty Avenue- a reality. Despite not technically being recognized as part of the infrastructure building efforts related to the climate summit, this four-lane highway which will “connect two existing road systems as well as serve as a new entry and exit route for the Belém Metropolitan Region” is going to aid the flow of people in and out of Belém during the conference.
There has been opposition to these plans, not least because many see rainforest destruction to facilitate a climate summit as extremely ironic. Some locals see it as a positive move that will bring economic prosperity to the area, but others are deeply concerned. Fiscal benefits are unclear from Claudio Verequete’s account of events- a local who has historically earned a living harvesting açai berries in that region. Verequete explains that “[e]verything was destroyed” by forest clearing efforts, and his aaçai harvest has been lost forever. He is concerned that this project will set a dangerous precedent for future ventures, leading to more deforestation in the future.
"We were born and raised here in the community. Where are we going to go?”
It already appears as though environmental protections previously implemented to protect the rainforest are being disregarded to facilitate the roll out of this project. Onlookers are concerned that the highway will cut through the Metropolitan Belém Environmental Protection Area, an area created in 1993 in which “earthmoving, mining, dredging and excavation activities that may cause damage or degradation of the environment and/or danger to people or the environment are not permitted, nor are any industrial activity potentially capable of causing pollution”. Satellite images posted by the BBC indicate that part of the construction of the highway is taking part within this protected zone. Many are worried that this move is undermining the climate goals of the COP30 summit, its raison d'être.
However, the Brazilian government remain unperturbed by these accusations. The administration has repeated how this is “a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon”, with President Lula da Silva reassuring that the summit will provide the perfect moment to focus on the needs of the rainforest and show it – and the government’s efforts – off on the world stage. Vice-Governor Hana Tuma referred to the highway as a ‘dream,’ the ideal way to transform this region. They emphasize how ‘sustainable’ the project is, “incorporating wildlife crossings, solar lighting, and bike lanes” and the importance of forest conservation. Some people are finding this hard to believe, with many feeling that talking about the importance of protecting the Amazon amounts to very little when embarking on projects that actively harm it.
Ironically, this is a very important year for the COP30, and many environmentalists believe that the Amazon holds the key to saving humanity from certain climate catastrophe. Thanks to the number of trees in the rainforest, the Amazon is one of the largest carbon sinks in the world, with carbon being absorbed into soil and trees. According to Carlos Nobre, a scientist from the University of São Paulo, “[t]he Amazon today, even with all the deforestation, stores more than 150 billion [metric] tons of carbon”. It also plays a key role in the world’s water cycle; the Amazon holds around one-fifth of the world’s water, which keeps alive an impressive variety of animals and plants, as well as supporting “the 47 million people in the surrounding basin region which includes mountain forests, wetlands, and river systems across nine South American countries.” It is also is of vital importance to controlling local and regional climates. Thus, the Amazon is crucial to fighting the climate crisis and preserving our way of life.
However, irreversible problems arise when the Amazon is destroyed. Deforestation leads to all the stored carbon being released into the atmosphere. Therefore, the Amazon now “teeters on the edge of becoming a net source” with some deforested areas already emitting more carbon than it absorbs. This is potentially unsurprising, given the alarming rates of deforestation over the last few decades; “[b]etween 2001 and 2020, the Amazon lost over 54.2 million hectares, or almost 9% of its forests, an area the size of France”. Scientists are warning that once we reach the point of no return, there will be no way of saving the Amazon, nor to fight the climate crisis.
Considering this, it is understandable why many are doubting the Brazilian government’s decision to clear areas of rainforest to build the four-lane Avenida Liberdade. Now more than ever, we need to be channeling our energy into saving and preserving this vital carbon sink, not building a motorway through it- no matter how sustainable it claims to be. Come November, leaders from all over the world will arrive in Belém to discuss the future of our climate, having travelled on a road that has contributed to its decline.
