Outrage as the Amazon is stripped of 100,000 trees to host the COP30 climate summit
Tens of thousands of trees in the heart of the Amazon rainforest have been wiped out to prepare for a global summit on saving the environment. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump slammed the creation of a multi-lane highway that tore straight through the ancient rainforest for this month's COP30 climate summit. Approximately 100,000 trees across about 12.9 kilometers have been removed to ferry 50,000 world leaders, climate change activists, journalists, and other high-profile guests to the conference in Belém, Brazil. '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!' Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday. While the White House has not sent a formal delegation to the event, which began on Monday, several left-leaning US officials, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, will be in Brazil. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said the president would 'not jeopardize our country's economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries'.
Deforestation for a summit: 100,000 trees cleared to build a four-lane highway for COP30
Meanwhile, outrage over the bulldozing of the Amazon has been flooding into social media, with both climate advocates and skeptics pointing out the hypocrisy of cutting down thousands of trees for cars to reach a summit discussing deforestation. Canadian climate activist Mike Hudema wrote on X: 'You can't be a climate leader if you're cutting down one of the world's greatest climate solutions to do it.' Approximately 100,000 trees have been removed from the protected Amazon rainforest in order to build a highway for guests to the COP30 climate change summit in Brazil Even the website for this year's COP30, held in Brazil, is set to emit the equivalent of 690 pounds of CO2, researchers have said 'TIf they truly saw climate change as an imminent catastrophe, would they destroy the lungs of the planet for their own convenience?' one person wrote on X.
Scientific warnings mount as COP30 climate summit nears and a controversial highway is praised as sustainable
Climate studies have warned for years that the Amazon was already at an 'ecological tipping point' and couldn't afford to lose any more trees. Researchers Thomas Lovejoy and Carlos Nobre estimated that if 20 to 25 per cent of the Amazon were to be cut down, the region would stop making enough rain, drying out and turning into a grassy savanna. Their report in Science Advances warned this would release billions of tons of stored carbon into the air, making climate change much worse, and could even change rainfall patterns in places as far away as the US. The construction of the highway was first suggested by the Brazilian state government of Pará more than a decade ago, but the plans were shelved due to the backlash over environmental concerns. The project was revived along with dozens of other infrastructure plans ahead of this month's summit, including new hotels, the expansion of a local airport, and the redevelopment of the city's port for cruise ships. Politicians have touted the 'sustainable' nature of the giant highway, noting it has over 30 wildlife crossings, protective fencing for vegetation, the inclusion of bicycle lanes, and the use of solar-powered LED lighting. 'The UN is also warning us the Earth is running out of oxygen... So let's cut down 13.2 kilometers of trees in the Amazon rainforest to make a highway for the COP30 climate summit. Can't make this s*** up,' another social media user commented. The goal of the COP30 climate summit is to find new solutions to global warming, with nations making agreements on curbing carbon emissions The COP30 summit is organized by the United Nations for nearly 200 countries to gather and discuss how to prevent global warming. It's run by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty signed in 1992 to fight climate change. The main goal of the summit is to speed up real-world action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels, as promised in the 2015 Paris Agreement. That includes negotiating new agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions, phasing out fossil fuels, protecting forests and boosting money for poorer nations to adapt to climate impacts. Images have shown the about 12.9-kilometer highway cutting through swathes of lush forest greenery, but the Brazilian government have defended the building practices as 'sustainable'. However, this year's summit is expected to see far fewer guests travel to the newly cleared Amazon conference site, with previous years seeing as many as 84,000 people attend the climate event. However, Trump claimed in his September speech to the United Nations that climate change was the 'greatest con job ever perpetuated' on the world, created by 'stupid people'. 'If you don't get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,' the US president told the more than 150 world leaders and dignitaries in attendance. The Trump Administration also pulled out of the Paris Agreement in January and closed the State Department's Office of Global Change, which led diplomatic efforts on climate change.
