Amazon Rainforest ‘Destroyed’ to Build Climate Summit Highway

This November, the COP30 climate summit will be held in Belém, Brazil. World leaders will gather to discuss the state of climate change and what more can be done to save our ailing planet and ourselves.

Brazil has decided to construct a new highway that plows straight through the Amazon rainforest to make room for the over 50,000 people who will flock to the city come conference time. Ironic? Hypocritical? Darkly funny? Depressing? Yes. All of the above.

The highway, which is being called Avenida Liberdade, has been in the works since 2012 but the plan kept getting shelved due to—get this—environmental concerns. Destroying a rainforest so important to the health of our environment that it’s been commonly referred to as “the lungs of the world” qualifies as an environmental concern.

Brazil Cuts Down Chops Down Miles of Amazon Rainforest In Preparation For Climate Summit

But Brazil needed to make room for a highway so all the world leaders could stop by to prop up the economy for a bit when they gathered to talk about the state of climate change, which you worsened to make room for all of these people to talk about the state of climate change. And around and around we go.

Brazilian Infrastructure Secretary Adler Silveira says it’ll be a “sustainable highway,” meaning it will have wildlife crossings that animals can use to walk over the highway instead of through it. It will have bike lanes and even solar lighting. All wonderful sustainability measures do nothing to replace the hundreds of acres of Amazon rainforest they’ve got to cut down to make it all happen.

Despite all that, the government insists that the infrastructure projects, including the highway and a new city park with restaurants and a “sports complex,” will help modernize a Brazilian city that locals often feel has been long abandoned by the ruling class.