Planting Metal Trees In Concrete Part Of Belem's "Sustainability" Image Prep For This Year's Climate Conference

Fake metal trees have been set into the concrete ground of the Amazonian host city of this year’s climate summit, prompting scandalised contrasts with the once-living vegetation that has been cleared in preparation for Cop30 in Brazil. But in an unlikely convergence of views, both the centre-right state governor and leftwing social movements insist this is a storm in a plant pot compared with the darkening geopolitical threats to the world’s biggest diplomatic gathering, which will take place in November in Belém.

This tropical port, which sits on the mouth of the Amazon River, is one of the poorest cities in Brazil. It faces mounting criticism about its preparations for an international conference that is on a far greater scale than anything previously seen in the rainforest region. A shortage of beds has driven hotel prices so high that the federal government has threatened to prosecute price-gougers. Traffic congestion, already bad, is expected to become horrific with the expected influx of 50,000 visitors during the event. Conservation groups have been shocked by the clearance of forests for new highways and there is scepticism that the city’s infrastructure projects, including a doubling of the airport’s capacity, will be ready in time.

But in an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Pará state governor, Helder Barbalho – who says he asked President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in November 2022 to nominate Belém as host – said everything was on track. “All the projects that were planned and structured will be ready so that we can hold a fantastic event in November,” he said.

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It confirmed what people could see and feel. Belém was once known as the city of mango trees, but has experienced a dramatic loss of urban vegetation over the past 20 years. This process has been compounded by the Cop30-accelerated expansion of two new roads – Avenida Liberdade and Rua da Marinha – that together resulted in the clearance of more than 100 hectares (247 acres) of vegetation. Ana Claudia Cardoso, a professor of urbanism at the Federal University of Pará, predicted Belém would have less tree cover in the city after Cop than it did before.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/25/brazil-host-cop30-climate-talks-amazon