What is the COP30 climate summit?

The COP30 climate summit is a major global event where world leaders and delegates gather to discuss environmental issues and ways to address climate change.

How does the city of Belem, Brazil contrast with the COP30 summit?

Belem, the host city for COP30, is struggling with significant challenges like homelessness, poor sanitation, and pollution, while the COP30 delegates stay in luxury hotels, shielded from the city's harsh realities.

What impact did the COP30 preparations have on Belem's environment?

Trees were cut down in Belem for COP30-related construction projects, leaving poor neighborhoods without natural shade, further exacerbating the city's environmental challenges.

Home / Environment / Luxury and Squalor Collide as COP30 Delegates Convene in Belem

Luxury and Squalor Collide as COP30 Delegates Convene in Belem

13 Nov

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Summary

Belem, Brazil's gateway to the Amazon, struggles with homelessness and pollution
COP30 delegates stay in luxury hotels while nearby residents live in squalor
Trees were cut down for COP30 projects, leaving poor neighborhoods without shade

Luxury and Squalor Collide as COP30 Delegates Convene in Belem

As the COP30 climate summit kicks off in Belem, Brazil, the city's stark contrasts are on full display. While delegates from around the world, including over 200 from the UK, convene to discuss environmental issues, the reality just outside their luxury accommodations paints a very different picture.

Belem, the gateway to the Amazon, is struggling with significant challenges, including homelessness, poor sanitation, and pollution. Dozens of plastic bottles and other waste float along the city's rivers and canals, just minutes away from the COP30 venue. In the city's poorer neighborhoods, indigenous groups and other homeless individuals seek shade under delivery trucks, as trees were cut down for COP30-related construction projects, leaving little natural cover.