Belém do Pará, Amazonia. This is the place that will host the United Nations Climate Conference in just over three months’ time. It’s a city with real problems, worthy of the multiple realities in which we live in the Global South, in Brazil and in the Amazonia region – which everyone loves to talk about, but few are willing to see and live.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change announced the capital of Pará as the venue for COP30 in an innovative move, a nod to the centralization of discussions in what has long been at the heart of them all: the Amazonia.
Home to 25 million Brazilians, including more than 180 indigenous peoples, the world’s largest rainforest is home to around 10% of the planet’s biodiversity. It is a source of water, food and income not only for its peoples, but for the entire continent.
From the Amazonia comes the rain that irrigates Brazil’s plantations, as well as the science and wisdom that offer the Earth an alternative. It is with this whole and pulsating Amazonia that we have a chance of fulfilling the Paris Agreement.
But why question holding a COP in Belém with logistical difficulties as the main argument? Past COPs, held in places like Dubai or European capitals, may have left a fanciful impression of the meeting. We’re here to talk about reality and we need to let go of past experiences in order to move forward. In the Amazonia, there are no artificial scenarios.
If in Dubai cabs cost as much as 800 reais; if in Sharm-El-Sheikh hotels were canceled with guests at the front door; if in Glasgow groups were accommodated in trailers more than an hour from the venue; and if in Madrid there was no affordable food… the challenge is routine at an event like this.
Belém is ready to discuss down-to-earth responses to the climate emergency and to inspire the world with the reality that only the people and landscapes of the Amazonia can reveal. It is ready to receive the international delegations, following the various accommodation solutions, with one of the most outstanding cuisines our country can offer, as well as a rich and diverse culture like the Amazonia itself.
It’s time to embrace Belém and unite in a national effort. Let’s give space to the agendas that deal with our survival and talk about what can be implemented in the present to guarantee the future. There is no time for less important discussions.
Belém is pooling its efforts and resources to welcome everyone. Let’s do Brazil and the Brazilians of the Amazonia a favour: let its leading role in the global climate agenda be recognized once and for all.
