amazonian city of belem

Civil society groups and academics urged governments Thursday to take actual steps toward fulfilling a stalled pledge to end deforestation before this year's UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon. "In 2025, governments must take bold action to get on track," the coalition of nearly 40 non-governmental organisations, think-tanks and forest research bodies said in a document outlining policy proposals.

Deforestation in Brazil decreased across all biomes in 2024, marking the first such occurrence in six years, with a 32.4% reduction compared to the year 2023. Despite this progress, significant native vegetation loss persists, particularly in the Amazon and Cerrado regions. As Brazil prepares to host COP30 in Belém, these findings highlight both advancements and ongoing challenges in combating deforestation.

Brazil's COP30 president aims for a new era of climate progress at the Belem conference, urging nations to deliver ambitious carbon-cutting plans despite geopolitical tensions and rising temperatures. Andre Correa do Lago calls for international mobilization and emphasizes the need to close gaps and chart a course toward sustainable prosperity.

Wildfires in Brazil last year consumed a total area larger than all of Italy, a monitor reported Wednesday, as the country continues to battle blazes often set by farmers and ranchers illegally expanding their territory. But in Brazil, the main driver of the fires are ranchers and farmers who clear land for pasture and agriculture -- a crime the government struggles to contain.

A clip said to show massive flooding in the Amazonian city hosting the UN climate summit is just one widely-shared example of how disinformation, cheaply created by artificial intelligence and circulating on social media, is influencing perceptions of COP30. And in the video showing the city purportedly under water, "The reporter doesn't exist, the people don't exist, the flood doesn't exist, and the city doesn't exist."

In anticipation of the UN climate summit in Belem, Brazil is making strides to alleviate housing shortages, with a majority of delegations already booked into accommodations. However, the country has drawn fire for sanctioning oil drilling close to the Amazon River's mouth shortly before the gathering.

Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of the Amazonian city hosting COP30 talks on Saturday, dancing to thumping speakers in the first large-scale protest at a UN climate summit in years. "We are here to try to apply pressure so that countries fulfill their promises and we don't accept a regression," Txai Surui, a prominent 28-year-old Indigenous leader, told AFP. It was the first major protest outside the annual climate talks since COP26 four years ago in Glasgow, as the last three gatherings were held in locations with little tolerance for demonstrations -- Egypt, Dubai and Azerbaijan.

Tariff wars will hinder trade in green technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles, and hamper the fight against climate change, says Ana Toni, CEO of the UN's COP30 climate conference. COP30 will be held in November in the amazonian city of belem in Brazil, where Toni serves as national secretary for climate change.

Europe is "absolutely vital" to the fight against global warming and its leadership must not waver as climate ambition backslides elsewhere, the CEO of November's COP30 summit in Brazil told AFP. In an interview in Paris, Ana Toni urged the European Union to unite around a strong emissions reduction target as the 27-nation bloc squabbles over its level of climate ambition.