Fact check: Did Brazil chop down 100,000 trees for COP30?

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Fact check: Did Brazil chop down 100,000 trees for COP30?  As European leaders take part in COP30, claims that the controversial Avenida Liberdade — a four-lane 13km highway which cuts across the Amazon — was constructed specifically for the climate summit have spread online.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/17/fact-check-did-brazil-chop-down-100000-trees-for-cop30  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Did Brazil chop down 100,000 ambers and trees for COP30?

00:07European leaders are travelling to COP30, the United Nations climate change conference,

00:12in the Brazilian city of Palen.

00:14While the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement has weakened collective momentum,

00:18the EU remains the world's largest contributor to climate finance.

00:22However, COP is regularly marred with accusations of hypocrisy.

00:26This time round, online newsers have accused the Brazilian government of chopping down 100,000 trees

00:31in order to build a four-lane motorway and host COP30 leaders.

00:35US President Donald Trump claimed that Brazil's rainforest was ripped apart for environmentalists to travel.

00:41Although this story has resurfaced, in fact, it's old news.

00:44The controversial project for a four-lane, 13-kilometre highway named the Avenida Liberdade crossing the Amazon

00:50has been in the works since 2012, following repeated setbacks.

00:53Now, that's 11 years before the official announcement that Brazil would host the UN's climate conference in 2023.

01:00In a BBC article from March, the state government's infrastructure secretary

01:04said the road was one of 30 projects the city was undertaking to prepare and modernise it,

01:09to have a legacy for the population and, more importantly,

01:11serve people for COP30 in the best possible way.

01:15Statements from local leaders suggest the construction of the road was accelerated ahead of COP,

01:19but COP organisers responded by stating that construction of the road did not fall under the responsibility of the federal government

01:26or the 33 infrastructure projects planned for COP30.

01:29As for claims that the road was constructed to transport environmentalists,

01:33it's not actually been completed, with local authorities stating that they aim to finish it by early 2026.

01:39The project, however, remains controversial, impacting the local indigenous community,

01:43who denounced a lack of adequate consultation.

01:46The state of Para has the highest national record for deforestation every year since 2016,

01:51largely driven by agribusiness opening new pasta land.

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