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The Brazilian
Amazon will be in the spotlight next week as
the first batch of COP30-related events kicks
off.
Today’s
newsletter takes you to the host city, Belém,
which is hoping the influx of attention and
cash will help revamp its economy. Plus, the
US finally sends back its answer to the
conference’s RSVP and satellites survey
Melissa’s damage.
For unlimited
access to news about the energy transition, please
subscribe to Bloomberg News.
Belém
Builds its Hopes on COP
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By Fabiano Maisonnave
Belém, the gateway
to the Amazon rainforest, is alive with
anticipation. Just days before COP30, the
world’s largest climate summit, new venues are
opening almost daily, roads are being widened,
and parks, cultural centers, restaurants and
bars are springing up as construction crews race
to prepare the Brazilian city for more than
50,000 visitors expected for the event. Yet,
many Belenenses are missing the buzz.
Leia também em
português.
The city of more than 1.3 million inhabitants in
the northern state of Pará has been undergoing
sweeping changes in recent years, driven by
roughly $1 billion in
investments to revitalize one of Brazil’s oldest
— and poorest — state capitals. But an exodus of
residents in search of jobs and a better quality
of life has also made it one of the Brazilian
cities with the sharpest population declines.
In many ways, Belém
tells the story of urban Amazonia, a region rich
in resources but short on opportunity. Dependent
on mining, agriculture and energy, its economy
offers limited formal jobs.
Belém has the
highest proportion of slums among Brazil’s
capitals. Some of these are stilt houses built
over river waters in the city center, which
flood from time to time. Others are clusters of
wooden homes spread across low-lying outskirts,
most without access to the public water network.
The choice of Belém
for COP30 underscores an effort to spur economic
development. Preparations to host a global event
have brought the kind of investment the city
hasn’t witnessed in years.
“There is a very
strong expectation that COP will change our
destiny,” says singer Fafá de Belém, one of
Brazil’s most iconic artists, about her native
city.
Along with stalls
at Ver-o-Peso, the Amazon’s largest open-air
market, a growing number of upscale restaurants
showcase its distinctive cuisine, a blend of
seafood and rainforest flavors such as tacacá, a
hot broth that mixes cassava, a shrimp that
lives in brackish water, and jambu, an Amazonian
plant famous for its numbing and tingling effect
inside the mouth.
The
Ver-o-Peso market complex in Belém. Photographer:
Alessandro Falco/Bloomberg
Rhythms born in the
region, such as the sensual lambada, have spread
across Brazil and the world. The city’s striking
architecture is showcased in classical landmarks
such as the Theatro da Paz (Peace Theater).
Inspired by Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, it
embodies the opulence of the era when the Amazon
enjoyed a global monopoly on rubber production.
Although much of
the rainforest surrounding Belém has vanished,
the city still preserves fragments that evoke
its former splendor. On nearby Combu Island,
visitors can wander through a flooded forest and
admire a towering sumaúma tree — known as the
“mother of the forest,” — while the Utinga Park
offers tranquil trails shaded by tall native
trees.
Still, tourism in
Belém remains largely underdeveloped. Just over
33,000 foreigners visited Pará state in 2024,
compared with more than 1.5 million visitors to Rio de Janeiro
state, according to official data. The Brazilian
Tourist Board says there are still no studies on
the potential impact of COP30 on Belém’s tourism
industry.
In early October,
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited
Belém to inaugurate the new projects. “If we
improve the quality of life for the people of
Belém, it means increasing the chances of
attracting more tourists,” he said at the
ceremony.
One of most visible
changes brought by COP30 works can be seen along
Belém’s waterfront, where the revamped Docas — a
onetime port district now bustling with shops
and restaurants — joins a new linear park built
along a canalized river and the Amazônias
Museum, whose debut exhibition showcases a
sweeping collection of photographs by the late
Sebastião Salgado.
Just a few blocks
away, however, trash piles up along streets
lined with empty, crumbling buildings where
homeless people wander.
COP30 will leave a
lasting mark on Belém, says the Pará state
government, which is leading the city’s
infrastructure overhaul. At its center will be
Parque da Cidade — the conference’s main venue —
which is expected to turn into a public park
about the size of Washington’s National Mall
once the summit ends.
Amid criticism from
residents and local media for failing to
complete most of the planned sanitation and
macro-drainage works in time for the summit, the
state government has pledged $3.6 billion in
investments over the coming years to complete
Belém’s sewage system by 2033.
“I’m very worried
about the post-COP hangover,” says Fafá de
Belém. “The city is under big, structural
reforms, and that can’t stop after the event. We
have to hold the government accountable, but we
also have to learn how to preserve.”
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