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BELEM, Brazil (Reuters) - The Brazilian state hosting a United Nations climate summit this year has denied any connection between a new road cutting through a protected area of Brazilian rainforest and the COP30 summit that will gather world leaders in November.
Work to build the divided four-lane highway, called Avenida Liberdade, began in 2020, before the state capital Belem was chosen to host the summit, said Para's state government.
The project, which follows the path of an existing power line through a conservation area south of the city, has not received federal funds from Brazil's efforts preparing the city for COP30, according to the state and federal governments.
Still, some locals tie recent progress on the long-discussed highway to the approaching UN summit, when tens of thousands of delegates are expected to swarm the Amazon city home to 1.3 million.
"There's been talk about that project for over 20 years, but there was a lot of resistance. The need to prepare the city for a mega event ends up giving the necessary justification," said Ana Claudia Cardoso, a professor of urban studies at the Federal University of Para.
BBC reported that a state infrastructure secretary had listed the new road among 30 projects preparing the city for COP30. The state government said that report did not reflect the facts. Reuters could not reach the official cited in the report.
A BBC spokesperson said the report was "based on state government documents and an interview with a state government official" that "directly link the project to COP30."
"Further documentation shows the project for Avenida Liberdade was only approved in 2024, despite the idea being discussed as early as 2012," the spokesperson added.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Marx Vasconcelos in Belem; Editing by Brad Haynes, Diane Craft and Mark Porter)
