Go ahead and file this one under ‘H’ for hypocrisy. The 2025 United Nations Climate Change (COP30) Conference is being held this November in the Brazilian city of Belém.

Excitement abounds. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government described the summit as historic, as it is “a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon.”

It’s all about optics, after all. Try holding a global warming conference in Aspen, Colorado, or Juneau, Alaska; the message might not sell as well.

The UNCC already has a page dedicated to the transition to this year’s version of COP30, called “The Road to Belém,” where they will undoubtedly discuss such hot-button issues as going vegan, the carbon credit scam, and deforestation.

Oh, about that. The topic of deforestation apparently will have a live exhibit through a literal “Road to Belém.”

Why, you might be wondering? Because Brazil is cutting down tens of thousands of acres of Amazon rainforest to make a four-lane highway–just so people can get to the summit.

No, I’m not joking.

Beyond Parody: Brazil has reportedly clear cut over 10,000 acres of rainforest to build a highway…for the COP30 Climate Summit.

You can’t even make this kind of stuff up.https://t.co/BBGND0Rj9N

— Alliance For Consumers (@for_consumers) March 13, 2025

In its story linked above, the BBC reports that the highway, already under construction, is “cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest” simply to ease traffic for the COP30 conference.

They note that conservationists are “outraged” over the project, which “contradicts the very purpose of a climate summit.”

The news is just dripping with hypocrisy but it’s nearly impossible to do it justice. Aside from slashing and burning the Amazon rainforest, this gem of a highway has:

• Paved over wetlands in a protected area.
• Killed income for at least one local family who makes a living selling açaí berries that grow on the trees they just hacked down.
• Cut off the local community completely, as the highway is fenced in, meaning people living in the area can’t use it to get to the hospital.
• Separates areas of wildlife and eliminates one section used to rehabilitate wildlife.

Here’s the thing: according to the BBC, this highway has been proposed since 2012 but was repeatedly “shelved because of environmental concerns.”

For 13 years, they said no to this four-lane monstrosity through the rainforest, but hey, those lear-jet-flying liberals have to have their vacation time, so now it’s, ‘Hey, get that asphalt in here, ASAP. Nah, screw the animals and the vegetation. Oh, and the locals, too.’

There’s also this. As we wrote during the 2022 Brazilian elections, far-leftist now-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made climate change a major part of his campaign.

And as my colleague Becky Noble wrote in Nov. 2024, da Silva has shown he isn’t a big fan of free speech:

However, the climate change information integrity program has been paired with uber-left Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been more than willing to silence those who disagree with him by using the court system and police raids to intimidate conservative online voices. 

UN Chief Calls for ‘Global Censorship Framework’ to Curb ‘Hate Speech and ‘Misinformation’

New York Times Video Op-Ed Warns Brazil’s Choice for President Could Determine Fate of Planet Earth

This isn’t the first time the UN climate summit has proven to be filled with a bunch of raging hypocrites. Video from the COP29 summit featured panel discussions talking about how climate scolds could tax meat to force people away from the apparently ozone-depleting food group.

Then, when they all broke for lunch, nobody showed up at the vegan buffet.

LMAO – Climate scolds demanding everybody stop eating meat are lining up for the meat buffet and skipping over the vegan buffet.

Reporting from @ClimateDepot at #COP29Baku pic.twitter.com/oxxqOYvLRy

— Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) November 14, 2024

They’re hypocrites. They know it, they don’t care, and they’re just banking on the people not to catch on.