Climate hypocrisy seems to know no bounds. Rainforests are now being cut down in the Amazon in preparation for the COP30 climate summit.

As world leaders and climate activists prepare to discuss climate action, the giant protected rainforest area is being cleared to facilitate transport to the COP30 meeting in Belém, Brazil in November, reports BBC News.

The state government is touting the motorway’s «sustainable» qualities, but some local residents and conservationists are furious about its environmental impact.

Claudio Verequete, who lives just 200 metres from the newly built road, says his income has disappeared:

– Our crop has already been cut down. We no longer have the income to support our family.

The locals will not be compensated for the economic losses. The local community will also have no connection to the road, as there are walls on both sides.

– If someone gets sick and has to go to the centre of Belém, we can’t use it,” says Verequete.

The Brazilian president and environment minister says this will be a historic summit because it is «a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon».

Environmental experts warn of serious consequences for the Amazon ecosystem.

– We will lose an area where we can release animals back into the wild. Animals living on the ground will no longer be able to cross over to the other side, which will reduce their natural habitat and make reproduction more difficult,” environmental scientist Silvia Sardinha told the BBC.

Norway has given billions of wasted money to Brazil to preserve the rainforest.