Tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest are being paved over in Brazil to make way for a new four-lane highway ahead of an upcoming climate summit.Belém, which is set to host the 30th UN Climate Change Conference with the Conference of the Parties (COP30),

Dubbed the Avenida Liberdade highway, the new stretch of highway cuts across tens of thousands of acres of rainforest located on the outskirts of Belem, where over 50,000 people, including world leaders, are anticipated to gather in November for the COP30 Climate Summit, according to a report from BBC News.

As reported by the BBC, the state government of Pará cleared out eight miles of Amazon rainforest to build the highway. The BBC’s article has pictures of the clear-cut forest floor where logs have been piled up along a stretch of road that will soon hold concrete and passing cars.