Belém Builds its Hopes on COP |
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.
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.
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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