Satellite appears to show new highway cutting through Brazil's Amazon rainforest

Satellite images appear to show a new highway cutting through the rainforest in the Brazilian state set to host the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The images, taken in by Copernicus satellites in October 2023 and October 2024, appear to show the construction of the Avenida Liberdade highway near the city of Belem, the capital of Para state, which is hosting COP30. The stretch of cleared path is surrounded by lush foliage on both sides.

The Avenida Liberdade highway is expected to measure at about 8.2 miles in length and offer two lanes of traffic in both directions, according to the Para regional government website. It will connect two existing road systems and function as a new entry and exit route for the Belém Metropolitan Region.

The work was about 20% complete as of November 2024, according to an update on the Brazilian government's website.

Drone footage published by the BBC shows new cleared trees along an 8-mile stretch of what will become the new highway.

Brazil is looking to build highways elsewhere in the country to promote connectivity to rural and remote regions.

In northwest Brazil, officials are aiming to pave a 560-mile road connecting the Amazon-adjacent states of Amazonas and Roraima to the rest of the country. The highway, BR-319, is currently mostly dirt and is difficult for most vehicles to travel on, experts told ABC News last year.

Paving these roadways has social benefits for residents nearby, who have difficulties accessing hospitals, schools and goods, Rachael Garrett, a professor of conservation and development at the University of Cambridge, told ABC News in September.

But the construction of highways in the middle of the rainforest will likely lead to a "fishbone pattern" of deforestation extending from the roadway, Garrett said.

Environmental crimes, such as illegal logging and mining, would likely increase without proper governance in the region, as criminals would have easier access to remote areas, Nauê Azevedo, a litigation specialist for the Climate Observatory in Brazil, a network of 119 environmental, civil society and academic groups, told ABC News last year.

The Amazon rainforest is crucial to mitigating global climate change, as it can store up to 200 billion tons of carbon, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The Amazon is also vital to the global and regional water cycles, as it releases 20 billion tons of water in the atmosphere per day.

The Avenida Liberdade highway incorporates "environmental preservation measures" such as 24 wildlife crossings, cycle lanes and solar panel lights, officials said in the November 2024 update.

The purpose of the highway is to ease the traffic expected from COP30, which will involve about 50,000 delegates traveling to Belem, according to government officials. The city is situated on the Pará River, close to where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean, and serves as a key entry point for the Amazon rainforest due to its port facilities.

COP30 will take place from Nov. 10 to Nov. 21.