Brazil’s ‘deforestation road’ controversy for climate summit

The accelerated construction of a four-lane highway through 40,000 acres of rainforest in Belém, Brazil, has sparked an ecological crisis. The project has already destroyed 26,000 ancient trees and cut off migration routes for endangered species. Scientists have warned that the Amazon rainforest is approaching a tipping point of ecological collapse, with only 74% of its original size remaining. Although the Brazilian Government claims it is a “sustainable development project”, satellite monitoring shows that the opening of the road could trigger a chain of development that would exacerbate illegal logging and carbon emissions.