Brazil, which is hosting the Cop30 climate conference in the city of Belem later this year, knows all too well that all eyes will be on deforestation.
The South American nation, which recently committed to slash greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 67 per cent by 2035 based on 2005 levels, says it is making progress with deforestation having fallen by nearly a third in the past year.
However, viral posts of the construction of a four-lane road cutting through the rainforest to make way for transportation to the conference has shrouded it in controversy.
The road was planned long before Brazil was announced as Cop30 host and the country's government has clarified that it "is not the responsibility of the federal government and is not part of the 33 infrastructure projects planned for Cop30" but that has not stopped uncomfortable questions being asked.
Ana Toni, Brazil’s chief executive for Cop30, told a room full of climate professionals at Chatham House in London that the event will usher in "the beginning of a new decade" of climate talks. "One of the things that we've been discussing with many countries is that we don't need to wait for a Cop to start implementing policy".
Brazil has previously unveiled targets to put a stop to deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. In 2023 it is estimated that greenhouse gas emissions from land use changes and deforestation in the country amounted to over 1.06 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Brazil's bold Cop30 plans
Thousands of delegates will descend on Belem from November 10 to 21, for an occasion that will mark a decade since the landmark Paris Agreement. Pressure is on Brazil to deliver, after developing nations last year deemed the finance plan agreed to at Cop29 to pay for the ravages of climate change to be too little, too late. However, the Brazilian government are in a buoyant mood.
"Many people here laughed at us when we said we wanted to stop deforestation," Ms Toni added. "It is very natural for some of the companies and some of the people that will lose in this transition to fight back. We are used to it."
What can we expect from Cop30?
Brazil is reportedly due to launch a $125 billion fund to protect tropical forests. Other items possibly on the table to make Cop30 a landmark event include discussions to define sustainable investments.
The summit comes at a critical time for climate and politics, as the US has retreated on climate commitments including the Paris Agreement, under the new Trump administration.
As the world comes off the hottest year and hottest decade on record, Cop30 will need to push through shifting geopolitical distractions to tackle global climate issues.
Ms Toni stressed that Cops can no longer be a silver bullet. "Cop30 will be the beginning of a new decade," she said. "We are working with parties to see which type of decade we need, and for us acceleration of action, especially in the energy sector, that is what is important for us."
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
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The specs
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Price: From Dh590,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
When December 14-17
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 523hp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh469,000
