As COP30 begins in Belém, residents of the riverside favela Vila da Barca are enduring intense heat, overcrowded stilt housing and poor sanitation despite being near the rainforest. Community pressure during COP30 helped secure long-sought water and sewage systems after early plans appeared to prioritize wealthier neighborhoods. A Pará University Center study found Belém's maximum temperature rose 1.96°C from 1970–2023, highlighting growing heatwave and infrastructure risks in the urban Amazon.
COP30 in Belém: Urban Amazon Residents Swelter as Heat and Poor Services Bite
As COP30 begins in Belém, residents of the riverside favela Vila da Barca are enduring intense heat, overcrowded stilt housing and poor sanitation despite being near the rainforest. Community pressure during COP30 helped secure long-sought water and sewage systems after early plans appeared to prioritize wealthier neighborhoods. A Pará University Center study found Belém's maximum temperature rose 1.96°C from 1970–2023, highlighting growing heatwave and infrastructure risks in the urban Amazon.
12:51 PM, 11/11/2025Environment
Belém, Brazil — As COP30 opens in the Amazon city of Belém, residents of riverside favela Vila da Barca are struggling with intense heat, overcrowded stilt housing and inadequate sanitation despite the city’s proximity to rainforest.
Outside her weathered house, a mother and her young daughter cool off in a large blue plastic tub as the sun beats down on tightly packed homes built on stilts. In contrast to the shaded rainforest canopy that still rings parts of the region, much of Belém itself is sparsely treed, worsening daytime temperatures in urban neighborhoods.
Heat, urbanization and unequal investment
Local residents say the climate feels markedly hotter than two decades ago. "The climate has changed a lot. It's intensely hot from nine in the morning," said Rosineide Santos, 56. Community leader Gerson Bruno added: "No one talks about protecting those of us who live in the urban Amazon, or about how the climate crisis affects our most vulnerable territories."
Although the Amazon is commonly associated with dense forest, official figures show that more than 75% of the roughly 27 million people living in Brazil's share of the rainforest now live in urban areas — putting pressure on infrastructure and public services.
COP30 brought attention — and pressure
Vila da Barca, founded by fishermen about a century ago and home to roughly 7,000 people, sits beside one of Belém’s wealthier neighborhoods. Residents say initial investments tied to COP30 favored affluent districts. One contentious plan would have placed a sewage pumping station inside the favela to serve a wealthier area, sparking protests.
"After a rocky start," Bruno said, the community secured construction of a sewage network for the stilt houses and a reliable water supply — services many families lacked until just months before COP30.
A study by the Pará University Center found that Belém's maximum temperature rose by 1.96°C between 1970 and 2023, increasing vulnerability to heat waves, health problems and pressure on infrastructure. State Governor Helder Barbalho said the "urban Amazon is a major challenge" and called for more investment to balance solutions for forests and cities.
Standing on a rickety wooden walkway outside her home, 67-year-old retiree Elizabeth Campos Serra summed up local frustration: "If I could tell President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva one thing, it would be: get us out of here. I want to live on solid ground."