Salvador, Brazil — A deadly tornado barrelled through southern Brazil just ahead of the UN climate summit in Belém.
The unprecedented F-3 category tornado hit Brazil’s southern Paraná state late Friday night, killing at least six people and injuring another 750, according to government statements.
The city of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu, population 14,000, had almost its entire urban area destroyed.
More than 3,000 kilometers away, in the northern city of Belém, final preparations were taking place for COP 30, the United Nations climate summit which begins today.
The tornado’s devastation was caused by an extratropical cyclone. According to the Paraná Environmental Technology and Monitoring System (Simepar), winds reached speeds up to 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph).
Several properties including residences, public buildings and businesses were totally destroyed, along parts of the city’s road network and electrical grid — which left part of the population without power.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government called for a state of emergency in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu and sent humanitarian aid and ministers to survey the damaged area.
During a visit on Sunday, Minister for Integration and Regional Development Waldez Góes claimed not to be able to measure all the damage caused by the tornado.
Besides Rio Bonito, 10 other cities suffered consequences from the natural disaster, including Foz do Iguaçu, home to Iguazu Falls, considered one of the seven wonders of the world by Unesco.
Houses were seen with severed or damaged roofs, along with broken utility poles and power lines, according to Paraná’s civil protection agency.
Without US and China, COP 30 begins
Three days after the tornado ravaged southern Brazil, delegations from 194 countries and the European Union (EU) on Monday began to discuss and negotiate ways to maintain the planet’s temperatures at 1,5 ºC, as a new attempt to follow the Paris Agreement and keep Earth at “healthy” levels of heating.
The COP 30 Summit takes place in Belém, which turned into Brazil’s temporary capitol, from November 10 to 21.
A pre-reunion called the Leaders Summit was attended by world leaders like the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, the prime ministers of Germany, Friedrich Merz, and the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, along Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s president, Chile’s Gabriel Boric and Honduras’s Xiomara Castro.
Despite some high-profile attendees, major absences were also felt at the Leaders Summit, including the United States’ President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping. A close ally to Brazil especially since the U.S. tariffs on Brazilian imports, China decided to send its vice-prime minister, Ding Xuexiang, instead.
The UN’s annual climate summit led by President Lula has already launched projects like the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF). The investment fund has raised US$ 5 billion from countries including Germany, France, Norway, Indonesia and Brazil itself.
On Friday, the South American nation also proposed a global carbon market coalition, endorsed by China, the EU, the United Kingdom, Chile, Mexico, Canada and Zambia. One of Brazil’s main agenda points, the coalition would aim to standardize and integrate global carbon markets.
According to Rafael Dubeux, the Deputy Executive Secretary of Brazil’s Finance Ministry, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and gain the support of the world’s largest economies. Dubeux is also a member of Petrobras’ board of directors, Brazil’s biggest oil company which is partially owned by the state.
Major agreements are expected to be closed on the last days of the event that expects around 50,000 people, including diplomats, heads of states and visitors.
Featured image: Destruction from tornado in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu.
Image credit: Roberto Dziura Jr/AEN via Flikr.
