BREAKING: Fire halts COP30 as wildfire-focused summit is evacuated
A fire incident at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, forced the full evacuation of the venue on Thursday, halting a summit heavily focused on wildfire prevention
A fire incident at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, forced the full evacuation of the venue on Thursday, halting a summit heavily focused on wildfire prevention.
The initial alert was issued at 2:37 p.m. local time by the COP30 Secretariat, citing a fire inside one of the main pavilions. By 2:58 p.m., the Host Country Fire Chief had ordered the complete evacuation of the venue. The area was formally placed under the control of Brazilian authorities and is no longer considered a UN Blue Zone, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
“The Fire Service will conduct full safety checks and is expected to provide an update at 4:00 PM,” the Secretariat told delegates in an emergency bulletin.
No injuries or fatalities have been reported as of the time of this article’s publication. Firefighters and security personnel remained on scene as thousands of delegates, including government ministers, diplomats, and climate researchers, were escorted out of the compound.
The fire has disrupted high-level negotiations at the summit, which included events heavily focused on wildfire prevention.
Earlier in the day, dozens of countries and environmental groups unveiled the Wildfire Action Accelerator, a $100 million USD pledge to scale up wildfire prevention and community resilience across tropical regions, starting with the Amazon Basin.
The Amazon, which surrounds the summit’s host city of Belém, has been hit hard by fire-linked deforestation, with Brazil accounting for 42% of the world’s tropical forest loss in 2024, according to World Resources Institute data. Climate researchers have warned that increasing heat and forest degradation are making even humid rainforests more flammable.
Wildfires are projected to rise globally by 14 per cent by 2030 and 30 per cent by 2050, according to UN estimates — with delegates this week calling for more integration of Indigenous knowledge and local strategies in wildfire response.
In another controversial irony, Brazilian media and watchdog groups recently revealed that 13 km of protected Amazon rainforest were cleared earlier this year to make way for COP30 facilities, including access roads and event pavilions. Satellite images and environmental monitoring reports showed deforestation activity tied to the summit’s logistical expansion around Belém.
It is not yet known whether programming will resume on Thursday evening. The UNFCCC and Brazilian fire authorities are expected to provide a formal update at 4:00 p.m. local time.