To do its part to save the natural world and its wonders (such as the Amazon rainforest), the Brazilian state of Pará is laying a massive strip of asphalt across the Amazon rainforest. Laugh all you like. This four-lane highway might be the only concrete outcome of this year’s United Nations climate change conference. Fifty thousand sojourners’ worth of traffic is expected to gum up the city of Belém in November during COP30. Busywork in the Amazon River delta will be hard work.

This will be the United Nations’ 30th go-round. The 30th annual Conference of the Parties, during which delegates of the parties will agree on the need for more agreements and more conferences. The COP series has succeeded in conserving itself if not the environment. A movable dormitory for the lower-skilled upper class. Can’t blame local officials for making the most of it. This, as far as anybody can tell, is its chief function: to allow the host country to expedite development projects and extend the season for the regional leisure and hospitality industry. An Airbnb rental in Belém for those two weeks could set you back $1,000 to $30,000. Shared bathroom. Act fast. A local tells the Associated Press that it’ll be “like putting gringos in captivity.”

Getting around in the tropics isn’t easy, either. There has long been talk of Avenida Liberdade. Plans for the new route in and out of the Belém metro area have been slowed down by eco-activists for more than a decade. No better opportunity to get the job done. Listen, friends of the earth: this one’s for the earth. Birders, biodiversity bros, conservationists of the bald-headed uakari monkey: you’ll get to advance your cause on your own turf. The local infrastructure secretary calls it a “mobility intervention.” The highway will have wildlife crossing points, solar-powered lights, bike lanes. Sustainable stuff. We’re talking about anything but the cost–benefit analysis: What’s the trade-off for the state and the country? The U.N., meanwhile, is atypically quiet about the plight of the açai palms.

The last three hosts of the Conference of Parties have been Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan. Paragons of good governance. Cairo used COP27 to remind fortunate nations of their annual — and annually missed — target of $100 billion in funding they’ve promised to less fortunate nations (and to significantly touch up the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh). The construction of the palm-shaped artificial island in Dubai had been on hold for 15 years before the emirates found a reason, COP28, to restart the project (and to entice foreign investment). Baku in 2024 welcomed the occasion to demonstrate its heightened sense of global responsibility: the previous few years had been spent obliterating traces of Armenian heritage in Azerbaijan’s northwest. A different kind of infrastructure project. Pará could do a lot worse than a new highway.