But this lush harmony comes with a warning. If the negotiators COP30 To hope to protect the world’s forests, they must first protect the people who care for them.

Chocolate, community and vision for the future

Just a 30-minute boat ride from Belém – known as the “gateway to the Amazon rainforest” and host city of this year’s UN climate conference – Combu is home to the Filha do Combu association, created by Izete Costa, affectionately known as Dona Néna. Her initiative is proof that community solutions can fuel global climate action.

What started as a modest effort to turn traditional knowledge into income has grown into a thriving business. Having started out producing chocolate on a small scale from Amazonian cocoa, Dona Nena sold at local fairs before undergoing professional training to expand her business.

Today, she runs a small factory and a tourism program that invites visitors to learn how chocolate is made in the rainforest. Of the 20 workers employed on the site, 16 are women.

The production system is agroecological: native species collaborate to enhance yields. Rows of banana trees, for example, are planted to attract the pollinating bees essential to cocoa.

“I generally enrich the forest with what works well, because here we haven’t cut down the forest to plant trees,” Dona Nena told us. “We work with the forest, and we research and plant trees where there is natural decline.”

Solar energy and its development

The chocolate factory – whose products are sold throughout Brazil – runs eight hours a day on solar energy. But power outages remain a challenge. When a fallen tree cuts the power, machines can go unused for days. Dona Nena hopes to double solar capacity to avoid damage and keep production stable.

Dealing with a fragile electricity network is one thing, but Combu is not immune to climate impacts either. Recently, cocoa harvests have declined; fruits and trees dry out, shrink and become deformed. And the fear of losing access to drinking water grows day by day. Despite the rainy season, not a single drop has fallen on Combu for more than 15 days, says Dona Nena.

From local solutions to global action

It is in this context that Annalena Baerbock’s visit took place on Sunday, her second trip to Combu after her first meeting with Dona Nena as German Foreign Minister.

Upon her arrival, Ms Baerbock told UN News she was happy to see the project thriving, generating “production chains…at the heart of regional communities”. [so] the advantages [can stay here] for the natives, for the local population.

For Ms Baerbock, the initiative is proof that real solutions already exist – solutions that combine economic growth, sustainable development and the fight against the climate crisis. She stressed that connecting these large-scale models is essential to keeping global warming below 2°C, ideally 1.5°C.

“The destruction of forests is the destruction of the life insurance of humanity,” she warned, before adding: “COP30 must be a COP where we show everywhere in the world that, especially in difficult geopolitical times, the vast majority of countries, but also people around businesses, financial actors join hands to fight the climate crisis and, thus, ensure sustainable growth for all. »

Lessons from the forest

After tasting Amazonian fruits and several chocolate recipes prepared on site, Dona Nena took Ms. Baerbock on a trail through the forest, where they had met a group of producers two years earlier.

They discussed the project’s focus on empowering women who sell their products through the Filha do Combu association. Dona Nena emphasized that women bring a unique energy of care and dedication that shapes the quality of chocolate.

All along the trail, the forest itself offered symbolism. Together, they watch a taperebá tree slowly die under the influence of a parasitic vine.

Dona Nena pointed out that once the tree dies, the vine will die too, deprived of its only source of nutrients. Baerbock said this was a diplomatic lesson in disguise, which could even be linked to the emissions that are devastating the planet.

But the forest also offered hope. They stopped in front of a sumaúma, a giant of the Amazon more than 280 years old. These trees can reach 70 meters and have witnessed centuries of history, and could experience centuries more if COP30 is successful.

UN NewsEastreport from Belémgiving you front row coverage of everything happening at COP30.

According to the UN peacekeeping mission, bursts of heavy artillery hit an area just five meters away. UNIFIL peacekeepers, who had to retreat hastily and take refuge in the field.

The mission representatives were able to contact the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) through their communications channels and ask them to stop the shooting, UNIFIL explain in a press release. The patrol was able to leave safely half an hour later, when the tank withdrew towards IDF positions.

“Fortunately, no one was injured,” the statement said, adding that the attack constituted a serious violation of the law. Security Council Resolution 1701which was adopted in 2006 in order to resolve the war between Israel and the Hezbollah militia.

In response to questions from local media, IDF officials reportedly claimed that the attack was the result of “misidentification” by UNIFIL troops due to weather conditions, and that it did not intend to fire on the peacekeepers.

This is the third such incident in the past three months. On September 2, IDF drones dropped four grenades near UNIFIL peacekeepers who were working to clear roadblocks blocking access to a UN position near the “Blue Line,” the buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon patrolled by UNIFIL.

On October 26, UNIFIL reported that an Israeli drone dropped a grenade near a UN patrol, followed by tank fire aimed at the peacekeepers.

A mission that is coming to an end

This incident comes at a delicate time for UNIFIL, which is expected to close its doors at the end of 2027, after nearly half a century of presence along the Blue Line. Established in 1978 by the Security Council to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, the mission – which currently has 10,500 peacekeepers – has become a central part of the region’s relative stability.

Its mandate was strengthened after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and then again after deadly fighting between the two camps last fall, which devastated several towns in southern Lebanon. Since the cessation of hostilities in November 2024, UNIFIL has supported the redeployment of the Lebanese National Army to territories where the state is struggling to reassert its authority, while Israel maintains military positions in certain areas.

“Once again, we call on the IDF to cease any aggressive behavior and any attacks against or near peacekeepers,” insisted UNIFIL, recalling that its troops “are working to restore the stability that Israel and Lebanon say they seek.”

More than 236,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged during the war and more than 2.5 million homes – around 10 percent of the housing stock – have been damaged in some way or are inaccessible due to the ongoing conflict.

The shortage of municipal housing, combined with an under-regulated rental market and large-scale displacement caused by people fleeing war, has put severe pressure on housing availability and affordability, a report says. report published by the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The UN estimates that around 10.6 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes, almost a quarter of the pre-war population, the majority of whom have left the country.

Two-thirds of the remaining 3.7 million people are struggling to pay for their new homes. For many, their reliance on the rental market has depleted family savings.

Financial burden

According to the report, “the financial burden of rent continues to weigh heavily on displaced households” as they are forced to spend 50 percent or more of their income on rent.

As the war continues in Ukraine, meeting the housing needs of displaced Ukrainians remains a key priority.

“IOM is dedicated to helping internally displaced people and the communities that host them build a sustainable future. This includes training new skills, connecting people with jobs and securing stable housing,” said Robert Turner, IOM Head of Mission of Ukraine.

Humanitarian and development partners continue to help displaced people access housing through financial and legal assistance, as well as through livelihood initiatives, complementing local authorities’ efforts to expand or rehabilitate municipal housing stock.

OHCHR condemned this week’s attacks as heinous and said they reflected a broader pattern of increased violence against Palestinians.

Several people were reportedly injured in the attacks, which included a raid on a dairy factory, while delivery trucks and homes were set on fire.

The rise in violence comes as Israeli authorities have also intensified house demolitions in addition to property seizures and the forced displacement and transfer of thousands of Palestinians by Israeli settlers and the army, continued OHCHR, during a briefing for UN journalists in Geneva.

The officials reiterated that Israel’s assertion of sovereignty over the occupied West Bank and its annexation of parts of it constitute a violation of international law, which was confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Floods in Gaza

Meanwhile, in Gaza, hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters were flooded due to heavy rains on Friday.

“We fear that thousands of displaced families will find themselves fully exposed to these harsh weather conditions” amid broader health and protection concerns, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said at a later news briefing in New York.

UN partners are working to provide shelter support through rapid response teams.

Around 1,000 tents were distributed to families in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis on Thursday. Between Sunday and Wednesday, partners provided around 7,000 blankets to more than 1,800 households, as well as some 15,000 tarpaulins to more than 3,700 households and winter clothing.

Humanitarian partners stress that proper flood prevention requires equipment that is not available in Gaza, including tools to drain water from tents and to remove solid waste and rubble.

Aid articles “blocked in Jordan”

“Millions of urgently needed shelter items remain stranded in Jordan, Egypt and Israel, awaiting clearance to enter Gaza,” Dujarric continued.

“The dire living conditions also increase people’s exposure to explosive ordnance, with children among the most exposed. Some people have been injured while collecting firewood; others have to pitch tents near areas suspected of containing unexploded remains simply because they have no safer options.”

The spokesperson stressed the need for full and sustained opening of existing and additional crossing points, clearance of aid and essential equipment for entry, and access to all aid items from the UN and its partners.